Host Like the Movies: Summer Table Edition
Three movies. Three moods. Three ways to host a summer table.
We’ve all watched a movie where the scene, the setting, was so perfect that it secretly became something we would want to recreate one day, even if only in our dreams. A dinner in Tuscany, a sunset aperitivo on a Greek island, a picnic somewhere in California.
It’s never just about what’s being served, but how it feels.
This is for those moments.
For the movie scenes that inspired us to host something beautiful someday without knowing. The vibe, the feeling, the aesthetic of these moments that stuck with us.
Here are three cinematic summers, three distinct moods, and three ways to bring them to your table. No costume change required but I’ll give you some options. And if you haven’t seen these films yet, take them as your summer mood board.
Call Me By Your Name
Where: Lombardy, Northern Italy
Mood: Mediterranean, slow, sun-baked sensuality
Table: Fruit bowls, vintage cutlery, thrown together with charm
Hosting style: All generations, long lunches that turn into naps, nothing too structured
This is a table that is outside, always. Shaded by trees, draped in a colourful cloth, never too bright as if faded gently by the sun. Half the magic happens in the kitchen too (as it always does in Italy), but that’s for another time.
Back to the table. This is the real summer meal: no menu, no seating plan, just the same rhythm, every day. And that’s exactly what makes it so special.
I often come back to this thought. I love adventure and discovering new places, but there’s something deeply calming, and almost luxurious, in the quiet repetition of summer days. The familiarity, the ritual, the way everything softens when you know what to expect.
Those meals are multi-generational with more than one language spoken, making the whole thing an adorable mess. There is always a last minute guest and it feels like the table stretches in ways you never thought possible.
It’s all about abundance without effort. Nothing too fancy, always shared. Pasta salad, bowls of fruit, pieces of cheese, whatever’s in season and ideally grown locally. Casual, beautiful, generous.
Bird bowls / Blue ceramic jug / Yellow glass jug / Yellow checkered tablecloth / Butter dish / Pink tumbler / Hand-painted large salad bowl / Mustard napkins / Bread basket
Raffia bucket hat / Nude sandals / Co-ord stripey set / Liberty printed cotton shorts / Woven-leather tote bag / The perfect white summer dress
Sideways
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Mood: Dusty, warm, and quietly intimate
Table: Could be a picnic blanket, could be a table. Always thrown together with charm
Hosting style: Last-minute, relaxed, and always with good wine
Talking about remembering a feeling more than a table or a meal in itself, Sideways is all about that. Someone picked up a few things. Someone else brought a bottle or two. Suddenly, there’s a meal on a table or on the grass, and it just works. The light is gold, the mood is easy, and the food... it’s there, but it’s not the point.
Again, there is no menu, no matching anything, it’s all about the company and the laughs. People sit on mismatched chairs or the grass. Wine is poured before plates are even set. Think finger food, cheese, charcuterie, olives, nothing complicated.
It’s hosting without trying. The kind of meal that only needs a good bottle, a few real laughs, and someone willing to stay a little longer.
Tablecloth (background) / Wavy blue bowl / Picnic basket / Wine glass / Duralex blue glasses / Falcon enamel plate
Bonnie Clyde brown sunglasses / Beige light cotton pants / Polo Ralph Lauren cable-knit sweater / Blue shirt / Metal sunglasses / Pink Maison Kitsune cap / Brown cotton-twill chinos
Before Midnight
Where: Peloponnese, Greece
Mood: Laid-back, thoughtful and sun-kissed
Table: Ceramics, linen napkins, carafes of wine, a bit of a mess
Hosting style: The table as conversation pit: messy, layered, and alive
This is the kind of dinner that goes on. Conversation flows and sometimes pushes you a little. Someone’s always mid-sentence. There’s never a clean plate for long.
It’s always outside, of course. But the real heat is the table: stories, debates, flirtation, even friction at times. Hosting here is about making space for ideas, opinions and emotion. Everyone has something to say and no one is holding back.
The table itself looks like it’s hosted a hundred meals already. You’ll find pitchers of wine (never bottles), overlapping plates, loads of them, and linen stained with olive oil. No one minds, the beauty is in the mess, the loud voices, the fiery debates that make it feel alive.
The food is generous, colourful and arrives in so many different plates that eventually you can barely see the table anymore. Empty plates are stacked and when someone will feel like it, or when the debate dies down, they’ll be cleared.
Green hand-glazed serving platter / White plate / Olive green jug / White cutlery set / Simple white linen napkins / Perfect wine glass / Handwoven wicker & glass baking dish
Swimsuit we all need / Summer hat / White linen shirt for all occasions / Summer bag / Everyday dress
There you have it, three films, three moods, three ways to host a summer table.
This is not a guide, not a rulebook, just a little cinematic mood board of what summer could feel like around a table.
Whether it's a picnic, a lunch in the garden, or a dinner by the sea full of opinions and olive oil, these scenes linger in my mind not because of what was served, or how it was served but because of how it all felt. The light. The company. The table that somehow stretched to fit one more person.
What I love about these films is that their tables aren’t performative. They’re not about perfection. They’re about presence. About rhythm, conversation, atmosphere, and the quiet, yet essential details that make people want to stay.
And that for me is how I secretly measure the success of a dinner…
The longer my guests stay, the better I know it was.
And maybe, if you’re in the mood this summer to host something effortless and beautiful, you’ll find something here to take with you.
Stay cosy until next time, Jx
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