A Joyful Thanksgiving Table Setting
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With most professional recommendations out there advising you to stick with your co-habiting members this Thanksgiving, many of us are looking at a very different kind of holiday. One might wonder if it’s worth the trouble, the preparation, the decoration, the cleanup for *just* a few people. As with most decisions, I will always come from a place of “you do you”, but let me just say, if you are the type to celebrate in a big way typically, then of all the people to go big for, it would be the people in your immediate circle.
These are the peeps who’ve been with you this whole damn time. You have cried and fought and laughed and struggled and found joy in unexpected places, so why not create some holiday magic? Buy the pretty flowers, make the homemade crust, choose all the premade sides, watch the favorite movies. Fill your home, that has been pregnant with every emotion all year long, with gratitude for what you do have.
One of my favorite aspects of the holiday season is setting a beautiful table. I love selecting the linens, thinking about the floral and greenery combination and choosing the perfect candle color, shape and size. I love thoughtful beautiful details, but I also love simplicity and ease. I wanted this table setting to feel warm, inviting and abundant- a thank you to those we love on Thanksgiving.
Yet the irony of this post is that I will not be hosting Thanksgiving in my home this year. I have been invited to my ex-husband’s house to join him and our children for Thanksgiving dinner; our first Thanksgiving since our divorce. I grieve this change to regularly scheduled programming, but I have also planned my day whilst solo to feel warm, inviting and abundant.
I will set my Thanksgiving table to honor my love of beautiful details. I will bake and cook delicious food to share with my family later that evening. I will read uninterrupted, and I will make calls to those I love. I have cried, fought, laughed, struggled and found joy in unexpected places this year, and I am grateful that I still want to create some holiday magic.
Read on to spark your own inspiration.
I like to start off with one element as the foundation for a table setting, and this year it was this gorgeous red kuri squash. I knew that with it’s unique color, it would be best paired with a more neutral palette.
Natural linen tablecloth - similar
Mercer Bottle Vase - $12
Red Orange Taper Candles - similar
I layered additional tonal color with the deep orange mums and yellow Billy balls, plus a little added whimsy with the handprinted napkins and hammered flatware.
Hearth & Harrow Organic Feather Cloth Napkins, set of 4 -$36
Hammered Flatware - similar
To create a feeling of abundance, I added Honeynut squash and glass bud vases with sprigs of rosemary.
Glass bud vase - similar
I hope you are inspired to create a little holiday magic of your own, however small your table this year.
With love,
Steph
