People like to gather, gals especially. And there is no better time to make it happen than the holidays. Instead of gifts and more stuff, family and friends are opting to be present as the present. Tablevogue, a brand of proprietary fitted table covers and a few clicks on Pinterest, Insta or your favorite blogs is all you need to make it happen. The functional folding table now lightweight enough to be carried with one hand dressed with Tablevogue means you can sit to it, serve on it and settle on any venue you can imagine. Your garden, a covered porch, the barn, a public space in or out of doors…Tablevogue allows you to create and curate an interactive occasion anytime, anywhere to be enjoyed by all. Here are some ideas to make “gathering” and “connecting” happen with ease.

1. A Wine Tasting

Pick a Tablevogue signature solid to compliment the theme, red for the holiday or type of wines to be tasted. Invite a local wine rep to walk your family and friends through the choices or have each guest bring a favorite bottle sharing the ingredients, origins and taste notes with others. Always include lots of water and a few snacks to keep well hydrated and sensible. A 6-Foot fitted table cover will make a nice bar dotted by a few 34” card tables for seating. Of course, if you’d rather just gos-SIP (the good kind) keep the theme, nix the sommelier and enjoy!

2. Lunch and Learn

Set up back-to-back tables covered in Bali, Washed Red Tablevogue and ask everyone to bring an element for the mother of all charcuterie boards. Pam brings the olives, Rachel handles the nuts…you get the picture. You end up with more specialty items that people make themselves or source allowing everyone a unique new experience. Everyone brings a bottle of something depending if work day or weekend and everyone goes home with something new to add to their entertaining repertoire.

3. Host and Heal

Dress a few rounds in complimenting but different colors for seating and invite a nutritionist, spiritual consult or health expert to speak about something important to the group. Ask everyone to pitch in a few dollars and have food delivered allowing you to host your heart out and bypass the typical heavy lifting. You can expand this idea to include a variety of board games where guest rotate tables. One group invited a technology expert to teach them 10 new ways to better use their phones and technology in general. The sky is the limit on ideas.

The rules have changed and it’s alright to host-with-help from others. A number of invitation sites make it easy for you to personalize the invite and what you expect from your guest. Tablevogue makes it easy to transform the functional but frumpy folding table from blah-to-brilliant in seconds, the rest of the plan can be as easy as you want or need it to be. Cheers!