Friendsgiving Decorations and Themes: 3 Looks and a Table Plan

Decorating a Friendsgiving table is mostly a choice of colors and a few repeated items. The food, the seats and the lighting do most of the work. This guide gives three looks, a table plan for any size of group and a short list of what to buy, what to make and what to skip. The three looks match our printable suites, and you can use the ideas with or without them. The rest of the topic is on the Friendsgiving planning hub.

Start With Three Decisions

1. Palette: pick two or three colors and stay in them. Warm neutrals with one accent color look finished.
2. Repeated items: choose one or two things to repeat down the table, such as candles, mini pumpkins or small branches.
3. A card for everything: a dish card, a place card and a welcome sign make a table look organized, which is the effect decor is trying to buy.

The rest is optional. Do the table the day before, so the day itself is only cooking and hosting. The table setting guide covers the layout and the place cards in detail.

Theme 1: Harvest Gingham

Warm peach, cream and olive, with pumpkins, pies, leaves and acorns drawn in a simple outline style. It is the classic, cozy version of a Thanksgiving table, and it suits a traditional menu and a home dinner.

How to dress the table: a cream or checked tablecloth or runner, olive napkins, small pumpkins in warm yellow or cream, and a few leaves down the center. Add a candle in a plain holder at each end. Use handwritten-style labels for the dishes.

What goes with it: a pie on a stand as a centerpiece, wooden boards for rolls and cheese, and a jug of cider. The suite in this theme has a welcome sign, an invitation, a Who’s Bringing What potluck sign, menus and food labels, all in the same drawings.

Theme 2: Thankful Hearts

Sage leaves, hearts and wine glasses in tan and brown. It is quiet and warm, and it is built around gratitude. It fits a smaller dinner, a dinner with wine and a menu that leans toward the elegant.

How to dress the table: a neutral linen or paper runner, sage or olive napkins, a single leaf or a sprig at each plate, and candles. Brown paper tags with each guest’s name tied with twine are an easy touch.

What goes with it: a gratitude sign and thankful cards at each seat, so guests can write one thing they are thankful for and read a few out loud at dessert. Every suite includes the gratitude sign and the thankful cards, and this theme is built around them.

Theme 3: Gobble Gobble

A doodled turkey, a pie and a pumpkin on a soft aqua page, with rust and teal accents. It is playful and a little silly, and it suits a casual potluck, a younger crowd or a dinner with kids.

How to dress the table: a plain tablecloth or butcher paper you can draw on, napkins in rust or teal, and a few small pumpkins. Give each guest a pen so they can doodle on the paper while they wait. A banner above the food table does a lot with little.

What goes with it: a kids’ placemat, which the suite includes, funny dish labels and games after dinner. See Friendsgiving games for adults for ideas that match the mood.

A Simple Table Plan

Seating first. Count the seats and then the plates. A table that is a little crowded feels warm, and one with gaps does not. If you do not have enough chairs, borrow folding chairs, and use a bench or a second small table.

Food on a side surface. For a group of more than six, serve from a counter or a side table. Put plates at one end, then the main, the sides, and the bread last, with the dessert on a separate table. It keeps the dining table free for elbows and glasses.

The center is low. A row of tea lights, mini pumpkins and one or two small branches, no taller than a glass. Guests need to see each other across the table. Check any candle for open flames near paper, and blow them out before anyone leaves.

A drinks spot. Put water, cider and wine on a separate table with ice, so people are not walking through the kitchen. Our timeline tool puts setting the table and the drinks an hour before dinner, but it is easier to do it the day before.

What to Buy, Make or Skip

Buy: candles and holders, napkins, a few small pumpkins or squash, a roll of butcher paper or a runner, and name cards. Real pumpkins also make dishes and vases.

Make or find outside: branches, leaves, acorns, pinecones and small gourds cost nothing. A bowl of clementines or apples on the table is both decor and snack.

Print: a welcome sign, a menu, food labels, place cards and a banner. These are the items that most make the table look planned.

Skip: anything that needs a lot of storage, anything with glitter near food, and costume or decor that imitates Native people. Keep it to harvest, autumn and gratitude.

A Budget That Holds

Decide the number before you shop. As a rough order of spending, put the most into the food, then seating and lighting, then paper goods, and the least into decor. Reuse what you already have: jars as vases, sheets as tablecloths and plates from a kitchen shelf. See how to host Friendsgiving for the whole plan and the checklist for the shopping lists.

The Three Suites

The suites below match these three looks. Each comes in three kits: the Printable Suite has 17 printables you edit, including the invitation, the potluck sign, the food labels, place cards and table signs. The Host Kit adds a PDF of 10 games, and the Everything Kit adds a big-screen game show and a planner.

Printable Help

If you want the welcome sign, the menus and the labels without designing them, pick the theme that matches your table below. They are optional, and the table plan above works with plain paper.