55 Fall Centerpieces for a Beautiful Table

A centerpiece doesn’t just have to be made of flowers. Flickering pumpkins floating in water makes quite the display. You can float the pumpkins in a metal tin, small glass jars, or ceramic bowls. Use pumpkin carving tools to carve out the space for the tea lights.

Pumpkins aren’t just for carving. Use them as centerpieces for your favorite fall plants! Set tall ones on the sideboard and use small ones down the center of the table.

To make: Cut a whole in the pumpkin that is about the same size as the potted plant. Clean out the pumpkin. Insert the potted plant into the opening. Add moss around the plant if desired.

Filled with purple anemones, Nandina berries, mini pumpkins, and taper and pillar candles, a woven basket serves as a pretty, rustic vase. Line the basket with plastic and then fill with damp floral foam, stacking a few pieces for added height, before adding your elements.

As much as we love a showy centerpiece, a bountiful “runner” (I kind of centerpiece) of natural elements such as chinaberries, blood oranges, thistle, and pine cones encourages across-the-table conversation.

A vintage transferware soup tureen makes a perfect vase for a centerpiece full of fall blooms such as dahlias and hydrangea. Use a flower frog or floral foam in the base of the tureen to help hold the blooms.

SHOP TUREENS

Debbie Harp of Wonderful Life Farm uses multiple lanterns down the center of a table to create a dramatic and practical centerpiece – who doesn’t want to see the delicious food they are eating?! Debbie hosts a festive al fresco feast every fall as the leaves are turning and the air is turning crisp and her table stuns every year!

SHOP LANTERNS

When the season changes from summer to fall, it’s fun to mix flowers from both to create a stunning centerpiece. Here sunflowers are mixed with zinnias, and dried strawflowers—to name just a few. For added flower flair, set each place with an embroidered napkin like these from Hibiscus Linen.

When setting a long table it’s nice to dot small arrangements, set in vintage glass bud vases, down the length of the table.

SHOP BUD VASES

Native to Mexico, sun-loving dahlias grow in a warm shades, including the maroon ‘Night Butterfly’ and orange ‘Melody Dora,’ pictured here. It’s no wonder they are a preferred pick for fall tablescapes, especially when displayed in an interesting vase or vessel such as the antique English wood biscuit barrel shown here.

SHOP DAHLIAS

Build a tiered centerpiece with a trio of colanders (pictured here are vintage punched six-point star aluminum colanders). To make, cut floral foam to fit into the bowls of the bottom and middle colanders. Create your stack by pushing the two top colanders (footed work best) into the foam. Use mini pumpkins and bittersweet sprigs to fill the top tier and the spaces between.

SHOP COLANDERS

RELATED: 100+ Pumpkin Decorating Ideas You Need to Try This Fall

Gather bouquets of seasonal blooms in a collection of silver loving cup trophies for a winning table setting. For a round or small table, group three of varying sizes in the middle, and for a long table, scatter them in a jig-jag center row down the length. Mix in tall taper candles to add a magical glow.

SHOP VINTAGE LOVING CUP TROPHIES

Abundant bundles of fall flowers, such as ranunculus, dahlias, and Queen Anne’s lace, nestled in baskets and wood buckets lend a casual rustic touch to a table.

SHOP BASKETS

When it comes to pint-size partygoers, embrace the butcher paper. It evokes a rustic feel, doubles as a coloring surface, and makes for quick cleanup. A garland of paper leaves (plus some store-bought turkey hats) adds seasonal color and decoration. Add to the Thanksgiving festivities by adding an “I’m thankful for: fill-in-the-blank activity at each placesetting.

SHOP LEAF GARLANDS

Give your table a little back-to-school nod with this idea from Melanie of Vintage Charm House. Top a stack of vintage school books with a simple arrangement of late season black-eyed Susans and chamomile—or even store-bought daisies—gathered in a glass peanut butter jar.

SHOP VINTAGE PEANUT BUTTER JARS

Prized for their unique shape and medicinal properties, perennial Chinese Lanterns grow with vigor and take on an orange hue come autumn. For an elegant arrangement that celebrates the season, combine the stems with leafy branches and fluffy marigolds in an antique pewter pitcher.

SHOP SILVER PITCHERS

Use old family photographs to create a sentimental centerpiece that will have everyone talking and remembering family members past and present. To make, use vintage flower frog to hold the photos upright, then place beneath glass cloches and bell jars (you can use wood rounds, silver pedestals, and dessert stands as bases). If you frog doesn’t have tines, fashion a holder by wrapping craft wire around a 3/4-inch dowel a few times, leaving a 1-2-inch tail that you insert into a hole of the flower frog. For a more organic feel, incorporate earthy elements such as moss, rocks, and pine cones.

SHOP GLASS BELL JARS

Go for bold red and yellow blooms instead of the usual muted fall tones. In a vintage pudding tin or other favorite vessel, add flowers first, then mix in fall leaves, berries, magnolia leaves.
TIP: Start with the stiff/branchy pieces to make a strong base, then move to softer, delicate materials. Finish it off with a ribbon tied with dried gourds.

SHOP VINTAGE TIN PUDDING MOLDS

Craft your own personal pumpkin patch using old quilt pieces and fabric scraps. To make, start with a round piece of fabric and a ball of batting (about the size you want your finished pumpkin to be). Gather the fabric up around the batting and hot glue it together in the center. Collect dried stems, or purchase faux stems, and attach with hot glue for a realistic touch. Line the middle of a long farmhouse table with a runner, then pile on your creations and other seasonal greenery. These would be an adorable accent to a mantel or buffet as well.

If the weather’s right, take your holiday dinners outdoors, including a to-die-for flower arrangement that sets the tone for the special meal to come.