Raise your hand if you are ready for Thanksgiving next week?? My hand is raised. I always look forward to a holiday that revolves around food, friends, and being so full you just sit around and relax. We are hosting Thanksgiving again with friends and I am really looking forward to it. To mix things up, I wanted to throw our dinner party outside this year. When you live in Southern California, you take full advantage of the weather and eat alfresco whenever you can.
Below are some tips for creating your own modern and casual Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy this post!
Modernize with color palette: I wanted to stray away from the traditional white plates so I used these amazing black dinnerware. The color alone gives our table a moody modern twist that I really love. These are the Apilco Reglisse dinnerware from Williams-Sonoma, because they can do no wrong when it comes to all things decor. I kept the napkin black as well to keep things monochromatic. I actually picked up these napkins from Target from the new Hearth + Hand with Magnolia line when I was there buying something else. Target always gets me with these items.
Pass on the fancy wine glasses: I have always loved Duralex glasses and it’s one of those things I always forget to look for when I am at the store. Knowing we were going to be throwing an outdoors meal with people walking in and out of the house I wanted to keep things safe for all those holiday winos. Let’s be honest though, we have all broke a wine glass in our lifetime. So let me introduce you to my favorite alternative to the stemmed wine glass: the picardie glass tumbler. They are made in France of durable shatter-proof tempered glass so you don’t need to be so precious with them. I also love you can put hot and cold things in. So wine, water, or a latte, it all works. Using these for wine is a great way to keep the dinner vibes casual but cool.
Zero effort greens: Let’s be honest, when it comes to prepping for Thanksgiving the list is… LONG. You want to make everything as easy as possible since you really want to spend as much time with friends and family as possible. Instead of worrying about coordinating flowers, and arranging vases, stick with easy greens as a natural table runner. If you remember from my wedding, I kind of dig green floral table runners. Finding greens like eucalyptus this time of year is very easy. Insider tip: Stalk your local trader joes for eucalyptus and other table greens. They are SO cheap and you can buy them by the bunch. My Trader Joe’s was running low at the time of my shoot so I went to a local flower market instead. Since greens are less pricey than blooming flowers, you can even head into your local florist and score some greens for cheap. To arrange them, you literally just arrange them loosely on the table alternating the directions of the stems and tucking them in where needed. THAT IS IT. Literally the easiest centerpiece you could create. It still looks super chic and doesn’t look like it took 30 seconds to arrange.
Prep the night before: I touched on this earlier but it’s so important to prep as much as possible the night before. Prep and peel your potatoes the night before. Make your cranberries. Whatever it is that you cook, see if anything can be prepped out ahead of time. You want to spend as much time relaxing and not slaving in front of the stove. While the host does take one for the team when it comes to cooking, you can be smart in the things you prep the night before. I for one always make my dessert and cranberries the night before.
Add a hint of metallics: Metallics to me just remind me of the holiday season. Maybe they remind me of sparkly gift wrap and twinkling lit up trees. I am not sure. So this year I wanted to add a subtle hint of metallic. I found these amazing brass trim hurricane candle holders from Williams-Sonoma that are pretty magical. With just a touch of metal these are super polished and modern for our table top. To pull the metallic theme further, I pulled out my favorite gold flatware from Anthropologie. I scooped them up when they were having one of their big sales a few years ago.
ALSO! You have 1 more day to enter my major Thanksgiving giveaway. 1 lucky winner will win a Williams-Sonoma X Chef’d Complete Thanksgiving Dinner Meal Kit (valued at $299.95) delivered to your door with all the ingredients and recipes to make a delicious homemade Thanksgiving Dinner. You can enter both on my blog post here and my instagram here. I will be picking a winner this Thursday so don’t forget to enter! Hope I have inspired some ideas for your Thanksgiving next week. Would love to hear in the comments below if you are loving all these lifestyle posts and if you have any requests for holiday gift guides, leave them below.
napkins: target / plates + bowls: williams-sonoma / glasses: williams-sonoma
flatware: anthropologie / candle holders: williams-sonoma home
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