Fall has a way of drawing people together. Whether it’s around the dinner table, a warm fire pit, or even a football game on the TV – get-togethers are some of our favorite ways to enjoy the season. If you’re the host for a gathering this season, surround your guests with harvest-inspired warmth both inside and outside your home with some of our favorite hosting essentials.
A Warm Welcome
With a doorway surrounded by beauty and charm, your guests will feel your warm welcome as soon as they pull up to your home. Greet your guests with a large doorstep planter filled with cool-season annuals in your favorite colors and textures – colorful mums, waving grasses, and bright coneflower. Add a display of straw bales, colorful gourds, and cornstalks for a traditional harvest look – or if you like something more sophisticated, try pots of crisp blue kale and cream pumpkins instead. To complete the space, hang a harvest-themed wreath or door hanger, and place a doormat at your front step too.
A Harvest Tablescape
Whether it’s an indoor dinner or a backyard buffet, the table where your guests gather for food and conversation will inevitably become the focus of activity – the perfect place to set the mood with a beautiful centerpiece. Keep it simple with a whimsical pile of small pumpkins and gourds scattered along the center of the table or buffet. Add in other elements to match your style too – a glass vase filled with fresh flowers and branches, a few fall-scented candles, gathered twigs and cones, or stems of lifelike berries and fall foliage.
Comfortable + Stylish Dining
Whether yours is a formal or casual affair, you’ll want an enjoyable dining experience for your guests while keeping things easy for the you, the host. For new inspiration to set your table, consider the beauty of natural materials – marble, wood, stone, and fiber – found in our collection of entertaining essentials. Any of our pieces can be easily mixed and matched into a seamless, harvest-themed collection of your own. And our melamine dinnerware, table linens, and serving pieces are both beautiful and durable enough to work for any fall party, inside or out.
A Place to Linger
After dinner is finished and the football game is decided, keep the friendly atmosphere going with warm light, cozy scents, and thoughtful details scattered throughout your home. Comfy throw pillows allow your guests to sink into a cozy spot for long, relaxing conversations. And to carry the seasonal mood throughout the home, pick some of your favorite elements from the table display –small pumpkins, twiggy branches, fall foliage, or luminaries – to repeat on a side table, mantel, or kitchen counter.
The glow of a flickering flame is one of the best things about fall, and outside, you might have a fire pit going where friends can enjoy the warmth and light while they chat on a crisp evening. Inside, decorative candles – like our seasonal lines from Rosy Rings, Thymes, and Aromatique – add soft light and subtle fragrance that ties the whole atmosphere together. The warm and familiar scents of cinnamon, pumpkin, and cardamom won’t fight with the delicious smells coming from the kitchen either. If you prefer your fragrance and light without the flame, try an oil diffuser or one of the beautiful luminaries from our popular Stony Creek collection instead.
Let Us Help
If hosting a get-together is on your list of plans for this fall, stop in and browse our full collection of seasonal entertaining essentials. For more ideas, just talk with the team. We’d love to hear your vision, throw in a few suggestions, and help you make your next gathering as comfortable and beautiful as the fall season.
