5 creative ways to style your grazing table this festive season

Grazing tables and platters aren't new to the party scene - they've been around for the last couple of years at weddings, brunches, casual gatherings, you name it.

While these gorgeous displays of food may look effortlessly put together, there's more to it than just putting together cheese and grapes.

Whether you're ordering from a professional or creating your own, here's five tips on how to take your grazing table styling to the next level.

1. USE GREENERY TO CREATE A COHESIVE LOOK

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Most grazing tables look like someone just spilled their farmer's market shopping all over the place, creating a luscious spread of food with all kinds of colours and textures.

Pull together the whole look by framing the display with greenery, either in vases dotted around the table or by laying the food on large leaves.

When choosing your greenery, bigger is better - think bunches of fresh mint, or banana or palm leaves. The idea is to echo the sense of abundance while using the colour to pull the look together.

2. TAKE YOUR DISPLAY TO NEW HEIGHTS - LITERALLY

Since grazing tables are all about beautiful chaos, placing everything at the same level can look boring and uniform.

Elevate some sections of food by using cake stands or even an overturned basket - this creates an interesting tablescape for the eye to roam over, and also helps to separate some of the food that you don't want to be touching the others, like cheese.

Just be sure that the elevated parts are stable to avoid any risk of toppling over, especially if they see a lot of action!

3. USE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TABLEWARE FOR VISUAL INTEREST

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Plates can only take you so far. Take your display to the next level by considering what other items you have in your kitchen that can come in handy - wooden chopping boards, dipping bowls, even martini glasses can all play a role at your grazing table.

Glasses, for instance, are perfect for gathering small items like berries. To keep the look pulled together, stick to 2-3 main colours for your tableware.

4. MAKE 'CAKES' BY STACKING FOOD

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Running low on space? Stack up food on top of each other to form tiered 'cakes' that serve as the star of your display.

Use a cake stand to arrange smaller items, or if you have plenty of cheese rounds, place them on top of each other to create a multi-layered confection, like the one here by Kiss My Pans.

Add some berries and leaves to complete the look.

5. GET CREATIVE WITH SHAPES

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Smaller-scale doesn't have to be boring. For more intimate gatherings that feature platters instead of an entire table, you can get creative by arranging the food in shapes.

Here, Lush Platters uses a large round plate as the base for a Christmas wreath - all you have to do is add some pine cones and holly sprigs (artificial, of course) for that magical Christmas atmosphere.

This article was first published in Home & Decor.