Set the perfect spring table

These simple ideas will help you to set the perfect spring table for your Easter or Passover gatherings.

Passover and Easter are almost here! Will your dining table be ready for guests? Whether you host a large or small gathering of family of friends, these simple ideas can help you set the perfect spring table for these important celebrations. Let’s start with Easter.

This year, Easter falls on April 20. My family’s celebration tends to run smaller, and that’s fine by me. A friend of mine said their family Easter tops 25 people (bless them)! Whether you’re doing a fun or elegant table, you need some type of centerpiece, and I love this idea from Family Features that includes colorful Peeps, foil-covered chocolate eggs and either fresh or silk flowers.

Easter centerpiece directions

To make the centerpiece shown in the above photo, you will need:

• 1 clear glass trifle bowl

• 1 bag chocolate foil-covered eggs

• 3 or 4 packs of Peeps chicks (or bunnies), your choice of colors

• Fresh or silk flowers, your choice of colors

• (If you’re using fresh flowers, you’ll need a smaller vase that fits inside the trifle bowl.)

Add the chocolate eggs to the bowl. If using a vase for fresh stems, nestle it among the eggs. Fill vase with just enough water to keep stems moist (about an inch).

Line marshmallow chicks (or bunnies) around the bowl. You may need to arrange two rows of these, depending on the size of your bowl.

Nestle the silk flowers in the middle of candies. If using fresh stems, add the flowers to the vase.

Carrot utensils trick

This idea for presenting cutlery is fun for a more casual table or buffet. The orange paper napkins give a great color pop to a table. While I like the contrast of green cutlery, I’m not a fan of plastic. I think a better option would be using compostable bamboo cutlery.

Although plastic cutlery technically can be recycled, most sources say these items wind up in the landfills. You will need the following to make these cute cutlery holders for your Easter table:

• Orange napkins

• Compostable bamboo cutlery

• Green ribbon

• Carrot tops

Lay napkins flat on table. Place one of each utensil in napkin facing top corner. Wrap napkin around utensils. Tie ribbon around middle of napkin and tuck a bit of green, carrot tops inside the cone. Place the cutlery package in an Easter basked (for a buffet) or at each place setting in the middle of the plate.

I like the neutral color of the bamboo cutlery, but compostable cutlery is easily found in stores today, so opt for that over plastic. Otherwise, use your usual flatware.

And if you're setting a more formal table for Easter, here's a cute idea for a place setting courtesy of The Dollar Tree.

Bunny ear napkins

For this craft, you’ll need:

• Cloth napkins  

• Speckled faux Easter eggs

• Twine

• Faux Greenery and Floral

• Optional, chalkboard wooden clips and white paint pen

Lay out the napkin so that it is shaped like a diamond with a point at the top and at the bottom. Rolling it from the top point down until the entire napkin has been folded. Fold the napkin in half, leaving room for the faux egg in the middle. (It could be fun to tuck a few after-dinner mints inside the plastic egg.) Secure folded napkin with a piece of twine and tie into a bow.

Add an egg to the middle of the napkin. You may choose to clip on a chalkboard wooden clip with your guest’s name on it and add a touch of faux greenery or floral.

Beautiful Passover table ideas

My friend Leslie's Passover seder table from 2024. She provided the photo to use here.

This year, Passover begins the evening of April 12 and continues through April 20. The seder plate holds symbolic foods used to help retell the Exodus story in the Torah. Although these symbolic foods are integral at the seder, the table settings vary between families.

For example, my friend, Leslie, each year sets a unique table. “It’s a mashup of Japanese, Jewish, and Hawaiian,” she says, a beautiful reflection of their family’s diversity. But family heirlooms are always mixed in, including the seder plates from her great, great-grandmother.

“These are what my mom used my whole life,” Leslie says. There’s also a Depression-era rose-colored press glass dish from her great-grandmother that always holds the charoset, the mixture of fruit, nuts and wine to symbolize mortar Hebrews used to build Egyptian structures.

In addition to using heirloom pieces, keeping to a color scheme can create a lovely table. This blue-and-white color scheme is elegant for a seder. Featured on blogger Deborah Shearer’s site, Table + Dine, she beautifully mixes patterns here.

Blogger Milena Kukurekovic last year shared a striking table of creams, greens, and fresh flowers. You may want to do less disposable cutlery and drinkware, but otherwise, her little touches like sprigs wrapped in napkins are elegant.

Do you have photos from your Easter or Passover tables from last year? If so, drop them in the comments so we can be inspired by your creativity! No matter how you choose to celebrate, I wish everyone a Happy Spring/Passover/Easter. And watch for the special holiday newsletter next week with recipe ideas for your spring gatherings.

About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.