The holiday season gives you excuses aplenty to decorate your home with extravagance. Tables come to life with vibrant floral centerpieces, sparkling accents, and festive pieces that transform the home from simple to stunning. Given that this is the time of year when family and friends gather to celebrate the season and express their gratitude, it’s only fitting that you upgrade your home with glorious décor that resonates with the beauty and splendor of the holiday.
Why dress up your table? It’s the center of nearly everything that happens in the home on Thanksgiving and the days following, especially if you’re entertaining friends or hosting family for the holiday. Just as you take the time to prepare a lavish meal to share with the people you love the most, you can easily elevate the appearance of the table with an elaborate centerpiece that helps the room look its best for this special occasion.
Decorating the table begins with an understanding of the most appropriate flowers for the holiday. Centerpieces incorporate far more than just fresh blooms, so with the plant life as your starting point, you can easily expand from there and add other elements to the spread. Mixed elements express the wonder of the season beautifully, from slices of wood to wax fruits to pumpkins to sparkling crystals. All of these additional pieces look right at home with flowers and lush greenery. Here’s how you can make the right choices for your centerpiece.
Focus on Color
Where to begin? You can start with color if you’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of bouquets and arrangements available for Thanksgiving. Autumnal shades incorporate everything from maroon and copper to gold and orange. You can take into account the colors in the room to make the right choice. Pick a single hue from somewhere in the space, like the curtains or the area rug, and build on that. If there’s a pop of yellow or gold in the drapes, sunflowers will pop from the center of the table and create a cohesive look throughout the room.
Consider the Table
Think about the table style, too. Sleek, sophisticated settings in contemporary rooms look best with more modern arrangements that exude a sense of timely elegance. It’s not so much the flowers that express this look, but the way they’re presented. Consider elongated containers that hold bunches of flowers. Shapely vessels can also make more traditional bouquets look more up to date, lending even the most modern rooms an unfussy and dressy appearance. Single stems work well in these settings, too.
Add Some Green
Fall is a wonderful time of year to bring a hint of the great outdoors into your home. It may be too chilly outside to enjoy a meal on the patio, but you can certainly honor your love of fresh greenery by including it in your centerpiece. An autumnal arrangement brimming with ornamental greens, from lisianthus to kale, is perfect for honoring the natural beauty of the outside world during Thanksgiving. You might even include a few petite succulents in compact containers to complement your flowers. Greenery is a grounding addition that creates a balanced look in the room, especially if you design the rest of your centerpiece with more extravagant elements, like glowing candles and shiny ornaments.
Choose Your Flowers
Now comes the most fun part of all. If you enjoy decorating your home for the holiday season, you’ll love creating a Thanksgiving tablescape that transforms your dining area into a warm and inviting space. Remember that the table is more than just a place to dig into turkey and pie — it’s also a spot to talk for hours, laugh, reminisce, and spend quality time basking in the company of the most important people in your world. It’s important to create a sense of ambiance for that reason alone. When you look back on these special moments, you’ll be so grateful that they took place in a cozy and welcoming room. Here are a few flowers to consider for your Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Roses
While typically emblematic of romance and passion, roses are also a lovely addition to fall flower arrangements. They’re available in a wide range of colors, from customary red to more seasonal shades like orange and yellow. Bright and elegant, they add a touch of classic charm to any centerpiece. If you choose to add red roses to the table, don’t be afraid to experiment with flowers in other colors that provide a touch of contrast. Red and orange look right at home with one another during the holiday season.
Celosias
Few flowers compare to the wondrous celosia during fall. It’s easy to maintain and available in many different autumnal shades, from maroon to yellow to orange. It’s notable for its unique texture and showy appearance. Displaying a spiky sort of look, it adds an eye-catching pop to the centerpiece. Even if you prefer a more neutral flower to grace your table, adding one or two celosia stems can easily liven up the look and contribute to a more festive overall appearance.
Sunflowers
While you may associate sunflowers with sunshine and warmer temperatures, the traditionally summery flower serves as a cheerful accent for your holiday table. Few flowers are more uplifting and radiant than the sunflower, with its rich yellow hue and showy petals. The effect is fun and bold, perfect for bringing some levity to your Thanksgiving setup while complementing other, more dramatic flowers in richer colors.
Orchids
At a glance, you might not associate the orchid with Thanksgiving. Yet fall happens to be a wonderful time for this magnificent flowering plant that’s available in numerous colors. To complement your setting, consider a cymbidium orchid in a more autumn-friendly color, such as deep pink or soft green tinged with magenta. Orchids look lovely in more contemporary rooms, especially when nestled in sculptural vases or containers.
Hydrangeas
Another flower packed with personality is the legendary hydrangea. It’s more than just a warm-weather showpiece — it’s a stunning addition to your Thanksgiving centerpiece for its wide range of colors. It’s heavily textured, too, with fluffy petals that contribute to a lush, thick appearance that stands out.
No matter what you choose to add to your Thanksgiving centerpiece, you can trust it will liven up your space and add to the joy of your festivities. Whether it’s your favorite signature flower or something that catches your eye for the first time, you’ll love the way that it completes the look.
