Amy DiTomasso, owner of Sugar Chic Designs, a boutique event design studio based in Lake Forest, offers these tips for setting the perfect holiday table:

Go for the unexpected. Who would ever think to dress a table with deer antlers? Amy added to a set Susan received in the mail from her father, who had retrieved them from his backyard. “The antlers are a great conversation piece,” says Amy. Then, instead of candles, Amy topped Susan’s mother’s crystal candlesticks with white hydrangea.

Play with textures. Instead of a table cloth, Amy repurposed a calf-hair rug from Romancing the Home in Lake Forest to cover the table. Then, at each place, there is a mother of pearl placemat, an animal print charger, a porcelain dish, and a green succulent to finish the look.

Mix old and new. To continue the rustic elegance at each place setting, Amy swapped out the silver knives from Susan’s collection and added the wooden-handled steak knives. “Reminds me of Colorado,” says Susan Pasquella (READ MORE ABOUT SUSAN’S THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS).

—Ann Marie Scheidler