DesignsandEvents: Late Harvest to Table Tablescape

Hi, all! It's been a busy week for me and I wasn't sure if I would be able to get a post out or not. Here's to hoping I can get it done before the end of the day! Oh, Happy Fall, by the way. I can't believe it is September 22nd already!

I have had this idea of a "harvest to table tablescape" rolling around in my head for a few weeks now. I have to admit, however, that the harvest part of it would not come from me. The only contribution made by my garden to the tablescape would be a few sprigs of basil from my container garden. But, I love the idea of farm-to-table and wanted to experiment with it a little bit.

The inspiration for my tablescape started with these brightly colored square pl

ates. I have had them for a few years and really like them. They seem to be a good transition plate bridging the end of the summer to the beginning of fall. The plates are Italian inspired and would probably be perfect for a wine tasting event.

However, my tablescape would focus on the harvesting of tomatoes this time of year. I thought the tomatoes would look really nice sitting in the center of the plates. That was the vision I had in mind when thinking of creating this look.

However, the only problem was that I do not have a vegetable garden and I do not grow tomatoes :). A bit of a problem for my idea but, that wasn't going to stop me. I figured I would just go to the grocery store and buy some vine grown tomatoes. Amazingly, on my way to the grocery store I encountered two young boys and their grandmother selling tomatoes from their garden on the side of the road. Score!! I did buy some eggplant for color from the grocery store and later, to be honest, I found I needed a few more tomatoes and purchased them from the grocery store, as well.

***

Below are the beautiful tomatoes from the boys' garden. They were a funny shape with a few spots but beautiful anyway :).

I had to mismatch the plates because I didn't have enough of the same colored plates to be matchy-matchy but, I actually liked the look when I was done anyway.

Since basil was the only contribution my garden made to this tablescape, I had to showcase it as much as possible. Sorry for being so obnoxious :).

For the center of the table I placed a Gerber Daisy plant in a red colander. Since the daisy only had one bloom at this point, I augmented the look with sprigs of goldenrod. Of course, the goldenrod would only last for the evening but it added some needed color. I placed an ornamental pepper plant on the table, as well. The colors of the peppers went perfectly with the tablescape. Using what you already have is a great way to enhance and to save all at the same time.

The table runner was simply brown mailing paper cut to fit to run down the length of the table. I, then, placed cuttings of goldenrod mixed with tomatoes and eggplant down the center of the table to brighten it up. Bottles of wine finished the look.

(Side note: I originally had these swirly raffia things on the napkins but later decided I didn't like how they looked. Unfortunately for me, some of the best photos I took were with the swirly things in them :/)

I loved the color of the eggplant mixed in with the overall look. Color is so important this time of year.

Well, there it is, my late harvest to table tablescape. My idea was to have a rustic look with lots of colors and to focus on the harvest of all those great tomatoes this time of year. I hope, to some extent, I achieved that and also inspired you to have fun with your tables, as well.

Happy Fall, Everyone!