LCBO Food & Drink Early Summer 2020

Table tips For outdoor long-table dinners, event producer and entertaining expert Jasmine Baker (jasminebaker.ca) shares practical advice, beginning with renting long tables:

FOR RENTERS • Go wide! Rather than a standard 30-inch-wide table, opt for 36-inch or even 42-inch-wide ones. This allows ample room for setting out all the food and beverages along the centre of the table. • For casual dinners, skip seating people at the ends of the table. • An 8-foot table is perfect for 4 people on either side. For 10 to 12 people, double up with two 6-foot tables. • Rent dishes, glasses and cutlery, too. Afterwards, just put everything dirty back into the crates for pickup. HOSTING TIP • Have sunscreen and insect repellent handy and spare sunglasses, too! • Be prepared for it to get colder and darker as the night goes on. Have a basket filled with cosy throws and candles and matches ready for sunset.

FOR PLANNERS • Plan the tablescape in advance. If you don’t have the table yet, use tape to mark it out temporarily and run a roll of Kraft paper down the centre. • Plot out a spot for everything, from place settings to serveware, right down to candles and carafes. Says Jasmine, “that way, I know exactly what goes where and guests aren’t helping move things to make room on the table to accommodate a large platter.” • Ensure no one is sitting in the middle of where two tables meet or with the table legs in the way of their own legs. • Take plenty of photos for reference to replicate on the big day.

Create the illusion of one very long table with kraft paper running down the centre from end to end.

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FOOD & DRINK EARLY SUMMER 2020