So this year I hosted my first Thanksgiving. Luckily, I didn’t have the pressure of my in-laws or my own parents, or any sort of older generation watching over me. It was just WWB, my brother, some friends, and me – so not a whole lot of pressure … except for the pressure that I put on myself to set the table. I put the table together the week prior to Thanksgiving – I know, I know, overkill. However, I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.

First, the flowers. I took two ball jars over to my favorite ladies at Lotus Flowers, and told them I wanted something that looked as though I had picked it all from the garden and thrown it together. All fall colors, and some magnolia leaves if possible. Then when they were dropped off, I added some pheasant feathers myself, to create a bit of height and tie in the rest of the table.

Then the table setting. I have not received my wedding china yet, so I used some miscellaneous pieces that WWB and I have around the house. The charger is a plate from Fish’s Eddy in NYC, the dinner plate is Spode Heritage. I absolutely love this pattern and Spode no longer makes it. However, I am hoping that I may continue to collect additional pieces on ebay or Replacements Ltd. The napkins are Pottery Barn from this spring, a bridal shower gift from my cousin. The dinner fork and knife are a silver plate pattern that WWB and I have had for a while, however we had no salad forks. So last week I did some rummaging at the Mt. Pleasant Antiques Market and got some random pieces of silver that I thought would go well with our existing pattern – after reading in Southern Living that Darryl Carter loves mismatched silver – thanks for the advice Darryl.

The runner is actually what WWB and I used at our wedding – repurposed for Thanksgiving. Pewter candlesticks and miniature hurricanes with beeswax candles really added a nice rustic touch. Originally, I planned on using mint julep cups for the water glasses, but when they didn’t arrive in time, my brother and I rushed to Home Goods and snagged these pretty green/blue thick glass cups – which actually looked great with the ball jars that the flowers were in. The glasses actually are meant to be milk glasses, and have a vintage looking cow logo on the side. My brother and I were cracking up all the way to the cash register and figured hey, this is the best we can do the day before – I think it turned out ok, don’t you?

So here is the table as it looked when we sat down. I think this is the only photo where you can see the little birch bark quails that I got at Wisteria. When they first arrived I thought they were the weirdest thing I had ever bought, but once in place, it all really worked out.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving – I didn’t burn the turkey, all the sides were delicious, we laughed a lot. And I was really pleased with my tablescape. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.