The Thrift Store Find That Will Elevate Your Outdoor Dinner Party Table

Come summertime, many of us start thinking about how to throw the perfect outdoor dinner party. How do we host an evening that feels elevated but relaxed, unique but stress-free? The pros so often have great advice — who doesn't want to learn to entertain like Ina Garten, for example? When thinking about decor, which sets the entire tone for the night, we're taking our cues from "Fixer to Fabulous" hosts and design experts Jenny and Dave Marrs. Their specific approach is to incorporate vintage pieces into your tablescape — it's eclectic and statement-making, and doesn't look matchy-matchy. Our favorite tip is to use silver punch bowls as your ice buckets. And those bowls are a great thing to thrift.

You'll definitely need ice buckets out for your beverages, but most vessels large enough lack elegance. Silver punch bowls have the capacity to hold both enough ice and your bottles of wine or beer or cans of seltzer or ready-to-drink cocktails — but they themselves are decor, too. Pro tip: Find bowls with stands and bowls without so you can create a layered look as you place a couple at different ends of your tables. It can be both fun and frugal to search for good options online, at thrift stores, and at flea markets. Maybe you even have your own silver bowl you've inherited and have been waiting for a way to use it. 

It's key to figure out how much ice you'll need for any outdoor get-together – and depending on your menu, it may be a significant amount. You need everything to be out and available to guests, which means having drinks on ice so they stay cool and delicious. You might need more ice around for glasses if you're pouring drinks, too. Since this is inevitable, it's also the perfect opportunity to turn your ice-and-beverage storage into decor. You can get creative and place your silver bowls on antique trays, and even scatter baby's breath or dried herbs or flower petals on them. With a little finesse, you can transform these bowls from a pretty spin on ice storage to party centerpieces.

Remember it's crucial to properly prepare vintage finds before serving out of them. You can clean antique silverware effortlessly with a mix of cornstarch and water. To play it on the safe side, you can stick to using thrifted bowls for ice that bottles and cans sit in, and not for ice that will go right into glasses. 

There are other ways to incorporate silver punch bowls into your event decor, too. Fill them with flowers, greenery, or candles. Or, use them as fruit bowls, which also boasts a two-in-one purpose as it's an artful pop of color that guests can help themselves to.