When I have guests on the way, whether for dinner, drinks, or a cozy night in, the first thing I do is light a candle. It's a simple yet so effective way to create a welcoming, relaxing atmosphere, but where should you never place a scented candle when hosting?
The answer, really, is obvious once you think about it – strongly scented candles on the dinner table can heavily affect the way you smell and taste food and drinks.
Here, our home fragrance experts explain exactly why it's best to keep your best candles off your carefully curated tablescaping and what to use instead.
Why A Scented Candle Doesn't Belong on Your Dinner Table When Hosting
While I personally love scented candles and love swapping them out with the seasons (I'm currently using them to make my home smell like Christmas), Amy Keller, a candle-maker and the founder of apidae candles, says she tends to avoid scented candles in all parts of the home, as she finds that manufactured scents can often be too overpowering.
'However, most importantly, a scented candle should not be placed on the dining room table during a meal,' she warns, no matter how beautiful they look on your dining table decor ideas.
'Part of the pleasure of eating is enjoying the smells of the food. Smell allows us to distinguish the nuances of complex flavors. Without a proper sense of smell, food tastes different.'
Certainly, after all that preparation, the last thing you want to do is ruin your hard work cooking up party food recipes and seasonal menus for late Autumn.
What To Do Instead
Luckily, you don't have to sacrifice your dinner table styling. All you need, instead, is to pick non-toxic candles, specifically those that are unscented.
Darryl Do, senior perfumer at Delbia Do Fragrance, advises, 'Use unscented taper candles at your table, and keep scented candles or your best reed diffusers in your hall, living room, and bathrooms.'
For this, I recommend using colorful candles to still add a touch of flair or personality to your table – these Fluted Taper Candles, available in a pack of four at Anthropologie, would be my pick.
Alternatively, recommends Amy, burn beeswax candles. 'The bees give the beeswax its natural, subtle, honey scent, which is never overpowering,' she explains. These dinner candles are ideal for a holiday table setting. They are dripless and burn clean. The golden beeswax adds a touch of warmth to any festive table.
'And most importantly, they will never overpower the food, which should be the star at the dining table. The subtle scent of beeswax candles takes a backseat to the aromas being served up at the dining table. They burn elegantly in the background.
'In addition to being a beautiful source of light, beeswax candles are also a conscious and healthy choice. Made without additives or artificial fragrances, they offer a pure and natural alternative to conventional scented candles.'
If you're crafty, you can also try your hand at making your own candles, using candle wicks and beeswax, both available at Amazon.
What to Shop
All prices were correct at the time of publication.
Dress up your table in style with these hand-crafted candles, made using locally-sourced beeswax and cotton wicks in Catskill, New York. Each boasts an impressive burning time of up to nine hours.
These bubble pillar candles prove that you don't have to spend big to make an impact. I love the red color for adding a festive feel to any holiday tablescape, and the lead-free wicks will burn for up to 60 hours.
Understated yet totally festive, these nutcracker-shaped taper candles are perfect for holiday hosting and available in four different colors. White's classic, but I'd be tempted to opt for pink myself.
Why not go full-out with these Christmas tree taper candles? Made of paraffin wax for a non-toxic clean burn, they're perfect for adding a cozy glow to any space when you have guests over.
Sometimes, classic is just the right way to go when it comes to decorating for hosting. These unscented candles are long-lasting, chic, and elegant, and guarantee a smoke-free burn that won't interfere with your food.
The Christmas bow trend may have been all the rage, but I'm still loving it for a playful way to add color, without feeling too overly Christmassy. These taper candles come in a set of two.
Meet the Expert
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