10 Ideas for Aesthetic Al Fresco Dining

10 Ideas for Aesthetic Al Fresco Dining at Home

Ice clinking. Dappled shade. The fizzing of your elderflower cordial. Crisp white table linen flitting in the breeze. That feeling when you quietly close your eyes and let the sun sting your cheeks on a serotonin-drenched summer’s day.

Al fresco dining is always where you have the fondest memories. It’s rarely the flashy holidays that you feel nostalgic about. Usually, it’s those moments when your belly aches laughing with your friend on a laissez-faire mismatched lunch table in the garden. It’s when your fingertips turn red from cutting strawberry heads in the cool shade of the kitchen. Time seems to stand still and you languish in the heat, with only the flow of conversations that manage to have any pace.

Footed Serving Bowl, £60, The White Company. Image courtesy of The White Company.

For our inspiration, we’re dreaming of the nonchalant al fresco breakfast laid out in Call Me By Your Name. Maybe also the picnic in Brideshead Revisited, where the characters put the world to rights while crunching into a strawberry sitting by an oak tree.

We’re just at the cusp of al fresco dining season, so now is the perfect time to magpie and gather together beautiful objects to adorn your tablescape of midsummer dreams. From tumblers, tea lights to table linen, we’ve rounded up the prettiest tablescaping pieces to inspire you, brought to you by The White Company.

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Image courtesy of Maison Margaux

Issy Granger

Studio Arhoj

Delft blue tulip vase three-piece pyramid style made by Heinen Delft Blue, tulipiere

Whitewashed Oval Rattan Placemat

The White Company

Image courtesy of Piglet in Bed

Jam Jar Flowers

Footed Serving Bowl, £60, The White Company. Image courtesy of The White Company.