After putting together the charcuterie table of my dreams for Olivia's 1st birthday party, I kindaaa feel like an expert. Considering it was my first time making one of these for a party with 30+ guests, I have to say... I pretty much knocked it out of the park.
While I had a general idea of what I wanted to do and a Pinterest board ready to duplicate, when it came to the day of the party.. we were all rushing to get everything else set up outside that I pretty much threw the table together last minute. Luckily, my Mom and I went grocery shopping the day prior and bought all the things necessary to make the most pinterest-able charcuterie table EVERRR.
First things first, get to know your guests food preferences (or don't). We're primarily a pescatarian based household and most of our guests know our clean eating habits, so I wanted to create something that was light, refreshing, a bit filling and overall healthy. The party was held on the last day of August which meant all the fruits I wanted to use were luckily in season. My table was a bit different than the typical boards you may have seen roaming around online and did not include any meat or cheese. The more filling options I offered were shrimp ceviche and mushroom + olive flatbread brushed with olive oil. I also included dips, such as guacamole, hummus and my personal fave Bitchin' Sauce all served with Siete Grain-Free Tortilla Chips. Along with the fruit, I put out baklava, cookies and since it was a kid's party I added baby teething crackers to the mix along side OHi! superfood bars. (If you wanna snag some superfood bars of your own, use TABITHA20 for 20% off your order).
I would say to100% do this in addition to the main course at your next party/gathering. We had our daughter's party start around 2:30pm-3pm (scheduled around her nap time), so it turned out to be the perfect mid-day snack table for our guests to munch on before heading out to dinner. Everyone loved it, raved about how beautiful is was and kept coming back for thirds and fourths throughout the day. Best part is that it was so simple to throw together!
Just remember to have fun when creating your table. You can literally throw the nuts and fruit on the table wherever you please and it will look amazing. There is no right or wrong way in doing this, just make it your own and HAVE FUN!
Table Decor
1. Brown Craft Paper to act as your table runner.
2. Place Cards to specify foods for your guests with food allergies (here's the marker I used for the chalk place card).
3. Add a special detail to the table to commemorate who/what your celebrating. I chose to do a framed photo of my daughter printed in black and white and a Paper Mache Number 1.
4. Include natural elements such as fresh or dried eucalyptus leaves and/or baby's breath flowers on the ends and throughout the table.
5. Create dimension by adding different levels to your decorative serving trays. You'll see that I had a 2-teir stand with desserts on one end of the table and a large elevated circular tray with flat breads on the opposite end of the table. This help to draw the eyes from one end of the table to the other, while making the center the focal point.
TIP: some of the wooden discs already had built-in stands, while others were just a flat piece of wood. To create height + showcase the food that was displayed on flat pieces, I simply placed a small serving plate upside down underneath the wooden disc.
6. Don't forget your center piece! Since our table was placed against a wall and people would not be grabbing from all ends of the table, I wanted to add a center piece to add an extra element of natural beauty. However, you can add a center piece even if your table will be island style. The floral arrangement from The Unlikely Florist really brought everything together and the vase they brought it in, matched the gold frame I had picked out perfectly!
Food
1. Fresh Fruit - grapes (all colors), berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries), grapefruit, peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon, figs, kiwis, cherries, tangerines, avocados. Pretty much any fruit you can get your hands on that's in season. Dried fruit is a great alternative if doing this in the Fall!
TIP: pre-wash all fruit and pat down dry to avoid getting your craft paper (runner) wet. Also, for presentation + to fill your table, cut an avocado, kiwi or grapefruit in half and place directly open on the table. I suggest leaving the seed in to a natural element.
2. Pasteries - cookies, baklava, chocolate covered strawberries, etc.
TIP: place all the pastries on a serving tray as they may seep through the paper and stain the table (our table is wood, so I didn't want to risk it).
3. Crunchy + Salty - nuts (almonds, walnuts, mixed nuts), pretzels, popcorn and crackers (all shapes and sizes) and olives (placed these in a small serving dishes throughout the table).
4. Dips/Spreads - From cheese dips to hummus, you really can't go wrong. Just include your favorite dips and your set.
5. Breads - You can literally buy a pre-made flat bread from the grocery store, pop in the oven 15 minutes before your party starts, cut it up into smaller pieces and your done. This was an easy alternative I opted for instead of making them from scratch. You can also include parmesan crisps, pita bread, etc.
Hope that helps! I would love to see your next charcuterie table, please tag me on IG when you make yours.
Xx,
Tabitha