tatler.com October 2019 89drops – though I’m equally guilty of
taking a chance. I recently held a
summer lunch party for about 180
people in the middle of a huge field,
with a beautiful view and not a
house in sight, when the forecast
was for heavy rain. I didn’t have a
Plan B and I still thank my lucky
stars that the weather held. I’d dec-
orated the tables with the most
beautiful English roses from my
garden and if it had rained they’d all
have been drenched and ruined.
When it’s sunny, you can be play-
ful. I’ve organised a lunch party
where everyone sat on hay bales,
which kept things fun and informal.
Then as day rolled into evening and
the sun set, the music was turned up
while guests danced on them.
For all the gatherings I’ve held,
the one place I haven’t had a chance
to host in yet is a vineyard. I’d like to
set up lots of long tables among the
vines. The drama of the landscape
would make for such an incredible
setting, and I think I could have a
lot of fun creating a wine-themed
tabletop, decorated with bunches of
grapes, old wine bottles, crates and
vintage coolers. I’d love to make it
happen at some point.(
Carole Bamford is the founder of the
biannual Seed magazineESTATE OF GRACE
Opposite page,
Lady Bamford loves
to eat outdoors.
Above, one of her
verdant table
settings. Left,
Daylesford HouseL IVINGI like to decorate a table with
references to the season and
surroundings: for an autumnal
party there might be vegetables,
pumpkins and different sizes and
varieties of squash, or for a table
setting when we’re on holiday, I’ll
use lots of shells and pebbles. For
Easter, the table is laid with silver
or ceramic hens, and nests made
from twine or willow foraged from
our local hedgerows, alongside lots
of bright yellow crocuses or prim-
roses. For a lunch celebrating the
Cheltenham Festival there will be
bronze horse ornaments. If it’s ancooking and eating simply and sea-
sonally mirrors my own and I think
their food is sublime.
Mostly I prefer to keep things un-
complicated, though as far as I can
recall, the worst decision I made over
a menu was to serve crêpes Suzette. I
think I was drawn to the idea of the
drama and spectacle of the flaming
dishes being presented to my guests,
but watched in horror as somebody’s
hand slipped and a blazing pancake
ended up in my mother-in-law’s lap.
An occasion should be for every-
one, from grandchildren to grown-
ups. If it’s a big party I’ll sometimes
provide entertainment, such as a
puppet show, or add touches that I
know the children will love. For a big
lunch party this summer I hired an
ice-cream van, so that for pudding
the guests could choose their own
flavours and cones. The children
loved it but it was also a bit of fun,
and became an amusing talking
point for the adults.
It is often easier to entertain in
summer months when you can be
more happily outside, though of
course there are still risks with the
weather. I’ll usually have a back-up
plan in place, such as keeping Indian
tents and plenty of blankets on hand
in case it rains and the temperatureevening occasion I’ll always have
Bamford hurricane lamps of differ-
ent heights on the table to add
visual interest and soft lighting,
and in the winter I’ll light a fire in
the room for a warm and inviting,
cosy atmosphere.
One of the things I love most
about entertaining is planning the
menu. I keep a huge collection of
cookbooks to hand and often spend
hours leafing through them to work
out what I’m going to serve. Arabella
Boxer’s books are a constant reference
point for any event, as are Ruth’s
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN MORRELL River Café books. Their ethos of10-19LIVING-Bamford.indd 89 15/08/2019 12:57