Thanksgiving Flower Arrangements and Tablescapes
Well folks, once again the Holiday season has snuck up upon me. Wasn’t it just the Fourth of July? I’m a big fan of Thanksgiving because the concept of the holiday - giving thanks - really resonates with me. I have always been someone who is VERY aware of how fortunate I am. I have been blessed with an incredible family that I love more than anything and I have never for a moment taken that for granted. We are happy. We are healthy. We are together. Nothing else matters. I love any excuse to bring the ones I love together so I look forward to Thanksgiving every year!
The Best Place To Buy Affordable Flowers For Holidays and Events
Whenever I am hosting an event at my house, whether it be a holiday dinner or a baby shower, I always like to create special flower arrangements to make the event feel as festive and special as possible. Purchasing flowers directly from a traditional florist can be very expensive and you’re going to be limited to whatever flowers that particular florist has in stock. One of my favorite floral tricks is to go downtown to the Los Angeles Flower Mart (every major city has a flower mart). The flower mart is where your florist goes to buy their flowers at wholesale prices. The flower mart is an incredible place! It’s just an explosion of color everywhere you look! I mean, what girl doesn’t love flowers and this is a place where you are literally surrounded hundreds of thousands of them! It’s a destination that really makes me feel inspired and gets my creativity kicking into overdrive. Walking through the giant warehouse of flowers and floral accessories, as well as all of the smaller shops along the street, is truly something everyone should experience…unless of course you’re allergic to flowers!
Flower arrangements and Centerpieces
My favorite part of having a dinner party or a special holiday meal is setting and decorating my dining room table. This is where my inner Martha Stewart comes out. I always enjoy getting to use my nice dishes and silverware because it’s not something that we use every day, which makes the meal feel extra special. Another reason why I love this part is because I’m able to use my creativity to make the holiday itself come alive!
It’s nice to incorporate the colors of fall into a Thanksgiving tablescape design. Whether accenting with flowers in a variety of fall colors, or incorporating symbols of fall like pumpkins, persimmons, pomegranates or different varieties of squash, each of these can add to the Fall vibe of your dining table.
This year when planning my tablescape, I wanted to create a fall color palette that would work with my dark brown dining table so that I didn’t have to use a tablecloth. I had already purchased pumpkin colored napkins for this event, and I wanted an array of flowers that really embodied a Fall foliage feel.
Tips For Creating Flower Arrangements
Choose a color palette that suits your event and try to pull the colors throughout other elements of the decor to tie it all together.
If you want to prepare your flower arrangements and centerpieces ahead of time, clip your stems daily for longevity.
Change the water every day and add fresh flower food to the water.
When decorating a large space such as a long dining room table, consider making several small and medium sized arrangements instead of just one large one so that the table does not feel empty.
Consider incorporating dried flowers into your arrangement to add more dimension to the piece. These dried flowers will last a long time and you can reuse them afterwards around your home or even as an accents on your gift wrap.
Table Settings
My neutral white embossed china and my gold rimmed glass chargers make it super easy for me to accent with florals or any of these fall fruits or vegetables.
With my table decor, I tend to always decorate our dining room table with a more contemporary feel which is easy for me to do with my neutral china that I mix with my sterling silverware. Once again, it’s mixing the old and the new which I love.
I also like using placemats and cloth napkins over a more traditional tablecloth. I have a variety of different sets of place mats. Most of the styles that I have are in a nice neutral tone; ivory, taupe, brown and even a slight metallic gold and silver. I do have a set of orange / rust woven placemats that are perfect for this time of year.
One of my favorite brands of place mats is Chilewich. They are available at most large department stores, or for their full line, check out their online store. Home Goods and Cost Plus World Market are great spots to pick up reasonably priced table linens. They have a great assortment of colors and styles at great prices. I recently saw some Chilewich “dupes” at Home Goods at an incredible price point. There’s also a good version on Amazon as well. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
Incorporating napkin rings with a holiday design or color can also be a fun way to add a little pizazz to your dining table. Here are a couple of napkin rings that I think are perfect for this time of year. If you’re so inclined to add a clever napkin fold with each place setting, there are an abundance of books that offer some interesting step-by-step “how to” designs. Also be sure to check out Elle Decor for additional ideas.
My Thanksgiving Napkin Design
The Seasons of Giving
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, I cannot help but think of other people who are battling with health issues. If any of you are looking to donate to a charitable cause this season, I’d like to introduce you to Lights Out, Cancer. Lights Out, Cancer is a global awareness and fundraising event designed to spotlight the discoveries and revolutionary treatment advances made in the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. The Duncan Cancer Center’s world-class doctors and scientists employ the latest strategies such as a patient’s own genetic makeup and immunotherapy to defeat an array of cancers so every patient has the chance to enjoy a long, full life.
This is a charity that was created by my sister Wendy. Wendy was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer with metastatic lymph nodes with a high grade. I am beyond thankful that Wendy beat her battle with cancer. This fundraiser on February 8, 2020 is Wendy’s way of trying to help fund research that could help others beat this disease.
In addition to being thankful for all of my family and friends, I am also thankful for all of the wonderful people who read my blog and support me in this passion project. Your kind words of encouragement always mean so much to me! Stay tuned for my next article where I will share some of my favorite Holiday recipes!
Take care y’all!
xx Barbara