00:01Hi, I'm Butter. This is Wafer. This is how I host. Please come in.
00:13I come from a long line of good gardeners. My mother's a really good gardener and she was the
00:19president of our local gardening club in Maryland. I know, so sweet. And my grandparents were also
00:25really good gardeners. So I feel like gardening is in the blood. And my mother's an incredibly
00:31good hostess and a great cook. So we do like to sort of do this kind of thing, garden and
00:37entertain.
00:37It's a lovely way to live, really.
00:43I've got some dear friends coming for lunch today and I love nothing more than creating a beautiful
00:49tablescape. The tablecloth is a great way to start the process. I've chosen a very colorful orange and
00:55green one. I'll generally choose a selection of flowers that complement the tablecloth. I designed
01:01this with Bertie Fortescue and I love color orange. It does really, for me, say spring.
01:11Once the tablecloth is down, I tend to put a mat on as well because I think it's really nice
01:17to kind
01:17of layer the table. And then I have these very pretty stripey napkins and I think it's really nice to
01:24also use different textures and patterns. So I love the stripes with the florals. The kitchen's pretty
01:33unusual in many ways. There's a lot of art on the walls, which I love. It does attract a reasonable
01:39amount
01:40of attention, but I think it does take a lot of boxes for me as a place to be. It's
01:45very life enhancing,
01:47I think. So next up are the plates. And I love a combination of kind of old and new, found
01:54and
01:55purchased. I collect these plates wherever I see them. I collect them. I sort of slam on the brakes
02:00and grab them. And it doesn't matter if there's two or if there's a set of six. I think mixing
02:07them
02:07all up is a very nice way of kind of, again, adding a little bit of extra to the table.
02:13This screen is so
02:14particularly charming and unusual. It's, you know, it's very different from this green, which is
02:20a kind of modern green. And this is a very sort of old-fashioned green. Collecting for your home is
02:27an
02:27important part of making the house a home. So for instance, I've got quite a significant collection
02:33of the black and white Staffordshire Spaniels. I really love them because they have such funny little
02:39faces and warm personalities. And they keep me company, believe it or not. Sounds a bit mad,
02:44doesn't it? They're like little friends. So carry on collecting is the thing. Find something you love
02:49and carry on, you know, searching high and low for little bits and pieces.
02:56I think no beautiful spring table is complete without seasonal flowers. So now I'm going to go outside and
03:04see what's in the garden. When I design gardens both professionally and for myself, I'm always
03:16thinking about the colours that I have inside. And I always try to grow flowers outside that complement
03:22the colours inside. I try and really be responsible about the flowers that I include in my tablescapes. A
03:29lot of the flowers today are grown by my friend Kim Fleming from Marleston Farm Girl and they're all
03:36seasonal. Here are the flowers that I'm using, which I think complement the colours of the tablecloth
03:42perfectly. There's a nice mix of flower form and colour, which makes, I think, the prettiest arrangement.
03:49So I just basically will get going stuffing them in, really. I tend to start with the sort of biggest,
03:56tallest flowers first, and then the shortest ones will go in these little side openings. I think
04:02when you pause, you know, in between courses, there's a moment that you can sort of savor your
04:08your flowers on the table. I tend to try and have odd numbers if I can, because it's the composition
04:15that
04:16makes it quite pleasing.
04:19It's looking rather full and fabulous. And all the different flower sizes and shapes and colours
04:28create, I think, a really beautiful arrangement that's joyous and will hopefully inspire my guests.
04:41So just placing them now on the table. For me, hosting my friends, it's kind of all about the food
04:48and then all about the flowers. So I hope that this will really bring a lot of joy to my
04:56friends.
05:04So the final thing to go on the table are the candlesticks. I have quite a passion for coloured
05:09candles too. I think why have a white candle when you can have a yellow one or an orange one?
05:18These will go up and down a bit like the flowers. So there's an undulation to the table
05:24and the top line is kind of moving, which I think is really nice too.
05:31The table's pretty much there. There's a lot of colour, a lot of flower and form,
05:39texture and movement and so now my guests are going to be arriving any minute so I might go get
05:44changed.
05:50We're now in the drawing room and I love to welcome guests into the drawing room because I
05:54think it's nice to have a little bit of movement from one room to the next and I think it's
05:59a room
05:59again that's full of layers and colour. There's lots going on. There's a little bit more space for a
06:07few more pictures so always on the hunt for something beautiful to hang on my walls.
06:15Oh, there's a doorbell. I must go let my guests in.
06:18No.
06:19No.
06:21No.
06:21No.
06:22Dark skin are still on the main side.