With the new season, comes reason to celebrate by hosting a flawless fall party for all of your friends to enjoy. There’s nothing like being surrounded by good company, tasting delicious food, and feeling cozy when autumn rolls around. This season, surprise your guests with unexpected harvest details filled with elegance and simplicity. Feel inspired by the changes around you to create a gorgeous gathering that everyone will be talking about. To help you entertain in style, we’ve listed our six tips to ensure every detail is looked after.
1. Keep It Simple
A “less is more” approach will help set a modern tone for the evening, allowing you and your guests to enjoy the evening to it’s fullest. Using nature as your canvas, you only need to add a few extra details for the finishing touches. Make this night about understated style, giving your guests a hint of the fall days ahead, as well as a bountiful dose of delicious food with a gourmet touches.
2. Take the Party Outside
Dining al fresco is the perfect way to enjoy the beautiful Southern California fall evenings. Bringing your entertainment outdoors is an unexpected, but welcomed surprise for your guests. Letting nature do the work for you makes entertaining easy by providing all the beauty your party needs. Light the outdoor fireplace, bring in additional heat lamps and set up candles all around. Hang additional lights and accessorize with cozy blankets and pillows for a comfortable setting.
3. Mix It Up
The best way to start the party is with a cocktail! Instead of prepping the cocktails beforehand, let your guests get crafty with their own concoctions. Lay out the ingredients along with a signature cocktail. This creates a casual atmosphere with a touch of fun that everyone will enjoy. For fall, create a hot, fresh pressed apple cider with a shot of rum on the side.
4. Get Inspired by the Season
The autumn harvest brings so many inspirational hues and tastes that everyone enjoys. Head to your local farmers market and get inspired by what is in season. Create a menu that revolves around squash and cruciferous vegetables, pumpkin, apple, and spices. Or task your caterer with developing a local, sustainable menu. Don’t forget to pull the harvest menu items into your décor, like pumpkins, gourds of all shapes and sizes, and apples for centerpieces, and fill vases with greenery and herbs.
5. Family Style
Serving food family style makes your table look lavish and alluring and creates a casual elegance perfect for fall supper. It also saves you a considerable amount of time, feels communal, and encourages friendly conversation as plates are being moved around the table. Serving food in this way also allows people to pass on the items they may not love, or take a little extra of something they do.
6. Seat Strategically
If your preference is for a sit-down dinner, be sure to sit people by those you think would likely engage in good conversation. Make sure to seat yourself in the center of the table rather than at the ends. That way you can converse with more people. Lastly, seat boy-girl. When women are seated together they tend to talk together and talk all night and never turn to engage with other guests.
Use place cards to designate the seating arrangement. The place cards can then double as a takeaway gift. It can be a baby pumpkin with a name card ribbon-tied to it, or a fragrant sachet of cinnamon sticks, or the mulling spices that were in the signature apple cider cocktail.
Fall is a time for celebration and a great excuse to host a party for your all favorite people. Having a gorgeous, simple event will create the relaxed vibe everyone craves during this time of year. With all the inspiration around you, the possibilities are endless for having a flawless fall party!
Image Source: theperfectpalette.com
