Easy Table Settings For Every Occasion

by Noeleen Foster, Clare Huisamen and Ingrid Loud (Struik Lifestyle, R200)

This book is purely for those who want a visual feast and to be inspired. If you are one who can look at a picture and do your own version of what you see, this is the book for you. But if you rely on step-by-step instructions on how to achieve a look, you’ll be disappointed.

The authors say how they achieved a certain table setting, but gloss over the details.

They also tell you in a few cases to use the “bits and bobs” you have in your home and follow their example.

But, unless you are easily inspired to create your own setting, this book won’t do it for you.

What the book does do well is explain how to set a table (precisely where your spoons, forks, knives etc should be placed) from a very casual to a formal setting.

It also devotes a chapter to how to prepare well for any home function, from making shopping lists and lists as to what to do in the days leading up to a big, home-catered event.

A two-page planner with headlines and spaces for what to do still to be filled in would be handy to photocopy and use to help a hostess/host prepare for a celebration.