Setting the table

Tablescape inspiration, fall florals, and holiday-worthy tiramisu

Teresa Wu

Nov 8, 2023

Teahouse is a newsletter about home, travel, and community. Here you’ll find renovation documentation and destination inspiration alongside a curation of things I’m creating, consuming, and coveting right now.

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It’s officially Scorpio season… better known in our household as *birthday month.*

Over the weekend, Mike threw me a little early birthday dinner party—our annual November Italian feast! At the height of lockdown, my friends Landon and Hayley hosted a five-course birthday meal for me—complete with homemade focaccia, handmade agnolotti, duck, espresso martinis, and heavy pours of Tignanello.

It’s since become tradition to kick off “the holidays” with my dangerously indulgent festa Italiana. (We also decided that this evening marks the official appropriate start date for turning on the Christmas tunes and stringing up the lights.)

The menu for these affairs is always a Mike-curated surprise, but “you’re in charge of decor,” he said. No one has to tell me that twice. I loved an excuse to curate a fall table: with a neutral base, gold accents, and moody autumnal florals.

I popped into Trader Joe’s, and then grabbed a couple of more special stems from the local nursery:

I made one main centerpiece arrangement in a little bowl from Japan, using a Japanese flower frog (my at-home flower arranging hack!) to hold everything in place. Then I tucked the last of our backyard snapdragons into linen napkins.

With the leftover stems, I put together a few smaller arrangements for the entryway, powder room, etc.

This year’s Piedmont-inspired menu below. (I tried to seize design control and force a Canva template on Mike since he wouldn’t let me assemble the printed menu myself, but he wasn’t having it.)

We ended the night on a sweet note with tiramisu and espresso martinis. This

Alison Roman

tiramisu recipe is my go-to for the holidays! Thanks to my sweet friends for celebrating with me and cheffing it up for this delicious meal. ♥️

Linen dinner napkins by Crate & Barrel
Dinner plates from Casafina: Danielle from DM Design Group recommended these, and they’re the ideal neutral dinnerware (Jenni Kayne vibes for less!)
Flatware by Sabre: I love this set—perfect for everyday use, but pretty enough to stand up to a special occasion table.
Water glasses by Nason Moretti: We bought these mouth-blown beauties this last summer in Murano and broke them out for the first time.
Wine glasses by Schott Zwiesel
Flower frog from Amazon: Here’s a great tutorial on using a flower frog with a compote.
Brass lily candle holders by Ystad Metall: I’m obsessed with these Swedish candle holders. My friend Hope shared these, and I was immediately influenced to cruise eBay for a vintage set. They look beautiful styled on the dining table or with some coffee table books. They’re more expensive at this link, but there are definitely eBay/Etsy deals to be had.
Taper candles by Floral Society: These are my favorite taper candles—they don’t get drippy like others I’ve tried. I prefer my candles to be of varying heights but the taper holders were all the same—so I just burned two candles a bit ahead of time to get a little variation.
Chocolate tablecloth from Zara Home: I rode my bike over to Hope’s to borrow her tablecloth and two of her candle holders—yes, I know very cute of me

We’re hosting Thanksgiving with friends and family in just a few weeks, and I’m already looking forward to setting another fall table. Let me know in the comments: What are your holiday gathering plans this year? xx

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