When thinking about our Thanksgiving table this year, something inspired me to recreate that feeling that you get when dining at a Parisian restaurant where the candles are glowing late into the night, the dishes look like they’ve seen lifetimes of use (the stories they could tell!), and – after too many glasses of wine, no doubt – the room is swimming in beauty. With a little Chateau elegance thrown in for good measure, this Thanksgiving tabletop is full of inspiration.
Our first table (yes, there are several!) is the most grand with flowing florals and statement votives. In fact, the whole setting started out with these huge fluted vases from H&M Home in the perfect brown. Using them as oversized candle holders, they add so much glow to the table when lit, but are just as beautiful on their own.
I implored the talents of my friend Carey at Bleedfoot Florals to help me create this fantasy setting in creams and browns, and my lord did she deliver. The heavenly centerpiece looked like something out of a Renaissance painting, while the mustard jars filled with wild grasses offset the formality of the arrangement with casual grace.
I love the way this palette came together, especially with brown making such a comeback in the design world right now. The addition of tarnished silver mixes beautifully with the brown too. This whole setting is just so classic and romantic, I can barely handle it!
But what if you want to go more casual?
Here’s scenario #2: several smaller arrangements in mustard jars replace the large centerpiece and make a little more space for appetizers on the table. It instantly changes the vibe, and you could even remove the grasses from the setting for a low key look.
Let’s talk about these place settings for a minute. While their quiet palette has them playing backup to the florals, they’re just as special. I found this gorgeous set of dishes at my local antique mall, and it was love at first sight. Their faceted sides make them so much more interesting, and the edges are gilded with that perfect vintage gold, which is my favorite.
The glassware is also vintage, and their fluted stems could not be more perfect for this setting, mimicking the style of the votives. There is a subtle Deco vibe going on here that I really like. Oh, and the napkin holders were also from the antique mall – they’re old painted wood curtain rings!
The flatware is one of my favorites from West Elm. I use it every Thanksgiving! And the napkins are such a good find, from Amazon! Their texture is really lovely. The silver for the food was all sourced from Goodwill!
I really love that we went hunting for some pieces with character this year, rather than anything new. Many of us have heirloom pieces handed down from our families, but I don’t actually have any in my own home (my mother is still hoarding all the good stuff!). So it felt really nice to add some pieces to my own collection that have that heirloom quality.
For our third setting, we loaded even more votives onto the table, brought back the large centerpiece, and left a few of the tiny grass arrangements on the table too. Then it was time to enjoy our appetizers!
I’m going to do a whole other post with recipes for the gruyére gougéres and french onion tarts that I made for this table, along with some other suggestions for a French-inspired Thanksgiving menu! Naturally, we had to have a cheese plate, bread, and oysters too.
This last setting was probably my favorite. You can never have too many candles, in my opinion! And the way the light reflected off the dishes just made the table glow.
While many of the pieces we sourced were vintage, here’s how to get the look for the rest of the table – and have fun hunting for your own tabletop treasures!
1. clear fluted votives | 2. brown fluted vases | 3. vintage silver pedestal bowl | 4. linen napkin set | 5. silver flatware | 6. mustard pot
