Celebrity wedding designer Devika Narain styles a casual festive look

Devika Narain draws from her expertise in designing dream weddings to show us how to prep our homes for Diwali. In the second part of our series on styling for Diwali gatherings, she creates a bright and cheery table setting

“I absolutely love bougainvillea,” says Devika Narain, who used this flower as an inspiration and focal point for this Diwali table setting. This hardy shrub, that infuses any space with colour and cheer, is also perfect for the Indian climate and is relatively inexpensive as well.
 

Having designed this look for a breezy Diwali brunch or lunch, she explains, “I have found that the minute you add fresh clusters of these vibrant flowers to a table, it becomes festive. It doesn’t matter what dinnerware you use, if you add this element to your home, you’ve won half the battle.” Devika complemented the bougainvillea arrangements with bunches of Sweet William and Orchids with just a whisper of Hibiscus, all of which bring in a natural colour gradient to the look.
 

Read on for her styling guidelines for a casual table setting that is easy to recreate:
 

One bold colour works wonders
I drew inspiration for the colour palette from the bougainvillea. Most of us don’t have the time to plan out and execute elaborate tablescapes so I always like to add one focal element to make the setting unique. By adding one strong vein of colour, you can drastically transform the look. To complement the shades, I worked in natural materials, dark wood furniture and a distressed finish mirror.