Your tabletop is a blank canvas. Your choice of fabrics, flowers, and candles, the layering of colors and textures, and adding personal touches all play a part in the delight and ambience that a beautifully designed table brings to any occasion. Go as big or as simple as you want. It's one of my favorite elements of entertaining!
Here are a few easy, creative, and inexpensive fall table decorating ideas that I hope will provide some inspiration to get you started on your tablescape art.
I am a big believer in reusing/recycling, so I have pieces that I keep and use in different ways each season. Here, I reused my 1-800-Flowers decorative pumpkin from a few years ago, filling it with flowers, grasses, peppers, and succulents in a farm fresh palette.
I find these little berry baskets to be the perfect size to use as multiples, as I did on the dining table, or to add just the right festive touch on the dessert or buffet table.
Just line the basket with a small dish, bowl, or can. Cut a piece of floral foam to size and thoroughly soak the foam before placing it in the dish. The foam will make it very easy to create your piece, as it holds each insertion in place and provides hydration to keep your flowers fresh.
Keeping it green and lean
Decorate your fall table with plants! They are affordable and have the added benefit of naturally cleaning the air in your home. The millet plants I picked up at Smile Farms are a bit taller than normal for a centerpiece, but they still work. (I find that everything gets moved around once the food starts getting placed on the table anyway.)
Having small unexpected accents, such as the green apple candles and fresh-cut succulents, on each plate can complete your look and keep your fall table decorated and festive even after all the food has been served.
You can also use small potted succulents as individual place cards that double as a take-home gift.
Forage around
Don't be afraid to do a little foraging in your garden (or your neighbor's — with permission, of course!). I live by the beach, so my garden is full of ornamental beach grasses and millet. And falling leaves are everywhere! This time of year offers an abundance of beautiful branches, berries, and grasses.
Keep it simple and natural by adding an LED votive candle to the center of a fresh artichoke and place a single stem of millet and a sprig fall foliage on each plate.
Interested in learning more about decorating with fall flowers? Sign up for a workshop with Alice's Table to discover the joys of creating your own floral arrangements!