Now that summer and grilling out have (pretty much) finished for the season, it is time to transition to dinner parties. Having a few friends over and want to make the table look nice but not go crazy? Then it’s time to DIY your dining table for a fall gathering. This season gives us many beautiful options, but keep it simple. Before I went shopping, I knew I wanted to use mini-pumpkins, some kind of fall berry, and one type of flower.
While I have access to our local flower market, I instead headed to Whole Foods and Nielsen’s Garden Shop so that you can pretty much bang out your food and flowers at the same time. I found some beautiful coral and orange roses at Whole Foods, and mini pumpkins/gourds at Nielsen’s. Neither place had the berries that I was looking for, so I improvised. Nielsen’s had some purple and orange mini-peppers in pots, which I decided to cut and use as the berry going down the table.
Here are the three elements:
The first order of business was making little place cards. I happened to have some gift tags (from amazon), but you could make them using craft paper or any card stock. I tied them to the pumpkins with jute twine:
Time to make the arrangements.
First, I stripped the leaves from the roses. Next, I gathered the roses in one hand and put all the rose heads together, the way I wanted them to look in the vase. Then, I cut all of the stems down to one length. Hold the flowers up next to the vessel you are using to determine the correct height, and cut more if you need to. Plop the flowers in the vase, adjust them a bit, and they are done! Using one type of flower keeps it simple but impactful:
I placed the two floral arrangements and the rest of the pumpkins and gourds in the center of the table:
Then, I snipped the stems off one of the pepper plants, and placed the stems in-between the gourds and pumpkins.
And here is the general idea of what your table will look like. Add votives or candles at varied heights and lots and lots of wine glasses, and you will be good to go! Using three elements keeps it simple and easy.
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