Tatler UK - 10.2019

88 Tatler October 2019 tatler.com

seating plan so that I can introduce

guests with similar interests who

perhaps won’t meet each other

without a nudge. Name placements

are kept very simple: small white

cards with handwritten names.

My ideas for the table settings

come from different places. I will al-

ways begin by looking to nature and

the flowers that are growing in my

garden, and from there I’ll plan the

colours and theme for the table. I

generally keep flowers to a single

colour, alongside foliage and other

greenery, such as pots of herbs, and

then add accents of other colours

WHATEVER THE OCCASION, WHETHER

it’s a simple supper for husband and

I, a casual dinner party for friends or

a big celebration, I like to make an

effort. I’ve set up trestle t ables on the

beach, had picnic parties on the

sand, held a celebratory lunch in

our quince orchard in Daylesford’s

Market Garden, with food served

under the branches, the fruit’s gentle

fragrance on the breeze.

As long as everyone is warm

enough and sheltered, I’ll do my

best to be outdoors. There’s some-

thing beautiful and quite magical

about eating surrounded by the

sights and sounds of nature. Even

our New Year’s Eve parties are out-

door buffets where countless times

the heavens have opened, but we’ve

all just kicked off our shoes and car-

ried on dancing in the rain.

To me, mealtimes have always

been important, an opportunity to

bring my family or friends together;

to spend time enjoying our food

and honouring the work that has

gone into its creation by serving and

presenting it beautifully.

The first place I start when I’m

planning a gathering is working out

where I’m going to seat everyone.

Usually, it’s on long tables rather

than round ones because somehow

that feels more intimate to me –

and inevitably as people talk across

the table and the group conversa-

tions start, the chatter and noise

levels rise and you’ve created a lively

atmosphere. I will often make a

fantastic

feasts &

where to

find them

Society super-hostess

Carole Bamford reveals

the secrets of her faultlessly

glamorous entertaining

through the glassware or the linens

and tablecloth. My dear friend, the

late Hubert de Givenchy, taught me

so much and was a huge source of

style inspiration to me. He would

help me source beautiful glasses in

Murano and Venice and introduced

me to a delightful old couple, who

to my mind made the best hand-

blown glassware.

For the tablecloth, my favourite

at the moment is from India. It’s

made with a hand-blocked blue

printed fabric. I like pairing it with

lily of the valley and cornflowers,

but I won’t use anything too heavily

scented. Flowers should act as an

embellishment rather than a distrac-

tion and so I display them in short

vases and old glasses – nothing tall

enough to block anyone’s sight.

One of my favourite springtime

flowers are irises. Iris is my grand-

daughter’s name, too, and for her

first birthday I hosted a lunch where

we decorated the table with nothing

but her namesake bloom. I had a

few single stems in old glass bottles,

but we also transferred whole plants

to rustic wooden boxes for display.

That way, they could be returned

to the ground at the end of the day. PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN MORRELL

10-19LIVING-Bamford.indd 88 15/08/2019 12:57