A monochromatic palette is most interesting when the chosen color is expressed in many shades. Iridescent runners of pale-pink silk shantung overlay an off-white tablecloth on this candlelit setting inspired by formal 1940s dinner parties.

Fluted clear-glass vases show off a spectrum of pink flowers: dahlias, sweet peas, ranunculuses, scabiosa, nerine lilies, and garden roses. Place cards sit on Japanese fabric fans, which are spread open on luminous shell-pink plates. Off-white napkins cascade over the edge of the table.

Sweet Pink Patterns
Three fabrics -- a ticking stripe, a large floral, and a tiny floral -- combine for a vintage country look. Using a single color makes mixing patterns easy (the prints should be the same style, such as country or modern, and have the same background color).

The ticking wraps an inexpensive plastic cylinder bursting with an array of snapdragons, roses, nerine lilies, ranunculuses, and lisianthus. Favors -- jars of strawberry-rhubarb jam -- are covered with one of the florals, tied with pink twine, and set on top of a contrasting napkin.

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