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| Set of 8 lightweight eyeball orbs from Grandin Road |
Halloween is one of those holidays that can get out of hand remarkably fast.
One innocent little pumpkin appears on the dining table and, three shopping trips later, you own skeleton wine glasses and a ceramic ghost whose sole purpose is holding cocktail napkins.
There is another way.
For an elegant Halloween dinner party, you really only need a few things: a strong foundation, an interesting centerpiece, plenty of candlelight, and one or two details that remind everyone that yes, this is still Halloween.
Use the dishes and glassware you already love. Then add just enough spooky.
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The Short Version: A Recipe for an Elegant Halloween Table
Start with:
One statement tablecloth or other strong foundation
One centerpiece, pretty or peculiar
Candlelight, preferably lots of it
A couple of special details at each place setting
Something useful and beautiful for serving dinner
The good sense to stop decorating before every object on the table has a bat on it
Now, let's set the table.
1. Start With a Tablecloth That Does the Heavy Lifting
If you're going to buy one piece specifically for a Halloween table, make it something that changes the whole room.
The Terrain Halloween Crewel Stitch Spider Tablecloth does exactly that. [LINK: Terrain Spider Tablecloth]
The embroidered spiders give you Halloween immediately, so you don't need to compensate with piles of little themed decorations everywhere else. Put your regular dishes, flatware and stemware on top and you've already established the mood.
This is where spending a little more can make sense. A well-made seasonal textile can come out every October for years, and one beautiful tablecloth does more visual work than a shopping bag full of little decorations.
Not feeling quite that many spiders? [Or this one, perhaps?](INSERT ALTERNATE MAVELY LINK)
Then move on. The table has a foundation. It does not need another foundation wearing a witch hat.
2. Choose Your Centerpiece: Beautiful, Creepy or Slightly Unhinged
A Halloween centerpiece gives you permission to have a little fun.
You could go beautiful with a grouping of MacKenzie-Childs Autumnology Check & Stripe Pumpkins. [LINK: MacKenzie-Childs Pumpkins]
They're unmistakably seasonal, but they don't lock you into Halloween. They can stay out through fall and Thanksgiving, which earns them extra points in a house where seasonal decorations are expected to justify their storage space.
Cluster several sizes down the center of the table, then let candlelight do the rest.
Or, if respectable pumpkins are beginning to feel a little too respectable, fill a big clear vase with these enormous eyeballs.
The Eyeball Option
The Grandin Road Eyeball Orbs might be my favorite kind of Halloween decoration: weird enough to be funny, but graphic enough to look fantastic when they're styled simply. [LINK: Grandin Road Eyeball Orbs]
Pile the oversized eyeballs into a large clear glass vase or hurricane and use that as your centerpiece.
That's it.
You do not also need pumpkins, skulls, ravens, spiders, bats and a severed hand reaching for the salt.
Let the giant vase full of eyeballs have its moment.
3. Add Candlelight, Because Halloween Basically Demands It
If there's one place Halloween gives us permission to be dramatic, it's candlelight.
The Terrain Spooky Tree Iron Wire Candelabra makes a striking centerpiece on its own, especially if you'd rather skip a traditional floral or pumpkin arrangement. [LINK: Terrain Spooky Tree Candelabra]
For something smaller, the Gilded Raven Taper Holders bring just enough gothic weirdness without turning the dining room into a haunted attraction. [LINK: Gilded Raven Taper Holders]
Then comes the fun part: the candles.
Anthropologie has several that can take ordinary candleholders straight into October:
Terrain Witch & Broomstick Taper Candles [LINK]
Terrain Squiggly Ghost Taper Candles [LINK]
Terrain Spider Taper Candles [LINK]
Pick your favorite.
You do not need all three.
Although the squiggly ghosts make a very persuasive argument.
4. Give the Place Settings One Special Detail
This is where restraint pays off.
You don't need Halloween plates. You don't need Halloween silverware. You certainly don't need an entire set of glasses you'll use once a year.
Use what you already own and add a detail or two.
The Terrain Halloween Embroidered Linen Napkins bring a little Halloween to each place setting without taking over the table. [LINK: Terrain Halloween Linen Napkins]
For an even more polished dinner party, I love the Juliska Forest Walk Pumpkin Place Card Holders. [LINK: Juliska Pumpkin Place Card Holders]
They're available in different finishes, and unlike something covered in black cats or jack-o'-lanterns, little pumpkins can keep working through Thanksgiving.
Place cards also do something I particularly appreciate in decor: they have a job.
And even if everyone already knows where they're sitting, there is something charmingly grown-up about finding your name waiting at the table.
5. Put Something on the Table That Earns Its Keep
Now we arrive at the sort of seasonal purchase I find dangerously easy to rationalize.
The Le Creuset Pumpkin Dutch Oven looks like Halloween and fall decor, except it is also an actual Dutch oven. [LINK: Le Creuset Pumpkin Dutch Oven]
You can cook in it.
You can serve from it.
You can bring it straight to the table looking ridiculously good.
And after Halloween is over, it does not become a completely useless ceramic pumpkin destined for a plastic storage tub.
This is the distinction I want from a splurge. If something costs considerably more, I want the “more” to buy me something: better construction, more use, more longevity, more pleasure, or ideally several of those at once.
A pumpkin-shaped Dutch oven is still an indulgence. Let's not lose our heads.
But at least it's an indulgence that can make dinner.
6. Know When the Halloween Table Is Finished
This may be the most important step.
Once you have a strong foundation, a centerpiece and candlelight, stand back.
You may already be done.
A few well-chosen Halloween pieces surrounded by your normal dishes and glassware can look much more intentional than an entire table of holiday-specific everything.
You want your guests to notice the beautiful table, laugh at the eyeballs, admire the candles, and then settle in for dinner.
You do not need to provide them with 47 separate Halloween discoveries before the soup course.
The A Little More Luxe Verdict
Spend more on: One statement piece you'll be genuinely happy to unpack every October. A beautiful tablecloth, candelabra, quality linens or something useful like the Le Creuset can earn its place year after year.
Save on: The basics. Your everyday dinnerware, flatware and wine glasses remain perfectly competent on Halloween.
Have some fun with: The centerpiece and candles. If ever there were a night for giant eyeballs in a vase or tiny wax ghosts leaning over the dinner table, this is it.
Skip entirely: Buying Halloween-specific versions of everything you already own.
Pick one statement piece. Choose a centerpiece. Add candlelight.
Then quit while you're ahead.
That's plenty of Halloween.
And, Thanksgiving and Christmas are right on your heels.
Keep Reading
[Elevated Fall Decor That Makes Your Home Feel Warm, Not Cluttered]
[Halloween Decorations Worth Buying Once and Using for Years]
[Christmas Decorations Worth Buying in the Better Version]
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