Holiday season is upon us! With Thanksgiving being just a few weeks away and winter holidays on the horizon, I am sharing five tips for creating a perfectly layered, cozy, and inviting fall table—seasonal recipes and wine pairing resources included!

Creating a table like this may seem overwhelming, especially if looking only at the finished result. Here is the break-down, step by step.

1. DOUBLE UP ON BASE LAYERS

Don’t have a big table cloth to cover the entire table? Don’t have a beautiful wooden table worth showing off? No worries! Using multiple linen cloths to layer on top of each other does the trick and helps create a more casual and cozy look. For this white picnic table I used the signature FOLD hand-stitched cloth in heather gray and a solid version of the same cloth to cover the picnic table.

Stacking plates for each place setting may seem superfluous if you only end up using the top plate, but the stacking does serve a visual and textural purpose. It allows for more options for combining and alternating colors if you are mixing and matching plates, and the circle-within-a-circle look creates a dynamic and cohesive place setting pattern. For this dinner, each of us brought one or two (or three, or four) plates, and they all worked together beautifully.

Table cloth and linen napkin in mulberry: FOLD. Salad plate: Jos Ceramics for FOLD. Flatware: FOLD styling inventory. Photo: Silas Fallstich

2. GO FOR FLAT VS VERTICAL FLORALS

Vertical arrangements have their place, but unobstructed eye contact can be so valuable when sharing a meal. Laying flowers and greenery directly onto the table allows for food to be placed on top of them, too, without too much moving and rearranging of the flower vessels. Featured here are persimmon branches—with leaves and fruit attached—cascading down the table in place of vertical arrangements. Seeded eucalyptus, dry yarrow, and fresh rosemary were scattered around to add an extra layer or texture. Seasonal fruit (Bosc pears, pomegranates, jujubes) and whole nuts added visual interest and punctuated the otherwise wild and free-form branch placement. Best part: it only cost a few dollars to pick up the fruit at the local farmer’s market. The rest was foraged.

Copy of Above photos: Viktoriya Filippova

3. MIX UP THE STEMWARE

Adding different colors of glass to the mix—especially smoke glass or amber hues this time of the year—can add some dimensionality and extra sparkle to the festivities. I always combine tall stemware with short, stemless tumblers for a chic, bistro-like vibe.

Vintage smoker glass tumbler: FOLD. Photo: Silas Fallstisch

4. THROW IN SOME BLANKETS

Having a few blankets on hand can go a long way both functionally and aesthetically, especially in an outdoor setting.

The complete fall harvest table. Photo: Silas Fallstich.

5. GRAZE, ROAST, BAKE, REPEAT

Whether you are hosting or bringing a designated dish to the party, here are some ideas on what to make that will please everyone at the table. Read on for links to individual recipes on this menu.

+ Grazing Board
+ Roasted Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
+ Root Vegetable Gratin
+ Red Wine Roast Chicken with Grapes and Herbs
+ Spiced Up Grape Apple Pie

Becky of Baking The Goods put together an amazing array of flavors and textures (brie brûlée included) for this grazing board. Photo: Silas Fallstich.

Above: Roasted Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette (recipe on Wander & Wine) and Red Wine Roast Chicken with Grapes and Herbs (recipe on CaliGirl Cooking).