Thanksgiving at home can be a warm and wonderful experience for you and your guests. But, more often than not, planning a Thanksgiving dinner takes a lot of thought, preparation, and effort. That’s why we frequently see hostesses running around feeling frazzled, anxious, and overwhelmed.
To help you prevent a total turkey meltdown, today’s entertaining guide shares tips to creating an effortless and elegant Thanksgiving tablescape that’s also budget-friendly and beautiful.
Thanksgiving Tablescape Ideas
From gorgeous fresh flowers (that don’t cost a fortune) to luxurious-looking dinnerware that adds an upscale touch, here are easy and affordable ways to create a stylish Thanksgiving tablescape this holiday.
Create a Showy Centerpiece
As the focal point for your Thanksgiving tablescape, creating a centerpiece with fresh flowers is the first step.
Since fresh flowers can get costly (especially when you get them from a florist), a budget-friendly option is to pick up a bouquet of flowers at your local market. There are lots of affordable flowers available, from stunning Stargazer Lilies to lush Hydrangeas (as shown above).
- To keep your Thanksgiving tablescape classy-looking, opt for a single color (such as white blooms).
- In addition, to ensure your guests can see each other during dinner, cut the stems shorter and make a fuller-looking arrangement by using a wider (but shorter) vase, like this stunning hammered copper vase.
- Add seasonal ornamental accents (like real pinecones and mini pumpkins) on the table to surround the centerpiece.
Set The Table
When creating table settings, decide on a color theme. Whether you prefer glamorous metallics, rustic earth tones, or warm rose gold and copper hues, choose a table setting color scheme to keep things looking cohesive and planned.
- For this particular Thanksgiving tablescape, we went with a gold and neutral palette. Since we use basic white plates (which is celebrity chef Stuart O’Keefe’s tip for making your food the star of the show), to dress them up for Thanksgiving dinner, we put metallic gold plate chargers underneath each plate.
- In addition, we opted for dishwasher-safe gold flatware that coordinates perfectly with the plate chargers. This instantly added an elegant touch to the table. The best part is – you can just put them in the dishwasher after Thanksgiving dinner is over.
- For the napkins, we chose neutral-colored striped cotton napkins (which are inexpensive and easy to wash). To make them look fancier, we added gold napkin rings. Then we placed the folded napkins onto each plate to act as the focal point for the table settings.
Serve Food Family-Style
To make life easier for you as the hostess, instead of plating each person’s meal, serve food family-style. Not only does this enable you to bring out all the food at one time, but it also makes guests feel more comfortable since it’s a more casual way to host a dinner.
In addition, when you serve food family-style, it prevents waste, as guests can decide how much of any dish they want. Since some people love turkey and others are more into the sweet potatoes, large serving platters (like the one above) make it easy for them to serve themselves.
Decorate The House
In many contemporary homes, open floor plans are becoming the norm.
If your dining table overlooks your living room or entry, make sure to incorporate Thanksgiving accents throughout the rest of the house, to create a cohesive look from one room to the next.
From mini pumpkins and scented candles to coordinating fresh flowers, and even seasonal greetings (like an inspiring ceramic harvest pumpkin with a sweet inscription on it), these little decor pieces create a warm and inviting place for guests to relax and unwind. Plus, these Thanksgiving decorations are both elegant and budget-friendly, making them a great way to add a festive touch to your home.
For more inspiring tips and ideas, check out the Entertaining and Home Decorating sections on Inspirations & Celebrations.
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