Hawkins approached the project with simple elegance in mind. She was looking for a traditional, seasonal setting, but she didn't necessarily want the well-traveled red-and-green motif. "I chose to balance two strong colors -- green and silver -- with a few bright accents to bring out their beauty," she says.

An assortment of silver-trimmed china touched off the styling process. After surveying the group of plates and patterns, Hawkins picked out a deep-green tablecloth with thin silver stripes, which united the mixed china collections. "You may have several different patterns of china," she says, "and you shouldn't be afraid to mix older and newer pieces."

With the china and tablecloth in place, Hawkins focused on the centerpiece. In lieu of flowers, she chose green fruit to match the palette. Using granulated sugar, she frosted pears and bunches of grapes. Hawkins placed the grapes at the center in a silver leaf server and displayed the pears in clear compotes at each place setting. "The food will have color and texture as well, and it shouldn't fight with the table setting," she says. "This keeps it clean and sophisticated."

Having established a consistent look with the tabletop's major elements, Hawkins stayed on theme for the crystal and flatware. Clear stemware and silver utensils fit the bill here, though she left room for a jolt of color. "Use your good stemware. If it has a decorative pattern it will add texture to the table. If you have colored crystal, mix it in -- red would work well for flutes or wine goblets," she says.

As with the stemware and flatware, the napkins and accents were selected to carry on the scheme. "I kept the napkins simple. They're solid white with decorative hem stitching, to set off the tablecloth," Hawkins says. For the hand-lettered place cards, she imagined several different options. "I originally planned to cut a slit on top of the frosted pears for the cards, and I still like the idea," she says, "but I ended up using the silver place card holders instead."

Hawkins added a finishing touch of color to round out the details before the shoot began. "I dropped raspberries into the champagne flutes to dress them up. The color makes the green and silver pieces really pop," she says.