Party Planner

A table that looks finished is rarely a single expensive item. It is four or five cheap layers in the right order. Decide them in this sequence and the order goes in once instead of three times.

The five layers

• 1. The base. A cloth or bare wood. It comes first because it is the only decision that depends on your table's measurements, so see the size guide.
• 2. The strip. A runner down the middle. On a bare table it does the whole job; over a cloth it adds the pattern.
• 3. The centre. A wreath laid flat, a cluster of small pieces, or the food itself. Keep it under eye level so guests can see each other.
• 4. The wall. A banner across the mantel or doorway. This is what makes a room read as decorated from the door.
• 5. The settings. Napkins, placemats or themed plates. The layer to skip if the budget is tight; the first thing photographed if it is not.

Outside the room

Two pieces do a disproportionate amount of work and sit outside the table entirely: a garden flag at the path and a door sign on the front door. Guests meet both before they see anything you did inside.

Budget order

If you are building a seasonal set over a few years, buy in this order: runner first (cheapest, most visible), then a banner, then a door sign, then the full cloth, then place settings. Each addition works with what you already own because the range repeats one pattern across formats.

For a classroom rather than a table

The same logic collapses to three layers: a wall banner, a bulletin-board set and a sticker sheet for the children themselves. The back-to-school shelf carries all three, and the order calendar notes that the useful window is July, not September.

Working out when to buy? The order calendar has the lead time for every occasion.