ShareThisBy MARY CAROL GARRITY
Q: When the new school year starts, I'm thrilled to see friends I've lost touch with over the summer. I want to get everyone together for a fall dinner party and would like some creative ideas for how to decorate for the event.
A: I love everything about autumn, from the harvest moons to fresh-picked apples to jack-o'-lanterns dotting front porches. Like you, I can't resist throwing a fall fete to welcome this wondrous season.
When dressing your home for fall gatherings, look no further than your own back yard. Scout for branches of fall leaves, acorns, grasses and fruits to weave into your seasonal decorating.
This time of year, I can't get enough of hedge apples. I love how these lumpy lime-green orbs pop against the reds, browns and yellows of autumn. I use them liberally in my fall decorating, pooling them in compotes on my dining room table or in urns in my entry.
When decorating my home for a get-together, I always start the show at the front door to give guests a taste of the visual delights that await them inside. If you're having an evening event, dot your sidewalk with glowing lanterns or pumpkins surrounded by votive candles.
My husband, Dan, the resident chef, can't cook and talk at the same time, so I have to keep guests out of the kitchen if we're ever to get dinner on the table. Since my friends tend to congregate where the drinks are, I roll a trolley cart into the large foyer of my Greek revival home and fill it with savory appetizers, wines and spiced apple cider.
In the middle of your appetizer service, feature a fabulous and sometimes unexpected centerpiece. This fall, I've run across the most wonderful glass vase, and I'm using it in dozens of ways in my decorating. Two-feet tall and shaped like a cylinder, this container looks terrific filled with apples, gourds or drooping branches of rose hips.
Stuck on what to serve for starters? Since cooking isn't my forte, I always turn to my friend Cheryl Hartell, who owns a bistro in historic Weston, Mo. She suggests this mouth-watering assortment: wild mushroom crustini topped with fresh parmesan shavings, baked brie flanked with spiced nuts and roasted garlic, fondue served in a baked pumpkin shell and a low-calorie, guilt-free dip made from pureed roasted fall vegetables.
To create a memorable table, you've got to start with a marvelous centerpiece. If you're looking for loads of drama, rest a weathered garden bust in an iron garden urn, filling in the open space with tufts of moss. Then encircle the arrangement with tendrils of bittersweet.
For a lighthearted look, fill an assortment of antique brown bottles with sunflowers, then cluster them atop a riser. Hungry for height? Fill a wire two-tiered plant stand with pumpkins and gourds and rest it at the center of your table. Right now I have a weakness for blue and white china vases, which look smashing on a fall table holding a single spray of orange honeysuckle berries.
To make each place setting unique, start with earthy leather chargers stamped with an alligator skin design. Or forget the chargers and use brown wicker trays instead. Add some whimsy with inexpensive pottery plates, soup bowls and serving pieces shaped like pumpkins. Tuck in tan checked napkins tied up with bittersweet, then rest a faux oak twig, complete with tiny acorns, above each dinner plate.
I love to serve dessert on my porch so guests can revel in the chill autumn air. Cheryl the chef suggests serving desserts that showcase seasonal fruits and spices, like ginger pumpkin creme brulee. Or, try apple pecan tarts topped with rum currant ice cream, made from rum-soaked currants folded into vanilla bean ice cream.
There's no better way to greet the golden days of autumn than by gathering with friends, is there? Enjoy!
Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three successful home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and the author of several best-selling books on home decorating. Write to Mary Carol at nellhills(at)mail.lvnworth.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
