It’s that time of year again. The time when family visits for a festive meal of turkey, ham, or whatever else your family typically enjoys ding Thanksgiving Dinner and this year, you’re the host!

Today I’m going to help you out with all you need to know as it pertains to hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for family and/or friends this holiday season. These tips will also serve well for your other holiday gatherings, so get ready to take some notes.

You’re probably already preparing the menu, so I won’t make you go through that again. But what I will provide are items to accompany your meal and some decorating tips.

Let’s start with your Thanksgiving table setting, shall we?

Table linen is always a nice touch for the holiday season, but you don’t have to break the bank either. There are many places that sell inexpensive table cloths and runners that will not only serve its purpose in making your dinner table look festive but also save you a little more of those hard earned dollars.  

Coordinate with your guests when it comes to the colors of the table cloth. It’s easier for you to tell them what you have in mind when allowing them to accessorize their own table decor by wearing certain color clothing so they’ll know exactly what they should be wearing.

But if they’re taking away from your vision, then speak up ahead of time and be prepared to offer them a plastic table cloth in order for your table to look the way you want it. Trust me, they won’t mind since it’s just one night out of the year.

I recommend using dark green or cranberry red colors with some other accent color like gold or silver, depending on your decor theme.

In the center of your table, you can use a very large soup tureen or soup bowl filled with an assortment of seasonal fruits and vegetables. If it’s winter, pomegranates and oranges would look great together as well as pineapples and kiwis during other times of the year.

For those who don’t like to have a large dish, consider a smaller bowl filled with nuts to serve as their side dish. It won’t be missed by anyone and it will give you a very stylish centerpiece in the process.

See what I mean?

Flowers are always nice to have on your dinner table but when hosting a dinner party during the holiday season, consider using poinsettias. They are awesome for this time of year and it’s not just because they’re red in color.

I think you can probably understand my fascination with poinsettias at this point, given the fact that I have decorated my own house with them during the Christmas season. This plant is awesomely awesome! It’s so awesome in fact that my good friend, who also happens to be a florist, decided to name her brand “Poinsettia” because she loves poinsettias so much. And yes, it’s even available at Walmart now.

So yeah, I think we’ve established our point that while purchasing poinsettia for this time of year is not a good idea because it’s also available everywhere, but you can still use them as an amazing table decoration.

For the runner at your Thanksgiving dinner table, I suggest using a white linen runner and topping it with cranberry red and green plaid ribbon folded in half with some autumn leaves shaped out of paper decorating the ends. You can even add in your other holiday symbols like bells, pinecones, etc.

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Next up are the dining room chairs.

The nice thing about Thanksgiving is that you don’t have a large sum of relatives to host at your home, unlike at Christmas time when sometimes it’s best to keep your relatives separated in order for the dinner not to turn into a knock-down, drag-out fight.

But with Thanksgiving, you can host most of them under one roof and give everyone their own chair. Yes, I know that you’re thinking this is impossible due to space limitations but there are ways around it like using folding chairs. And if you really want to get fancy, you can use some leather armchairs with matching ottomans under them for added comfort.

The great thing about using folding chairs is that when they’re not in use, you can push them against the wall and save yourself a lot of trouble in finding space to work with in your small dining room.

Last but not least, the dinner table itself!

No matter what table you’re using for your Thanksgiving dinner, I suggest covering it with a nice tablecloth that will compliment your entire decor theme. If you want to avoid clashing colors then use a cranberry red or green color scheme in order for your table setting to have a simple, yet elegant look.

And if that’s not your thing then you can decorate the table in a way that will add personality to your dinner party with flowers, candles, and other attractive objects.

Oh, and don’t forget about these!

There are so many beautiful Thanksgiving placemats available for purchase but when hosting a dinner party, you probably won’t want to spend money on something that’s not part of your overall decor scheme.

So what I suggest is that you use the same plaid ribbon around the runner and around the tablecloth at each place setting. Just remember to keep everything cranberry red or green in order for it not to look too busy.

And … that’s it. I hope that you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving with your immediate family or extended family & friends … do it your way and enjoy!