Dining with FRIENDS

Create a seasonal tablescape that will welcome friends into both the planning and the party.

We often think of fall entertaining as synonymous with hosting Thanksgiving. But a lot of fall takes place before then, so there’s plenty of time to host a casual luncheon or dinner party with friends—even if the guest list this year is smaller than usual to maintain social-distancing practices. That’s what blogger Holly Jolley of Home with Holly J did with her outdoor tablescape at her Washington home. “We wanted to create the perfect outdoor entertaining environment where friends could gather and enjoy the last bit of summer and transition into fall,” she says. Here are 10 tips for hosting your own friends for lunch or dinner this fall.

1. SETTING AND ATMOSPHERE

Will you be dining inside or outside? If inside, which room will you be using? These questions will help you get the feel of the space you’re using, and give you ideas for the other parts of the dinner, from the color palette to the centerpiece and any seasonal touches you use.

2. THEME

You don’t have to limit your theme to the season. Your tablescape and dinner party can have a theme that’s more specific than the season, as Holly did here. “I had this vision of an outdoor French country theme,” she says. The weather was still warm enough to eat outside, so the seasonal fall elements could be subtle, and Holly could capitalize on the feel of her blooming garden and the French-inspired dishware she’d picked up.

3. COLOR PALETTE

Your tablescape color palette doesn’t always have to match traditional seasonal colors—you can coordinate with what you already have, or match the colors in your backyard. That’s what Holly did. “I had these beautiful blue-and-white dishes that I hadn’t used before that gave me the inspiration for the color palette,” Holly says.

4. OPEN UP THE PLANNING

Before you get too far in your planning, open it up to friends to see how they might contribute. You’ll be surprised at how many want to help. Whether it’s bringing a side dish or volunteering to arrange the centerpiece, friends can help cut down on the work for you, and it makes them feel included. On this tablescape, Holly worked with friends who had a local produce farm and a local cut-flower farm for the food and floral design, which added unique elements to the scene.

5. TABLECLOTH OR TABLE RUNNER?

This choice will depend on the number of people you’re hosting and the table you’re using. If this is a large event where you’re setting multiple tables (some of them folding tables), tablecloths will be the best option because it will make all the tables look cohesive. If this is a smaller party and you love the finish on your dining table, use a table runner so the finish is part of the tablescape.

6. CENTERPIECE

Your centerpiece should consist of several different pieces moving down the table. Here, Holly used a floral arrangement, complemented by a trailing garland and taper candles. “For the centerpiece, I envisioned a garland running down the middle on top of a blue table runner with a centerpiece in the middle,” she says. “I wanted a mix of white flowers and greenery, and I wanted to keep it simple and elegant at the same time.” Just make sure that your centerpiece isn’t too tall, or guests won’t be able to see each other across the table.

7. SEASONAL TOUCHES

Even though this is a fall tablescape, the pumpkins and other fall elements are minimal. “I didn’t want to do traditional fall colors as the colors hadn’t changed yet in my yard,” Holly says. She did incorporate a few fabric pumpkins that matched the color palette into her centerpiece, but she let the weather and the flowers in her garden speak for the season themselves.

8. KEEP IT LOCAL

One of the primary themes of this dinner party was locality: both produce and flowers from local farms in the area. Holly and her friends even scoured her 11 acres of property for fresh greens they could add to the centerpiece and garland. “One plant we are lucky to have in the Pacific Northwest is salal,” she says. “It’s a native plant that grows wild. I had a lot of it in my yard, so Tammy snipped a bunch of it to make the simple garland.”

9. BAKE YOUR BEST

When it comes to the food, feel free to get creative, but don’t try something completely new, or you might get unwelcome surprises. Instead, cook a favorite dish you love to share, or try a new recipe beforehand that you’re then comfortable replicating. Here, Holly made a favorite: her homemade lasagna, and paired it with a tomato and cucumber salad and baked peach dessert, both using local produce. “Creating a beautiful tablescape with locally grown flowers and cooking farm-fresh food from a local farm was something I’ve always dreamed about doing,” she says.

10. PHOTO OPS

Don’t forget to take pictures, both of the tablescape and the people (including yourself ) who are enjoying the evening. Here’s a quick list you can use to make sure you capture the event while being able to enjoy it too.

• Overall tablescape

• Close-up of the centerpiece

• Close-up of a place setting

• Cooks preparing the food in the kitchen

• Food on a plate

• Group photo

The evening can be twice as fun if you're working to cook and set up the table as a group.

For this meal, dinner consisted of homemade lasagna with a tomato and cucumber salad from one of the guest's vegetable garden, followed by a fresh peach dessert.