Tips for Your Thanksgiving Tablescape
As much as our life has changed in the last ten months and as different as our personal challenges may look like in this moment, we are grateful for so much this year and we want to come together to reflect on all the ways in which our life is abundant, acknowledge the good within the chaos we’ve experienced lately, and celebrate that we are able to come to the table—however small—to share our feelings of gratitude with those we love, near and far.
Whether you are safely gathering with someone outside your household or you’re keeping it very, very small only with those you live with, set your Thanksgiving table with intention.
Even if you don’t cook a huge feast—because let’s face it, for many money is tight right now and frankly, finding energy to cook extra elaborate dishes could be hard this year—bringing flair to the table is always a great way to make things feel special and different from an everyday meal! Have a candle holder that you never use laying about? Bring it to the table! Can you forage for branches on your daily walk? Bring those, too! It is all about bringing in elements that create a special ambiance, warm and inviting.
With all of that in mind, we’d love to share our favorite and most approachable tips for setting your Thanksgiving table this year—we hope you’re in for a bit of inspiration!
Fill your table
Here is the deal, we already know we’ll miss family members and dear friends, we do not need a visual reminder, too. If you can, remove extra seats and fill your table with flowers, food, and drinks! If you aren’t cooking a traditional Thanksgiving feast, may we suggest you give the old charcuterie board a go? If you’re serving different wines, bring them all to the table! The point is to avoid the feeling of sparseness because it might remind you of how different things are this year. If you know you’ll inevitably miss your loved ones no matter what, bring your phone to the table and arrange video calls! There is no doubt you will be missed, too, let’s just make the most of the technology around us!
Mirror nature
Thanksgiving or not, we are huge fans of mirroring nature at our table! Whether it is through textures or colors, we love a table that feels like an extension of the natural surroundings. One of the most effective and inexpensive ways to achieve this is by foraging branches, leaves, or flowers! Find things that are readily available in nature and incorporate them in your tablescape. If you are purchasing, make sure you buy things that are seasonal and local. We have a beautiful Paperbark Maple tree in our front yard that sheds big chunks of deep brown bark during the fall, we’ve been collecting some for our table!
Light candles
We can’t emphasize enough what a warm and inviting feel you can give to your table by incorporating candles, especially in the fall-winter months when it is usually darker and—if you’re in the Pacific Northwest—colder and wetter, too! We will always advocate for taper candles for a tablescape because they’re usually more delicate and help to add some height, we’ve been lighting some for a couple of hours here and there to wear them in and create different heights at the table, for an overall balanced look. If you don’t have tapers on hand, go with what you have! Even a few pillar candles or tea lights will help set the mood. Make sure you place a wine bottle, a water pitcher, or any other elements of varying heights on the table too.
Blankets indoors? Yes!
Yes! It is not unusual to see guests with blankets at our Supper tables, especially because most of our gatherings do happen outdoors and in remote locations, which tend to get chillier as the evening progresses. This fall-winter though, we might make blankets at the indoor table a thing. Tables with few people—we bet there will be many tables of two this year!—will feel cozier if you add a warm layer via a light blanket on the back of a chair. If you have a few guests, you will be able to crack your windows open to allow for ventilation while still keeping warm if you have blankets around!
Think outside your table!
Yes! It is not unusual to see guests with blankets at our Supper tables, especially because most of our gatherings do happen outdoors and in remote locations, which tend to get chillier as the evening progresses. This fall-winter though, we might make blankets at the indoor table a thing. Tables with few people—we bet there will be many tables of two this year!—will feel cozier if you add a warm layer via a light blanket on the back of a chair. If you have a few guests, you will be able to crack your windows open to allow for ventilation while still keeping warm if you have blankets around!
A few weeks ago, we got together with our friend Chas Thompson to create these fall tablescapes that we hope get you inspired this season! Chas is a brilliant floral designer we’ve had the fortune of making friends with through this challenging year and honestly, the more we get to know her, the more we are in awe of her—she is a true lover of her craft and prides herself on creative projects and materials that push the boundaries of traditional floral design. We’re terribly lucky to share our love of fall with Chas and come together to bring you some seasonal inspiration.
We have talked about the holidays and how they might look like this year for months now and the truth is, what we envision changes so rapidly due to the current situation we live in. Whatever way you decide to spend the holidays, we hope you keep optimistic that brighter days will come, we hope you feel loved and cherished even from a distance and, as you reflect on the year we’ve had, we hope you discover much to be grateful for!
