Quite a delayed post date to actually impact your tablescape plans for Turkey Day, but hopefully this year’s Thanksgiving setting I’ve prepared will give y’all a little inspiration in some way, shape, or form!
I actually set this table for what we call, in my family, our “Fall Harvest Dinner.” My mom started hosting a late October extra special Sunday dinner sometime while I was in high school, as a way to get to nibble on Thanksgiving food more than once. To be totally honest, some of the rationale also included the fact that my siblings and I spend Thanksgiving with my dad and stepmom, and my mom desperately wanted an excuse to cook a full fall feast. Enter: Fall Harvest Dinner.
Once I got to college at SMU, Fall Harvest Dinner expanded to include any of my friends craving a homecooked meal and family time. This year she scheduled the tradition on a Sunday I was out of town (*cough* not bitter *cough*) and went for the same menu as always…
Pork Crown Roast
Apple Sausage & Sage Stuffing
Sauteed Mushroom Medley & Green Beans
Fall Green Salad
You’ll see “Salted Caramel Madeleines” on my photographed menu (and more to come on those in another post!) but Mom actually prepared my grandfather’s favorite: Classic Carrot Cake. *Mmm*
Back to my table—
The inspiration struck when I decided to order a full set of the pictured off-white wavy edged plates at market this past summer. I’d had my eye on them for everyday use, because most of the dishes I collect are for styling or special occasions. I wanted something durable, cute, and easy for everyday, and I wanted a complete set because what I currently use is a bit mismatched. I went overboard: dinner plates, salad plates, chili bowls, cereal bowls, baking dishes, serving pieces, you name it. You know it’s too much when some had to be stored out in the garage… woops.
The rest of the table look came together as I took inventory of what I had to mix with the crockery, that could look totally different when used differently. For example— I had the embroidered dinner napkins made last year for my pink and brown fall tablescape, and their neutral tone allows for great flexibility from table to table. The water glasses were featured in my red, white, and blue 4th of July tablescape, and you can never overuse the gold cutlery. The blue inclusion was inspired by the Velvet Pumpkin collection I already had, but displayed in a new way on my dining room credenza. I’ve told y’all many times before— when I’m working on a tablescape, I leave it out to play with for weeks. Layering things up in new ways, bringing in new items I picked up randomly, what have you. I think the process is what I have the most fun with!
“I see the brilliant orange glow of a sugar maple in its full autumnal glory. I see the crisp blue sky of October, so clear and restorative and reassuring. I see hayrides, and I feel Halloween just around the corner, kids dressed up in homemade costumes, bobbing for apples and awaiting trick or treat… I picture pumpkins at a farmer’s market, piled happy and high, awaiting a new home where children will carve them into scary faces or mothers will bake them into pie or stew.”
Jenny Gardiner, slim to none
That brings me to the pumpkin pile. I had always pictured the table staying very neutral with a pile of white pumpkins, but something needed to warm everything up and tie a bow around all elements. The table sat for weeks without that gorgeous blue topper, and once it was there, I knew the another complementing color was the ticket. All pumpkins pictured are from the good ol’ Trader Joe’s parking lot selection, an assortment of peachy Cinderella pumpkins not quite as loud as a traditional orange shade. Since the credenza was occupying most of my Velvet Pumpkin stash, real pumpkins seemed like the ticket.
Here’s all the details.
- Dinner plates
- Salad plates
- Bowls
- Placemats
- Table topper
- Wine glasses
- Water glasses are a vintage find from Round Top, TX.
- Napkins were embroidered at Forget Me Not in Dallas, TX.
- Ribbon for pumpkin place cards
- Butterflies adorning pumpkins
- My favorite brand of Velvet Pumpkins
Tips to try
Here are a few ways I think you could incorporate some of these details for your Thanksgiving tablescape, even this late in the game—
- Tie up a petite pumpkin for your place card, assembling with whatever paper or ribbon you have on hand.
- Those paper butterflies are printed in a perfect-for-fall palette and would be so fun stuck on table accents or even a wine glass for dinner!
- Bring the outside in— pine cones, bare branches, dried leaves, etc. I think the pine cones on the credenza are one of my favorite points of interest.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Madeleine
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