A fresh-greenery centrepiece is glorious for about four days. After that the needles drop into the gravy and the berries go wrinkly. Here's how we put together a centrepiece that looks the same on Twelfth Night as it did when the first card arrived.
1. Get the height right
The most common centrepiece mistake is making it too tall. Guests need to see each other across the table, so keep the main arrangement below about 30cm, or go properly tall and narrow (a single bottle vase with a few stems) so people look past it, not through it.
2. Start with a ring, not a vase
A flat wreath laid on the table gives you width without height, and makes a natural frame for a candle. Our Lit Frosted Eucalyptus Hearth Tablepiece is built on exactly this idea: a frosted eucalyptus candle wreath on a mirrored tray, a stone LED candle in the middle and a pearl spray woven through the foliage.
3. Use LED candles near greenery
Real flames and dry foliage don't mix, especially with children and sleeves reaching across the table. Good LED pillar candles with a timer look convincing in the evening, and you never have to remember to blow them out.
4. Add one colour, not five
Pick a single accent and repeat it: red berries, burgundy rosehips or soft gold. Three small clusters spaced along the table read as deliberate; a sprinkle of everything reads as clutter.
5. Run it down the table
For a long table, use a centrepiece in the middle and two smaller pieces towards each end, such as a pair of Monte Minis or a few frosted pine stems laid flat. Leave a plate's width clear at each end for serving dishes.
6. Set it up in three minutes
- Lay the wreath flat and fluff every sprig outward.
- Set the candle in the centre.
- Tuck in your accent stems at an angle, all leaning the same way.
- Step back, then take one thing away.
Already paired, if you'd rather
If you'd rather not build it yourself, our Table Centrepieces arrive with everything you need, and the Christmas Arrangements cover the hallway and mantel too. For a sideboard or the end of the kitchen table, where height won't block anyone's view, the Garda Frosted Berry Arrangement brings red berries and frosted cypress in a grey-glazed vase, and the Monte Winter White Arrangement is the calm, pale version with frosted pine and a snowy branch. Order by Tuesday 15 December for Christmas delivery.
More ideas: A Christmas mantel in twenty minutes.