Throwing a Fall Harvest Celebration!

Fall is my favorite season of the year!! I think this must be because I grew up in the Midwest, so I have fond memories of visiting the cider mill every year, watching the leaves change on the maple trees, the smell of carving pumpkins around Halloween time, and all the beautiful sights, sounds, and smells that come with the changing of the seasons! Because of this, I am determined to celebrate this season, even while I live in a less autumnal location now.

So in honor of the most glorious sweater weather- pumpkin spice - crunching leaves season, I decided to host a fall harvest celebration with a group of friends! Follow along below to find out how I put this party together and how you can host your very own fall party, Friendsgiving, thanksgiving, or autumnal bash with these fall elements & party tips!

DECORATIONS

The best part about throwing a fall party in your own home is you probably already have fall decor on hand for your normal seasonal decorating —making this a very simple and inexpensive party theme to decorate for!

Here are some of the decorative elements that I think really brought the fall harvest theme to life!

• Harvest brown gingham check paper plates (from My Mind’s Eye)

• Pink cloth napkins

• Mason jars glasses

• Unfinished wood maple leaf place card holders (these would also be perfect for a thanksgiving dinner or Friendsgiving party!)

• Disposable utensils

• Assorted mini pumpkins, gourds, and fairytale pumpkins (from Trader Joe’s)

• Amber glass vases with fall flower bouquets (I borrowed these from a friend, but here is a similar looking vase)

• Wood acorn decor piece

• Miscellaneous pinecones and acorns scattered around

• Yellow/orange taper candlesticks

• Fall leaves wall art print

FOOD & DRINKS

One of the most important components of any party are the snacks. And I love the chance to match the food & beverages to the theme of the party. For my fall party I had a note on the invitation asking each guest to please bring one item to share, and my friends did not disappoint!

Here are some of the snacks we had laid out for grazing:

• Baked brie (in the shape of a pumpkin!) and assorted crackers

• Buffalo chicken dip and tortilla chips (leaf shaped chips, thank you Trader Joe’s!)

• Veggie platter w/dip

• An epic charcuterie board with all the meats, cheeses, nuts, & spreads

• Mac n cheese bites

• Puff pastry appetizers

I also had a hot beverage station setup in the kitchen next to my Nespresso machine with coffee, hot chocolate packets, and assorted teas available! Stay tuned for a post (coming soon!) to the blog where we will share these adorable printable fall drink sleeves to take your basic disposable coffee cup to the next cuteness level!

It’s helpful to have little signs for guests showing what each item of food is (especially for guests with allergies or dietary restrictions) and I think these little acorn markers were the perfect themed way to label our dishes.

I got these unfinished wood die cut acorns from Joann’s and I used my DYMO embossing label maker to create these simple but fun mini food signs.

For desserts we had:

• Assorted fall sugar cookies

• Chocolate mousse pumpkins (from Trader Joe’s)

• And these delicious apple cider donuts (made by my friend Taylor from @hallsktchen — she creates the most delicious gluten free recipes and I challenged her with a recipe for the iconic cider mill donuts that she did a fabulous job recreating — recipe coming soon!)

To display these amazing donuts, I created these fun DIY checkered milk bottles filled with apple cider! I think this cider & donut combo was my favorite element of the fall party :)

PARTY FAVORS

I love a good party favor, especially one that people will actually use and enjoy after an event! For this party, I made these sweet little tea & honey favors as a small thank you gift to my guests for attending. Check out our previous post on How to Make Honey Lollipop Favors to see how we made these honey sticks that are perfect for stirring & sweetening your favorite cozy fall beverage. I paired the honey lollipop with a Pumpkin Spice Chai tea bag and tied it all together with a piece of twine and a cute fall leaf graphic that I printed to match the party theme.

FALL WREATH ACTIVITY

The biggest hit of the fall party would have to be the wreath making activity. I love any excuse to get crafty with a group of friends and this was a great way to get into the fall spirit and also allow everyone to take home a homemade piece of fall decor to celebrate the season!

I would highly recommend keeping an eye out for floral sales at craft stores if you would like to recreate this fall activity. They typically occur super early in the season or super late in the season. You could even stock up at the end of the season in anticipation for a fall party next year! It just so happened to be a HUGE 70% off sale at Joann’s the day that I went looking for supplies which allowed me to pick up a huge array of fall faux florals and embellishments.

Here are all the supplies that we used for wreath making:

• Assorted faux floral stems & greenery

• Fall floral embellishments (like mini pumpkins, acorns, woodland creatures, pinecones, etc.)

• Gold wreath hoops (12” diameter)

• Gold flexible floral wire (it works best if each guest has their own roll)

• Wire cutters & scissors

• Hot glue gun

• Assorted ribbons (to use for hanging the wreath)

To make the wreaths, you simply gather a mix of florals and greenery that you would like and arrange them much like you would for a normal floral bouquet arrangement. Then using floral wire you wrap a continuous piece of wire around the stems to attach the florals to the wreath hoop. I also had a hot glue gun available if anyone wanted to cover up any visible wire with loose leaves or fall embellishments. Then you tie a piece of ribbon or a wire hook to the top to use for hanging your completed wreath!

I was worried since there wasn’t a ton of room in my apartment that we wouldn’t have a surface to do our crafting on, but it actually worked out perfectly to set up this cute IKEA utility cart to display all the supplies in the corner of the room and everyone just spread out on the floor to create their projects.

Everyone had their own style and they all turned out so cute and festive! Good job, friends!! Hehe

I had so much fun putting together this fall harvest celebration and I think my girl friends all enjoyed celebrating the season together! So this is your sign that you do not need any specific holiday or occasion to gather your friends together and force them to get crafty :P

I hope this party guide has inspired you to throw your own seasonal celebration! Lemme know what details were your favorite :)

Happy Fall! xo Rachael