Food & Entertaining

Rustic Elegant Autumn Tablescape

I love setting an autumn tablescape, especially outdoors. The weather is cooler and it gets darker earlier which is perfect for a candlelit table for fall.

Published

9 years ago

September 30, 2016

Ayesha Harris

I love setting an autumn tablescape. Maybe it’s because fall is one of my favorite seasons for entertaining and using my screened-in porch. The weather is a little cooler and it gets darker a little earlier which is perfect for a candlelit table for fall.

Fortunately the weather cooperated for us last Saturday for our dinner party that we held for some dear friends.

Rustic Elegant Autumn Tablescape

Autumn Tablescape Blog Hop

Chloe from Celebrate & Decorate recently invited me to join her Autumn Tablescape Blog Hop. Since I love setting a pretty table and had plans for our dinner party, I was excited to accept her invitation. The biggest challenge was setting the table, taking pictures and then cooking for six, all in the same day.

Rustic Elegance

This time of year lends itself to a more rustic, masculine form of decorating which I have always liked. Think Ralph Lauren. Heavier fabrics, leather and suede, plaids and tweeds, jewel tones. All right up my ally.

I used to love going skiing out west. The resorts were beautiful with their rustic elegant decor with items such as antler chandeliers.

HomeGoods for Accessories

My great finds from HomeGoods for my fall tablescape

I had a gift card for HomeGoods and decided I would like to get some new accessories for this autumn tablescape. Words can’t express how excited I was when I saw these brushed silver antlers by Tahari. I knew they would help me create the look I was going for.

Love using antlers in my fall tablescape

For a topper, I picked up this plaid throw which was perfect to layer over my black tablecloth. It had great fall colors of gray, camel and black.

Mad for plaid - great for fall tablescapes HomeGoods had these pretty two-toned camel tweed napkins with fringe. I could vision the tablescape coming together in my shopping cart. I like adding different textures to the table.

As you can see in some previous posts, I have a thing for individual serveware such as shot glasses (click here and here) and mini plates. Following suit, I fell in love with these individual cheeseboards which look darling at each place setting.

Individual wood cheeseboards - aren't they darling?

Tablescape Prep

Personally I love fresh flowers for a centerpiece. They give life to my table! I found some beautiful flowers that were perfect for a fall centerpiece. Some of the flowers were reminiscent of wild flowers from the mountains.

I especially loved the burgundy dahlias that looked like velvet. Unfortunately, the dahlias weren’t as fresh as I thought and they started dropping petals like crazy. Hence, you don’t see many in my arrangement.

autumn flowers

Fall Centerpiece for alfresco dinner party I always gather my tableware on a tray to take out to my porch. It makes it so much easier to set the table without making so many trips to my kitchen.

I always take out my serveware on a tray so I don't have to make too many trips outside.

Because it is fall and by the time dessert is served, it can be a little chilly. I like placing shawls on the backs of the chairs for my girlfriends.

I like to place shawls on the chairs for the ladies when dining outdoors

It’s nice to have a bar set up near the dinner table too. We have a baker’s rack in our sun room that I also use for holding the serveware. It’s nice to have the food nearby for those that want seconds.

Bourbon bar

Autumn Fall Tablescape

Rustic elegant autumn tablescape

I took these pictures during the day and am missing my votive candles that I added right before dinner.

Fall tablescape with individual cheese boards

For casual table settings, I like using my stemless wine glasses. The best part is that they can go in the dishwasher!

Love incorporating antlers in my fall tablescape

You can see the missing votives below which I added right before my guests arrived. I’m always adjusting things as the day progresses. I also decided to add my slate lazy suzan as a base for the vase. It added texture and the rich slate color to the tablescape.

By the time this picture was taken, dinner was over and our guests had gone home. My husband was enjoying a cigar and I was sipping on some wine, celebrating a fun night and what we felt may be the last dinner outside until spring.

Votive candles are a must when eating outdoors