Fall Table Setting in the Woods + Mulled Wine Recipe

The crisp fall air, the stunning autumn colors tunneling over you, and warm blankets to cozy up with as you sip warm mulled wine and enjoy each other’s company around a beautiful candlelit fall dinner. Sound dreamy? I can’t even tell you how long I’ve been dreaming this one up! And it turned out so beautiful that despite the cold, I didn’t want to leave it or take it down when we were done. Now I’m just as excited to share it with all of you!

I’ll share how I set up this dreamy fall table setting throughout the photos and you can find all the details on where the purchased items came from as well as the recipe and details for the mulled wine at the bottom of the post.

Note: Please use caution when using candles/fire. Everything was wet from lots of rain when we set this up, we had a hose and water nearby, and we never left the burning candles unattended.

My first step in making this outdoor fall table dream of mine a reality was to pick the perfect location. We have trails going all around our property through the woods and it was important to me that I find an open spot to put the table that had a nice mix of pretty fall colors and a branch overhead to hang the chandelier from. This trail within our property was just gorgeous, so I had Teddy help me haul the table and chairs we would be using out there.

For the chandelier, we used an old metal wheel and tied it up with a heavy duty rope. It took a few tries to get it to hang just right, but I wanted to leave it looking a little rustic and homemade. We had to place an insert across the spokes to hold the candles in place so that they wouldn’t fall over or through the wheel.

For the tablecloth, I used a plaid blanket scarf. For the place cards, I picked four colorful real fall leaves and hand lettered the names on them with a black brush tip marker. Two of my favorite decorating tips are to A.)Use everyday items you already have, like a blanket scarf, and B.)Use natural elements when possible, like beautiful real fall leaves, flowers, and pumpkins. In my opinion, if you have access to real natural elements, that’s always the best option and is often cheaper than the artificial alternative.

After laying out the table cloth, I started by laying three cotton stems down the center of the table. I then spaced out my small pumpkins and mini cake stand along the cotton stems evenly. Next, I filled in along the center of the table with the candles, alternating sizes as I went down the table. For the cake stand, I chose one of the medium sized candles, a small casper pumpkin/gourd, and three different colored bright fall leaves.

Once the center of my table was decorated, I added my fall place settings, complete with plain white dinner plates, botanical pumpkin salad plates in sage and mustard colors, silverware, copper mugs, and white pumpkin place card holders.

I decorated around the table with pumpkins, mums, flower pots, and an old wooden crate. I tried to alternate the colors so that nothing seemed too matchy matchy and everything was fairly evenly dispersed around the area. Something fun to break out of the ordinary: I stacked pumpkins and placed them on top of a clay flower pot to add dimension to this little vignette.

To keep things slightly eclectic, I alternated items around the table. I alternated different chairs, two styles of copper mugs, leaf colors for the place cards, and two different colors of the pumpkin salad plates.

Grouping items in odd numbers, such as groups of threes, keeps things visually interesting.

Cozy blankets added nice texture but served as very functional décor in the cold Michigan fall weather.

One negative about using the blanket scarf as a table cloth was that it was pretty thin and didn’t stay in place very well. If I were to do this again, I would probably use something a little thicker, like a thicker scarf or blanket. Of course, if you can find a pretty fall table cloth that fits your style, you can use that!

These fall plates are just the prettiest!

All that dreamy fall bokeh! Insert heart eyes here!!

Black Star Farms Cherry Wine is our favorite for mulled wine, and that is actually where we first tried mulled wine and got the recipe, which you can find below.

The recipe for this delicious mulled cherry wine is from Black Star Farms and you can find the recipe card (pictured below) as well as purchase their wines HERE. I have tried this recipe with their Cherry Wine, Artisan Red, and Hard Apple Cider, and you can’t go wrong with any of them!

The purchased items are as follows:

Candles: All the smaller medium sized candles (all the chandelier candles and two of the table candles) were purchased at the Dollar Tree. The small glass candles were also purchased at the Dollar Tree. The tall candles and three larger medium sized candles were purchased at Walmart.

Table Cloth/Plaid Blanket Scarves: These were purchased at Meijer.

Pumpkins and Mums: These were all purchased at local stores/pumpkin patches.

Plates: The plain white dinner plates (I can’t find them online, but they were sold individually and were only 68 cents a piece in store!) and botanical pumpkin salad plates were both purchased at Walmart.

Copper Mugs: Both sets were purchased at TJ Maxx, and are not online. You can find a similar set HERE.

Cotton Stems: These were purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Pumpkin Place Card Holders: These were purchased during the end of the season clearance from TJ Maxx. Also not available online.

Faux Fur Blanket: This was purchased at TJ Maxx and you can find a similar one HERE.

Cranberry Crocheted Blanket: This was a Meijer clearance purchase last fall.

I apologize that a lot of my items aren’t online. I hope that is something that will change in time and I’ll have better resources for you guys to find items online!

Thanks so much for being here and enjoying this cozy beautiful fall dinner with me! 😉 I hope it inspires you to do something a little outside the box and make some unforgettable memories. Get creative with everyday items and natural elements in your table settings and decor. Do a little outdoor Friendsgiving if the weather is bearable or set up a romantic dinner for two on the patio.  You won’t regret creating the memories!