Thanks for all the replies. I should clarify.


We do gift baskets, but they're different. They have the little jars of
mustard and marinade with the bottle of wine and all the cute bows and
cellophane and decorative "hay."


We also do cheese tasting in the shop where the employee (me) gives the
customers tastes and talks about the cheese while cutting it up. For
that, the cheese is not pre-cut.


I'm talking about the cheese platter. This is meant to be consumed at
the moment and thus is cut into squares ahead of time. It has to look
beautiful while being easily accessible to people who have a glass of
wine in one hand and who might be wandering around the room schmoozing
with others. There's no employee or hostess standing behind the platter.


With that in mind, I like the fruit sculpture idea the best. I used to
know how to do those way back when and could surely sharpen my skills
with practice. I also like presenting some sort of dip that goes with
cheese in a cut vegetable.


It will be hard/expensive to put fresh flowers and herbs on a cheese
tray this time of year, but come spring, I can't wait to put edible
nasturtiums and big sprigs of basil and tarragon all over the platters.


Thanks again.


--Lia