How to Tablescape with Terpenes
- Here’s our guide to terpene tablescaping inspired by myrcene.
- Event designer and planner Daniel Schaeffer gives advice on tablescaping.
- How to master cannabis-friendly dining and Intentional Cannabis Entertaining.
5-minute read
Life Is Short—Wear Your Myrcene Party Pants!
Ever wonder how to entertain with cannabis the same way that people entertain with wine? Just like there are Beaujolais Nouveau parties, when you’re planning your next dinner with friends think about the terpenes that give cannabis their flavor, like myrcene. Even when we’re just getting together with family, we love to go all out with our menu, our outfits, and yes, a fantastic tablescape for spring. Here’s a guide to terpene tablescaping and a cannabis-infused menu inspired by myrcene.
Memories Are Made Around the Table
Entertaining, even when it’s just your family, is a daily opportunity to create more enjoyment in your life. We all need that right now! Take the time to be imaginative with your environment through tablescape ideas that will make your guests—or your fellow quarantinees—feel special. At House of Puff, we love a good tablescape design. Here’s how to center your entertaining on cannabis without getting kitschy.
What Are Terpenes?
Terpenes are found in all flowers and in fruit. They give plants their beautiful, distinctive smell. The cannabis plant has over 200 different terpenes!
Myrcene Is One of the Most Common Terpenes
Myrcene is found naturally in mangos, lemongrass, hops, and eucalyptus. It’s wonderfully earthy and spicy. You might’ve heard that eating a mango 45 minutes prior to imbibing can actually boost your high, and there actually may be some science to back that claim.
Our Myrcene Tablescape for Spring
Myrcene is a calming terpene. So we focused on it as our jumping off point for this design. Since myrcene is soothing, we went with a predominantly blue/yellow tablescape—using deep tones of blue with pops of uplifting yellow and soft green accents.
What Will You Need for Your Own Terpene Tablescaping?
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Tablecloth
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Plates, bowls, and any other necessary serveware
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Smoking accessories
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Stemware
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Flatware
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Napkins
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Flowers
“If things are otherwise looking a bit boring, that’s when to bring in a bold pattern to elevate the whole setting.”
Become a Terpene Tablescape Artist
A beautiful tablecloth will anchor your design. Go with linens that pop—they’re an easy way to elevate your design.
Advice on Tablescaping from Daniel Schaffer
According to event designer and planner, Daniel Schaeffer, it’s important to tie in other elements of your table. “I think the perfect tablecloth really depends on your other elements—much like any season of the Real Housewives, there can only be one star. What’s the true star of your table setting? If you’re using gorgeous plates, then you want a more muted cloth to allow them to pop. If you have luxe florals, you won’t want a competing design. And if things are otherwise looking a bit boring, that’s when to bring in a bold pattern to elevate the whole setting. Once you get the hang of it, you can go pro by mixing bolder patterns to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.”
Setting The Table
Of course, be sure to steam or iron out any wrinkles. Follow your tablecloth with chargers or placemats, and then add plates. We used Mexican Talavera dinnerware because their traditional color combos fit right into our blue/yellow spring tablescape.
Decorate With Hemp
As a subtle reference to our inspiration, we wrapped hemp wick string around our flatware and placed the wrapped utensils on our napkins. Feeding two birds with the same seed, your guests can use the string as hemp wick lighters!
Tablescape Height
Add some height throughout your terpene tablescape. You can do this with flowers, candles, or tiered stands. Since our menu is for 4 guests at a small table, we kept it intimate with low vases of blue hydrangeas and yellow-orange alstroemeria (the Peruvian lily). We also like to set the table with water and wine glasses, even if it’s a booze-free meal. Stemware adds height and sophistication to your table.
Terpene Tablescaping Decor
To complete your look, accessories are essential. Daniel advises, “Once you’ve rounded up the usual suspects (plates, flatware, stemware, etc), I always like to include one unexpected element. Think of something that will tie your tablescape design together—I love a theme! It could be something small like an unexpected place card holder, or something major like a whole forest in the center of your table. Feel free to play around and make it fun. Be as weird or as out there as you want, just make sure it’s still appetizing.”
What to Use in Your Tablescape
You can use anything from around the house that fits your color story. We used a blue and white ceramic jewelry box to hold our flower! Mix it up to tell a story. Your fellow diners will appreciate how much thought you put into creating such an inspiring setting.
Terpene Tablescaping for Cannabis-Friendly Dining
When you’re planning tablescapes for cannabis-friendly meals, include accessories like rolling papers and one-hitter pipes. Do some research about the kinds of flower you want your guests to enjoy. In this case, we suggest serving strains with a high component of myrcene, like Mango Kush and Northern Lights.
Bake right before guests come over to get that amazing aroma throughout the house
Cannabis-Infused Menu
You can serve infused and non-infused food. It really depends on your guests. For this lunch, we let our guests choose their own adventure. Our ricotta toast was served with an infused berry compote using a vegetable glycerine cannabis tincture. As a myrcene complement, we served a mango salad—onto which guests could drizzle infused or non-infused olive oil.
Touches
As the final touch, bake right before your guests come over to get that amazing aroma throughout the house. Since lemongrass has such a high content of myrcene, we whipped up a lemongrass cake.
Intentional Cannabis Entertaining
For your next get together ICE it out, aka “Intentional Cannabis Entertaining.” (Yeah, we’re pretty proud of that acronym.) What we mean by that is to appeal to all of your guests’ senses. Elevating the visual presentation of your food and the cannabis you’re serving will make your guests feel that much more special.
Where We Found It
The dinnerware—Mexican Talavera (we found ours in Mexico City)
The napkins—Azulejos Blue China by Le Jacquard Francais
The flatware—Harper by Olivia & Oliver’s—believe it or not, these are Bed Bath & Beyond’s proprietary brand
The stemware—Riedel Vinum
The cannabis accessories—House of Puff, of course!