When the YH&G team gathered for a Christmas lunch, they pooled their talents to create the ultimate festive table setting. Check out our top tips for sharing your special moments
Getting together with the people in your life to mark the end of another year is one of the best things about the holiday season. Whether it’s breakfast with extended family, dinner with friends or drinks with workmates, it feels good to take stock and share those rare moments of rest and reflection. When the Your Home and Garden team gathered at editor Kristina’s house recently, style director Catherine and art director Fiona put together a festive table that you can easily recreate at your place. Here’s how they did it…
Flowers & foliage
When you think about Christmas foliage, the colour that commonly springs to mind is evergreen, but shades of crimson and rose were the order of the day at our YH&G lunch. Especially with a lush backdrop like the native bush at Kristina’s West Auckland home, adding colour through flowers and foliage is a great way to bring your table to life.
Fiona chose flowers such as carnations, manuka, sweet william and hemlock to provide colour in vases, then at the last minute Catherine dashed off to forage for slender eucalyptus branches, which she draped along the centre of the table. This gave the setting a beautiful lushness as well as being in keeping with our Antipodean Christmas.
Food & table
With a strong colour palette established, the next step was to add contrast. Catherine did this by using plenty of glowing gold and brass tones in the place settings, which created a rich, festive effect alongside the deep reds and pinks. Soft grey plates and linen napkins help to ground the arrangement, while pure white candles added light and a touch of formality.
It’s up to you whether to use a tablecloth – Catherine and Fiona opted not to, as the occasion was casual and they loved the colours in this Vitrine table and bench set. However, a vintage rug beneath the table, plus a few velvet cushions, made this relaxed outdoor setting feel a little bit luxe and kept the overall effect from being too austere.
When it came to the food and drink, our resident foodie Kristina really turned it on. Casual yet beautiful plates of cheese, fruit, nuts, fresh hummus, charcuterie, crackers and bread looked gorgeous with our stylists’ table decor. And we all learned a good trick – a cut tamarillo on a cheese board instantly makes it look more appealing!
Capturing the moment
Don’t forget to capture Christmas memories while you catch up with loved ones. Vodafone’s Social Pass gives you endless social data on your favourite social apps, keeping you connected all summer! Our team snapped selfies and shared laughs with the Vodafone Smart X9. The dual camera experience and features such as auto HDR and slow mo made remembering our busy year super-fun, and the huge 5.7” touchscreen helped us make sure there weren’t poppy seeds in our teeth!
Gifts & tree
Our clever styling team kept the Christmas tree really simple with tiny fairy lights, aged brass-effect baubles and sprigs of beautiful eucalyptus to tie it in with the table. As the native bush setting was already so green and lush, letting the tree simply sparkle in the background was a great way to keep things festive without going overboard. Some natural baskets and a vintage rug from Babelogue underneath completed the organic effect. Gifts were wrapped in simple brown paper with sprigs of manuka tucked under gold cord.
Phones make great gifts for the whole family, and Vodafone has the right model for every member of your clan. If you’re considering buying someone their first smartphone, the Vodafone Smart C9 is an ideal entry-level option, or if you’re looking for a high-performing smartphone at a fraction of the price of popular high street brands, the Vodafone Smart X9 is a great choice. With a brand new phone, everyone can stay in touch and share all their Christmas highlights.
How to take the perfect Insta pic of your Christmas lunch
- Don’t try to fit in the whole scene, just choose a beautiful corner or detail and focus on that instead. The challenge is to try and tell the whole story, without showing the entire setting.
- Make sure there is a mix of textures in your shot. For our table setting, rustic wood platters are offset with some beautiful soft linens and luxe brass.
- Add in some nature. Greenery or flowers always make an image pop.
- For the best photos, use a phone with a great camera like the Vodafone Smart X9, with it’s high performance 16MP camera and 8MP selfie camera.
Vodafone’s Social Pass helps you stay connected all summer long, giving you endless social data on your favourite social apps from only 36c per day when you purchase a 28 day Vodafone Social Pass. You can design your perfect Christmas on Pinterest, keep in touch with friends and family near and far over Facebook and upload all your Christmas photos to Instagram.
Some functions will still use your plan data. No tethering or hotspots. Fair use applies. For personal use in NZ. Maximum video streaming quality is 480p/SD. See vodafone.co.nz/pass for terms.
Scroll to see how you can capture and share your festivities this Christmas
Picture perfect The ideal gift for a social media lovers this Christmas, the Vodafone Smart X9 boasts superior performance and an all-screen experience to keep you connected with the ones you love. Make memories to last a lifetime with the fantastic dual camera (16MP + 8MP selfie capability). The huge 5.7″ HD touchscreen provides a cinematic experience that fits easily in your hand. Other standout features include fingerprint sensor, auto HDR, slow mo and super night mode. Lose yourself in every moment this festive season! Rrp $279
Pretty Sweet Sure to be at the top of your wish list this Christmas, the beautiful Huawei Nova 3i not only looks great with its 6.3″ 18:9 FHD+ touchscreen, it also delivers on the very latest technology and performance. Available from Vodafone in Iris Purple and Black, the phone features four integrated cameras (16MP + 2MP and 24MP + 2MP selfie cameras) to capture stunning, rich colours in spectacular style. The huge 128GB internal memory ensures you can store all your Christmas memories, while the face unlock and fingerprint sensor security make usability a breeze. Rrp $499.
Tough Stuff
If there’s a no-nonsense bloke in your life who’s always on the move, treat him to the MobiWire Dakota Rugged from Vodafone, a super-handy phone that offers an IP67* water-resistant and dust-proof device with a hardy design.
With features to complement outdoor usage in places like farms or building sites, plus the ability to withstand being dropped, the phone offers a highly durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen. The slim design has a carabiner slot to clip onto jeans or workwear and stay connected on the go, while the nifty 5MP camera makes instant daily social media sharing easy.
Network locked. To use with other networks, a $30 unlock fee applies.
*Water resistant up to 1m for 30 minutes.
Style file For style aficionados who also can’t get enough of their phones, the Samsung Galaxy S9 from Vodafone combines form with function. Enjoy superb photograph and audio quality amongst a host of other new and exciting features, with a 5.8″ infinity display, 12MP dual aperture camera, 8MP selfie camera and Dolby Atmos AKG speakers to immerse yourself in sound. Available at your local Vodafone store or online . Get it now on an open term, pay monthly plan. For a limited time, get a free Samsung Galaxy Bluetooth Watch worth $499 when you buy the Samsung Galaxy S9 from Vodafone. The Samsung Galaxy Watch has been designed with all lifestyles in mind. With a timeless traditional watch design, the Galaxy Watch is for all occasions and would make the perfect gift this Christmas.
My first smartphone If this Christmas is looking like the one when your child will receive their very first smartphone, you can’t go wrong with the Vodafone Smart C9. Packed full of features including a 4″ touchscreen, customisable homescreen and two cameras – 2MP + VGA (0.3MP) selfie camera – this is the perfect first phone. The Smart C9 from Vodafone has all the great features of an Android smartphone, plus a fast 1.3GHz processor, making it an ideal introduction to the Android world at a very affordable price. Available in black or gold. Rrp $49 Network locked. To use with other networks, a $30 unlock fee applies
Small but mighty Make smartphone dreams come true this Christmas with the Vodafone Smart N9 lite. Small but mighty, this phone packs a punch at an extremely affordable price. With both an 8MP + 5MP selfie camera, there are plenty of opportunities for kids, tweens or teens to capture awesome holiday moments all summer long. Kids will love the 4G capability, as well as the 5.3″ 18:9 touchscreen and latest Android 8 operating system. Rrp $129 Network locked. To use with other networks, a $30 unlock fee applies. 4G not available everywhere and requires a 4G capable device. See vodafone.co.nz/4G. These smartphones come with a free Vodafone MyFlex Prepay SIM – the plan that gives you the flexibility to adjust your kids’ data, minutes and TXTs to suit your budget and their needs. Over 100 combinations are available, starting from just $13 per month. You’ll need a smartphone to design your MyFlex plan which needs to consist of minutes, TXT and data totalling $13 or more. MyFlex plans renew every 28 days and auto renew if you have enough credit. Included minutes and TXTs are for personal use only. See vodafone.co.nz/myflex for terms.
Styling by: Catherine Wilkinson. Photography by: Michael Rooke.
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