Texas’ Tablescape Stars — The Women Entrepreneurs Behind Social Studies Will Send a Complete Tabletop to Your Door

Some hosts have a natural talent for creating what Food Network star Sandra Lee dubbed a beautiful “tablescape.” Others are at a loss as to how to make their table settings as entertaining as the food about to be served. Coming to the rescue are two uber savvy Texas gals with a tabletop rental agency billed as the dinner host’s resource equivalent of the party girl’s Rent the Runway.

Just imagine, jumping on the Social Studies website, plugging in a party date and the number of guests and selecting from the 40 or so theme table settings and getting the entire kit and caboodle delivered by UPS to your door. Have your dinner fête, pack up the gear (no cleaning required) and ship it back.

Now that is the height of convenience combined with borrowed creativity. Which equals nearly effortless entertaining.

There are options for date nights, small weddings, picnics, birthdays, anything that involves entertaining, food and drinks. See the looks here.

Friends from their days in Amarillo, Jessica Latham, a former events industry exec with Vanity Fair parties on her portfolio, and Amy Griffin, a venture capitalist and founder of G9 Ventures, launched their rent-a-tablescape business in 2019 providing colorful table settings for hosts and hostesses in the Hamptons. Since that time when Reese Witherspoon and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe were initial investors, Social Studies has expanded across the country, including sales along with rentals and developing partnerships with major brands. The latest of those partnerships is with goop, the lifestyle brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Goop and Social Studies collaborated on the Secret Garden limited-edition collection of tableware and décor in an exclusive offering available for rent or purchase. The kit includes an accompanying guide with music suggestions, cocktail recipes and more to take the guesswork out of entertaining. The set includes a full place setting: vintage-inspired flatware, shapely glasses, and dinner and salad plates in an elevated, modern floral print, with vintage-inspired silver tapers, elegantly stitched napkins and a matte white mini vase to complete the look.

The goop partnership follows Social Studies’ collaboration with LaDoubleJ, which resulted in the colorful and enchanting Doppio set; the collaboration with Aerin Lauder resulting in the playful green Super Tuscan set; and the Whispering Angel partnership which birthed the Summer Fête collection that includes the complete Provence look, set of eight wine glasses, dried lavender, Whispering Angel merch and the option to add on a magnum of rosé.

The kits come in increments of four and are priced per person from $22 to $52, which equates to $88 to $208 per kit. Shipping and add-ons such as florals are additional.

“By using Social Studies, you can effortlessly mark the special moments in your life, whether it’s a simple dinner at home or a large-scale wedding,” Latham tells PaperCity. “We created a service that takes the stress and guesswork out of event planning with offerings that are affordable without compromising on quality.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this past year, it’s the importance of slowing down and connecting meaningfully with my loved ones around the table.”