Friendsgiving After Dark: A Beautiful Fall Table

Welcome to a beautiful fall table to celebrate Friendsgiving after dark! I’m honored to be part of the Thanksgiving Tablescape blog hop hosted by the gracious and talented Rita from Panoply. The list of all the table stylists is at the bottom of this post, so be sure to scroll down.

If you’re joining us from my dear friend Kim at The Cat’s Whiskerz – or from anywhere else – I’m so glad you’re here!

I really had a whole different style of fall table in mind for this Friendsgiving gathering. But sometimes the table has a mind of its own, and I ended up with the After Dark vibe of lots of candles and deep rich color.

This Fall Table Started With a Runner

I originally imagined an airy open light-feeling table. Something friendly and casual for Friendsgiving. I was imagining a light tablecloth with maybe some wispy flower arrangements, and this lovely filmy maroon table runner.

But on the table top it didn’t look filmy anymore, and frankly, looked hideous with my white tablecloth! So I just left the table bare and tried some gold candles – and the rest as they say, is history!

More & More Deep Color

The gold and the maroon together looked so gorgeous, I just couldn’t help adding more candles. Then more candles! Then the gold chargers made it so regal, I just had to go with it!

I’ve been loving the deep reds and maroons I’ve been seeing on Pinterest lately, so I went with my red napkins. I thought the two colors together looked so rich, plus I already had those gorgeous candles.

So when I went to get flowers, I looked for the deepest red and maroon shades I could find.

The Fall Table Place Settings

Since there was so much color in the decor, I thought I’d keep the place setting light. I inherited the china from my grandfather via my own father. I’ve told the story many times, but back in the depression of the 1930s, my grandfather was a kind of general handyman. Sometimes his customers couldn’t pay him in money, so they gave him food or other houshold valuables.

Apparently, once he got this entire set of china! It’s hand painted in gold – every piece one of a kind. I have the serving pieces, the tea set, the luncheon plates, and all the rest. But I ony have a few of the teacups, dinner, and salad plates.

I like to say I have 12 dessert plates and five and a half dinner plates! Somewhere along the line, the family story goes, someone dropped a whole armload on the way back to the china cupboard! It’s a sad story, but I’m grateful that what survived came to me!

Gold & Silver

I also inherited the gold flatware, and there’s another often-told story. When I was a teenager, my mother worked at the bank. Back in those days, they used to give out “premiums” if you deposited money, (anyone remember that?) and this flatware was one of them.

Years later when the Marketing department was clearing out their closets, this whole demo set showed up at the employee sale! Mom snapped it up, and it’s been a fixture in our family celebrations ever since. It’s unfortunately really starting to show its age, so it may be retiring someday soon. But until then, it’ll continue to grace my tables.

But what about that little stray silver cream soup spoon, you might be asking?!

Well, back in the day, they made plates quite a bit smaller than they do today. That little cream soup bowl in the stack is really tiny. And my big gold soup spoon not only looked silly, but felt kind of dangerous too! Then I remembered a little case of silver soup spoons I’d gotten at a rummage sale but had never used. I went and rescued it from the depths of the hosting closet, and put them out. They were just the right size for these tiny bowls.

But just so the silver spoons wouldn’t be lonely, I put the flowers in silver bowls. Besides matching the spoons, the cool brightness of the silver kind of balanced the warmth of all that gold. You can’t go wrong with gold and silver most times!

Fall Table Extras

Add the glassware –

– and some place cards in lovely vintage holders –

– and you’ve got yourself a beautiful fall table!

The After Dark Part

And when my friends come over, we’ll light the candles, put on some Blue Note jazz, and celebrate being together!

An Invitation to Join Us in The Hosting Circle!

I actually did go back and set the more open and airy version I’d originally wanted. That table , and more about this one — as well as the full menu, recipes, printables, playlist, and all the tips, behind-the-scenes details, and more — are in The Hosting Circle.

The Hosting Circle is our dedicated, noise-free space for those of us who love to welcome people to our tables, and want a little inspiration and help making it all come together. Every month, I create a complete Hosting Collection built around a real gathering, with everything you need to make it your own — the table, the menu, and all the recipes. Plus, time-saving resources like the shopping list, the prep timeline, music, and ideas for the extra little details that make an evening feel so special.

And it’s more than a collection of plans. It’s also a place where we talk about hosting: what you’re planning, what you’re wondering about, what worked beautifully, and what you’d do differently next time. I share the behind-the-scenes process too — including the decisions, changes of direction, shortcuts, and occasional things that don’t go quite according to plan!

If that sounds like your kind of place, I’d love to have you join us!

Barbara’s Boutique

Click on the pictures of the pieces I used in this post. If the exact item isn’t available any more, I chose a similar option.

* This post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you click on a link and buy anything from that site during your visit, I get a small commission and there’s no extra charge for you! It really helps toward the cost of publishing Mantel and Table, and I seriously appreciate it. (You can read the whole disclosure policy here.) Thanks so much for shopping with me!

And remember, a portion of anything you buy from MANTELandTABLE.com goes to Habitat for Humanity and Proud Ground. With our purchases, we get to help people build homes for their own mantels and tables!

More Fall Table Inspirtion With the Thanksgiving Tablescape Blog Hop!

• Panoply – A Thanksgiving Table of Endless Harvest Blooms
• Everyday Living – A Bounty of Blessings
• Life and Linda – A Ralph Lauren Thanksgiving
• Me and My Captain – Thanksgiving!…”As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.
• Hyacinths for the Soul – Abundance ~ Thanksgiving Tablescape Hop
• The Cat’s Whiskerz – Thanksgiving with Feathered Friends
• Mantel and Table – Friendsgiving After Dark: A Beautiful Fall Table
• My Thrift Store Addiction – Friendly Village Vintage Thanksgiving Breakfast Table
• The Little Yellow Corner Store – The Fall Harvest Tablescape for Thanksgiving
• Olla Podrida – A Colorful Thanksgiving Table for Two
• Corner of Plaid and Paisley – A Bundle of Thanksgiving Tablescape
• Thrifting Wonderland – Thanksgiving with the Birds Thrifted Tablescape
• Dinner at Eight – Styling a Simply Classic Thanksgiving Table
• The Bookish Dilettante – Giving Thanks Tablescape
  

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