Fall Inspired Thanksgiving Tablescape

A fall inspired thanksgiving tablescape with details on where to source the decor items for your own tablescape in India plus a video tutorial to set your own tablescape

The plan was to have this fall inspired thanksgiving tablescape go live at least a week earlier, but well things did not go as planned. We were not at home half of November, and before that work had kept me busy so the shoot got delayed and hence the post too. I do hope the post still gives you some idea/inspiration about how to set your table, or at least you get to save it for applying the tips next year. Thanks to 2020, things have been smaller in scale but just because its going to be a small gathering does not mean you can not make your place festive enough.

I know you might not believe it, given this last minute post, I actually started prepping for this year’s festive season last year. Last season I realized in terms of festive props, I did not have many, and as a stylist that can be a big problem. Especially since most festive shoots happen way in advance when festive decor stuff is not on the retail shelf yet. Also, since thanksgiving/halloween is not that big here in India, it means traditional decor stuff needs to be ordered online or DIY’ed which might take time. That in turn means either tell the client they will have to make do with what’s available or beg/borrow/steal from other stylist or prop houses (which in Delhi are not many and can be out of the client’s budget).

While the prep did start last year, the month of October is generally busy with client shoots since festive season shoots are at a peak. I had all plans to make content around Halloween and then Diwali but work kept me super busy last month. And even though I had planned out and prepped for the Thanksgiving tablescape way in advance, I just made it in time with the blog post. For Christmas though I am hoping to be better – not only with the tablescape but also with the recipes.

Although late, I still wanted to do this tablescape post mainly because I want to highlight some Indian brands plus brands available in India that are doing really good stuff in the decor department. As a stylist I am always looking for recommendations and thought this post might be helpful if you are ever in my position. Delhi people can avoid shipping time and actually visit the stores, but with Covid cases rising ordering the stuff online and getting delivered to your doorstep might be a better option. This post is not a sponsored post , but more of an appreciation post that thanks to them I was able to set up a fall inspired thanksgiving tablescape that I had envisioned.

TABLE DECOR BREAKDOWN

Table Cloth, Napkins, placemats:

For the tablescape, I had decided fall colors- orange, brown, cream with a bit of gold and subtle green. I bought linen from a local Delhi store (HP Singh, Nehru Place) to use for the table cloth. 2.5 mtrs of cloth for my size of table was enough but you might need to check how much you would need for your table. When buying do consider the width of the cloth since different materials have different widths and you would need to keep the width of your table in mind along with extra measure for the overhang. I got my tailor to neaten the edges and voila I had an earthy tone table cloth.

Note: Linen can be stiff, unless it is pre treated. With frequent washes linen softens, but in case you need to soften it more quickly you can let it soak in half a bucket of water with 1 cup baking soda for 24 hours. Rinse and let dry and you will find the cloth significantly softer. With time and more washes you will see the linen soften more.

For the napkins, initially I was going to use these linen blend napkins that I had ordered from an online store but the color did not fit with the overall look I was going for. I had to make a second trip to HP Singh and found this beautiful linen silk in rust orange color that I knew would be perfect with the overall color scheme I was going for. While linen silk feels and looks beautiful, if you were to pick napkin material for regular use I would go for a more stain resistant material in either cotton or pure linen. Oil stains on linen silk would be a pain to clean up but for me, these will mostly be used for shoots so its not an issue.

The jute placemats were a purchase from Westside, Lajpat Nagar. I had initially got 4 thinking of using them as trivets but then I liked them as placemats too, so ended up getting 4 more (they came in a set of 4). If you are a prop collector like me, Westside  carries some amazing stuff at a decent price.

Dinnerware, Cutlery and glasses

The dinnerware set I used in the tablsescape is from Gigi and Chakra, near Sultanpur Metro, MG road Delhi. While I love this set, the only issue I have is that when we bought it, they only had 2 side/salad plates left. Since I was doing a table for 4, I decided to leave the salad plates out, and used soup bowls instead since I do love serving soups when I have guests over. The cutlery is a Kishco hand me down from mom. The glasses were a buy from Oma when they were on sale and we got a decent deal on them. I have seen similar shaped glasses at Artistico as well (but in a different color).

The small Thankyou Notes (that could be used as placecards too- you could personalize with a handwritten note too) were a buy last season from Origin One Store. They have some unique stationery and great gift wrapping accessorie .

image credit: Anubhav Sood 

Table Runner Centerpiece

This was completely Pinterest inspired. I had seen DIY runners for Thanksgiving/Fall inspired dinner tables made with leaves and actual pumpkins and I wanted to recreate it. I got whole pumpkins from my veggie guy in INA (Ahuja Vegetable Store). I chose different sizes and also made a point to have two different colors.

For the leaves, last year I ordered some artificial vines from Aliexpress for decor purposes which on other days hang on my door, but for the tablsecape made their way to my thanksgiving tablescape. While getting flowers for the hanging arrangement, I did see some eucalyptus type of fresh leaves at the Chattarpur market and my plan is to get them for some Christmas theme DIY.

Last year when I had trouble sourcing white pumpkins, I ordered them through Ali express. I finally got to use them this year. I also made some small white pumpkins with air dry clay inspired by Trumatter’s instagram. I ended up using this tutorial for the clay pumpkin DIY. You can source air dry clay from Amazon here. I also saw some interesting pieces by curiocitybyLidwin on instagram and although late to order for Thanksgiving, I am looking at that page for Christmas.

image credit: Anubhav Sood 

 

For the glass pumpkin lanterns I lucked out with the pumpkin collection Suite No. 8 launched recently. They are beautiful and add elegance to the entire decor.

To add some color I used some orange candle votives from Artistico Decor in GK 2 M-Block market. The silver candle holders are also from the same store and gave the entire table certain height that was missing without them. Besides that I added candles of varied sizes all across using wooden coasters to place them on. To give additional height, I used mini patisserie glass holders from amazon. I have seen the same at the Wishing Chair as well.

To keep the fall inspired theme, I added pine cones, dried leaves (I had collected from the street) and some dried oranges. I also added some fresh yellow mustard flowers and some fresh green foliage. A few more candle votive holders (from Gigi and Chakra) with height were used to add some layers to the entire table.

image credit: Anubhav Sood 

Hanging floral Arrangement

The reason I did not want a big centerpiece and opted for a center runner as described above is because I planned to do a hanging arrangement. I have seen them on instagram (most particularly on our Food Stories account). For the arrangement, I used pampass grass from Rosebuck life. I also had some pampass grass that I had foraged on our trip to Corbett. Bloom Bombs is another company that carries dried flowers and you can check them out too.

This tutorial from Crate and Barrel for the pampass grass hanging arrangement was helpful to figure out how to get the arrangement to hang. I got the chicken wire from amazon (link here). It came with wire clippers so that was great. I used fish net wire (bought from a stationery shop) to hang the entire arrangement to the ceiling. Since we stay in a rented accommodation and we did not want to put holes on top, I used masking tape to stick the wire to the top. If you find self adhesive hooks, those would work perfectly.

Note: Pampass grass sheds- I made the arrangement with the table removed so that I could clean up once done. Using hair spray once the arrangement is done helps in keeping everything together.

GENERAL FLOW

I gerenrally start the tablescape with doing the center and placing the bigger items. Once they are placed, I lay the dinnerware, glasses and napkins. This gives me an idea of how much space is left and needs filling. Then I add the smaller items. This tablescape was done mostly as a styling exercise but if I was styling it with dinner in mind, I would remove some of the side elements and leave some more space for the dishes to be kept.

To make this tablescape more budget friendly you can look at only one statement piece and for the rest look around your house for items that will give varying height, or repurpose them to fit the theme. While I did purchase a few items for the tablescape, I did have most other items from previous shoots, or lying around the house. You can check out Lajpat Nagar/Banjara market in Gurgaon for crockery as well as decor items at a steal. Getting your own napkins and table cloth can be cheaper (not always) and you get unique pieces that are truly yours. Instead of artificial vines (although they last long) go for more natural leaves. Forage in your neighbourhood, or give business to a local flower vendor. It always helps to build a rapport with them, and you can share images of what you would like and generally they will be able to source what you want.

Let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully I will be posting more for christmas. You can follow me on instagram to keep updated.

 

 

Disclaimer: While this is not a sponsored post, some of the links in the post are affiliate links. If you click on them and buy the product I will earn a small commission. Its not much (believe me) but it does help in paying a part of the bills and as a result make me able to create more such content.