Every year my husband and I, with our best friends, head to the beautiful countryside to enjoy the fall weather, the upcoming holidays and a "pre-celebration" of the things we're thankful for ... friends, family and food! 

We recently just returned from our annual trip to Paso Robles (the gorgeous wine country only a few hours from Los Angeles) and this year, I wanted to design a special fall dinner outside at HammerSky Vineyards. Entertaining doesn’t mean you have to break the bank, so I designed and created all of the little details to make sure our dinner would be fabulous ... and it was. {For more great ideas, check out my blog!}

Apple picking
Creating wooden signs is a unique way to label items and areas for a dinner party or event. You can easily make your own by purchasing an inexpensive wood-burning tool, flat piece of wood and either a charcoal stick or carbon transfer paper. Print out what you want the sign to say in your favourite font. Use either the carbon transfer paper or charcoal to transfer the design on the wood. Apply to your area of choice on the wood, then use the wood burning tool to trace what you just transferred. You can create designs or words - be careful not to burn anything but the wood, though!

Caramel apples
Nothing says fall more than delicious caramel apples. Instead of your ordinary, run-of-the-mill stick, I wanted to spruce them up, so I gathered some twigs from outside, washed them and used them to create twig-top caramel apples. It gives a very festive look to the apples and your guests will be impressed.
Maple stir stick
Stir sticks are an easy and fun way to dress up a drink and dazzle your guests with your attention to detail. To make these, I used a maple leaf craft punch, brown card-stock, wooden skewers (sized and cut to the glass so they'd stick out about two inches above the glass rim) and hot glue. I glued two maple leafs together with a dab of hot-glue. Simple, easy and charming.
'Eat' tag
It’s all about the details when setting up and hosting a beautiful dinner. Quick tip: Tend to the the little touches a week or two in advance so you can focus on the food, drinks and dressing the table the day of your event. Adding tags to the table is a cute way to let people know where they're sitting and just spices up the presentation. I embossed these using letter and utensil stamps and tied them with a little hemp twine.
Glass jar and flowers
To create a rustic and elegant theme, add in some sweet vintage-looking items, such as this glass bottle. Then top it off with a little of fall's bounty, like pinecones or acorns. I love mixing traditional and non-traditional details to create a polished, chic design.
Full tablesetting with Twinkie the Cat
Table linens make a world of difference when hosting a beautiful dinner party or event. My rule of thumb when designing stylish dinners is that the linens should fully touch the ground. If they are a little larger (which is actually good!), tuck the bottom underneath, creating a bubble look; it’s classy and beautiful. Twinkie, the black cat who lives on the vineyard, popped in for a shot. He liked the linens as much as I did!
Flowers, pinecones and acorns
Simple flowers are key to elegant entertaining. Flowers are beautiful on their own; you don’t need extravagant arrangements to make a stunning tablesetting. Baby’s breath lasts a long time out of water and will definitely survive an evening dinner. This way you can add something in the vase, like pinecones and add charm by adding baby’s breath. Spider mums are also great flowers that last a long time. They’re easy to handle and pretty much foolproof.
Julie’s amazing food
To make the dinner extra special, I hired a private chef from Thomas Hill Organics to come cook for us. Julie is the head chef at the local, farm-to-table eatery Thomas Hill Organics. She is amazingly talented and left us speechless with these delicious scallops. Thomas Hill Organics is owned by Joe and Debbie Thomas, who grow their fantastic restaurant's fresh produce at their own farm.
Tablesetting, charger and barn
Adding a charger under the dinner plates helps to embellish the aesthetics of the table design. In this tablesetting, I used twig chargers to match with the fall theme and to add a touch of nature to the table. I also used plain white dinnerware because they are simple, classy and go with everything ... no matter the occasion.
The vineyard barn
Having a gorgeous barn on a breathtaking vineyard as the backdrop of a fall dinner never hurts. The light was just perfect as it peeked over the rooftop and through the windows and autumn leaves only adding to the sense of magic for this wonderful evening with best friends.