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5 min read

Candle holder ideas for the dining table

A Knot candle holder with a lit taper candle on a linen runner, with a sprig of evergreen and pine cones on a wooden dining table

Candles are the quickest way to make an ordinary dinner feel like an occasion. The trick is not more candles; it is choosing the right kind for the table and arranging them so they look intended. Here is a simple way to think about it.

Tapers or tealights?

Taper candles are tall and slim. They lift the light above the plates and read as formal and festive, which is why they suit a dinner table. Tealights are small and low. They make a soft pool of light at table height and are easy to scatter down a long table or along a sideboard. Many of the best tables use both: a pair of tapers in the middle and a few tealights around them.

Before you buy, check what each holder takes. Taper holders are sized for a candle of a particular width, and tealight holders for the standard tealight cup.

Sway Candle Holder takes two standard 2.2 cm taper candles; Pebble Candle Holder has a taper socket about 2.5 cm across narrowing to 2.2 cm. Candles are not included.

Use odd numbers and two heights

Groups of three or five look more natural than pairs or fours, and mixing heights keeps the eye moving. A simple formula: one taper holder as the tallest point, then two or three tealights at different distances from it. If your holders are all the same height, raise one on a small stack of books or a tray.

Pebble Tealight Pair is a set of three in three heights: tall about 9 cm, medium about 6 cm and low about 3 cm. Pebble Pillar Candle Holder takes a slim taper (dinner) candle.

Three arrangements to try

For an everyday dinner for two, set one taper holder slightly off-centre with a single tealight beside it. It is enough light to make the table feel warm without anything to move when the plates arrive.

For a long table, run a linen runner down the middle and place holders along it in a loose line, alternating a taper with a pair of tealights. Leave a gap opposite each place setting so nobody is looking straight through a flame.

For a festive table, cluster everything in the centre: a double taper holder such as Sway, a set of tealights around it, and a few sprigs of greenery or pine cones between them. Keep the cluster low enough to talk over.

When the candles are out

A good candle holder should still look like something on the nights it is not lit. Sculptural shapes such as Knot or Contour read as objects on a sideboard or shelf, so they can stay out all year rather than living in a drawer between dinners.

See all of our candle and tealight holders in Candle & tealight holders, or more festive ideas in Christmas gifts for the home.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Usually three or five, in two heights: one or two taper candles as the tallest point and a few tealights around them. Odd numbers look more natural than pairs.

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