An Easy Shrimp Boil Tablescape and Party Inspiration

Do you love a party?? Oh good, me too!
It’s tablescape day for my dinner club group and this month is a low country boil. Follow along and let me share an easy shrimp boil tablescape and party inspiration.

If you’re coming over from Regina at Saved From Salvage welcome! We’re so glad you are here.

She is our guest host this month and we are so happy to have her joining us. Wasn’t her party tablescape so fun and creative??

shrimp boil tablescape

To be honest, this was my first attempt at a shrimp boil party. But, I had so much fun getting creative with the shrimp boil tablescape.

Of course, I went with my typical neutral theme, and that’s what made it a bit challenging.

Most of the time, there seems to be a lot of red or blue in low country boil tablescapes.

But what makes tablescapes really fun for me, is getting creative and thinking outside the box.

inspiration for a shrimp boil tablescape

Starting with an inspiration piece always makes the ideas for a table, room or anything you are designing, come together better.

My inspiration pieces for this shrimp boil tablescape was a fishnet and some small metal buckets.

I will explain the reason for the buckets in a bit.

table covering for a backyard seafood boil

Most seafood (shrimp, crab, crawfish, etc.) boils are hosted outdoors. They can get pretty messy and the shrimp boil isn’t the most pleasant scent lingering inside your house.

Obviously, this is typically a very casual party/get together.

An easy and inspensive table covering is brown paper. You can purchase rolls of lightweight brown paper at the dollar store or heavy duty rolls at the hardware store in the paint section.

I keep some on hand, so I covered my patio table with the brown paper, then topped it with a fishnet I bought at the craft store.

place settings for a seafood boil party

The place settings for a shrimp/seafood boil party can be very simple and casual.

Some like to just pour the seafood out on the center of the table covered with the brown paper and gather round to fill your plate.

I chose to set my table, but kept it very casual. And served the food family style.

I used white dinner plates that I have on hand, and layered a woven plate holder with a salad plate inside, on top of the dinner plate.

Remember those woven holders we used to use for paper plates? Well, I found some recently at a thrift store, and grabbed them.

Some of you might still have some.



You could keep your seafood boil place settings super casual and use the plate holders with actual paper plates. It would certainly make for an easy clean up!

You need a place to dispose of shells during your meal, and I thought these little metal buckets were the perfect solution.



I found them at the craft store for only $2.99 each, and lined them with a piece of parchment paper.

These will be useful for other things, so I didn’t mind the investment for 6 of them.

finishing touches to the place settings

I chose fabric napkins with a large taupe/white buffalo check.

The napkins were tied in a knot around the silverware at each plate.

However, these seafood boil dinners can be super messy, so paper napkins or a roll of good ole paper towels is totally fine.

And lastly, on the note of them being messy, I placed a wet finger towel on each plate for easy finger clean up.

They are white washcloths,rolled up and tied with a piece of twine and a sprig of rosemary tucked in, just to make it a bit more appealing.

white rectangle platter with 6 white washcloths rolled and tied with twine and a lemon slice on top rosemary tucked beside platter



You can read how to make these very refreshing finger towels, here. They are so great to keep on hand for all types of summer events.

centerpiece ideas for a shrimp boil party

The centerpiece for a seafood boil party should be very simple and casual.

An enamelware bucket filled with bottled drinks was the center of my table.



You can fill with whatever bottled or canned drinks you choose, and it makes everyone helping themselves very easy.


Mason jars filled with grocery store bought daisies make sweet and inexpensive flower arrangements for a casual event.

I placed a small arrangement on each end of the table.

And lastly, a few tea lights in clear votive holders were sprinkled around the table. This will add a nice touch of candlelight as the sun starts to set.

what to serve with low country boil

In case you’re not familiar, Low Country boil is a classic Southern recipe famous along the South Carolina coast.

The key ingredient, shrimp, is a principal product of the Low Country. Many recipes differ, but the staple ingredients of shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes remain the same.



For this particular party I served boiled shrimp, link sausage (grilled), grilled corn on the cob, and boiled new potatoes.

Each place setting had a small dish of melted garlic butter, because you HAVE to have butter with corn and shrimp, right??

However, my dinner club friends, have a full menu for you that’s coming on Saturday. You don’t want to miss it!!

It has everything from a yummy cocktail to dessert with lots of delicious things in between.



I hope you enjoyed “An Easy Shrimp Boil Tablescape and Party Inspiration” post.

Next up, is Jen from Midwest Life and Style. And be sure and check out all of the other tablescape ideas by clicking on the link at the bottom of each picture below.

Be sure and Pin It to remember it….

overhead view place setting for shrimp boil table covered in brown paper then fish net and white dinner plate stacked with a woven plate holder then white salad plate on top and small metal bucket lined with parchment paper on top of salad plate fork and knife tied with tan and white check fabric napkin to left of plate and mason jar of daisies to left of plate white washcloth rolled and tied with twine and stem of rosemary tucked in Pinterest graphic

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16 Comments

  1. Absolutely gorgeous, my friend. This low country tablescape is full of class
    And style. I love it! I’m so looking forward to the recipes. Hugs to you, my friend.

    1. Thank you sweet friend! Have a wonderful weeked!

  2. Michele i love your table! it looks so pretty and what a fun theme we had this month!

    1. It really was such a fun and different theme! And thanks so much for the kind words!

  3. Michele,
    I love your neutral tablescape. The fish net and the shell buckets are so creative. Amazing ideas as usual.

    1. Thank you sweet friend! This was a fun table to create. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

  4. I love your pretty table, Michele. The moist hand towels are such a fun idea and a great touch!

    1. Thank you Jen! So glad you liked it and I really appreciate the kind words!

  5. The setting is just beautiful Michele! The netting, the buckets, the towels – all just perfect!

    1. Thanks so much sweet friend! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

  6. Regina Jenkins says:

    Michele, I am normally a neutral girl and I’m impressed you could pull it off so beautifully. I love the addition of the net on the Kraft osier and your bucket with drinks as the centerpiece is perfect. So glad to have joined this month.

    1. Thanks so much Regina, and I’m so glad you liked the tablescape! Thanks so much for joining us!

  7. Michele, you have set a table that is so inviting and welcoming. You thought of everything. I love the towel with lemons. A perfect touch when serving seafood!

    1. Thanks so much Tammy! I’m so glad you found some inspiration here and I appreciate the kind words!

  8. This is so pretty and filled with inspiration. Love the lemon slices with towelettes. Pinned!

    1. Thank you Cindy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post and I really appreciate your kind words!

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