I was provided samples by Oriental Trading Company in exchange for my honest review on their products. All ideas and opinions found in this post are my own. This post contains affiliate links, which means I will receive a small commission if you choose to make a purchase. These commissions help keep my content free and help keep my website running, so thank you!

Have you ever found a gorgeous table setting online or in a magazine and thought, "That's what I want my Thanksgiving table to look like!"

So, you start following the links to find out what you need to recreate the look, then holy sticker shock! $200 just for flatware for four?!! Too rich for my blood, especially when our Thanksgiving table will be seating 18 people!

I'm a "make things pretty for not a lot of cash" kinda gal, and I'm happy to tell ya that you can absolutely have pretty Thanksgiving table decor without breaking the bank!

Here are my suggestions for setting a beautiful Thanksgiving table that won't cost a fortune.

Florals and Ambience

When I think about what really stands out in a beautiful tablescape, it's typically pretty florals and candle-lit ambiance.

The florals in this Thanksgiving table set-up are pretty, right?

Would you believe that I got ALL of the fresh flowers...at the grocery store...for only $20.00?!!

Amazing, right? If you were going to purchase pre-made arrangements from a florist, you would easily spend at least $50-$75 per arrangement!

The bonus is, you're going to be going to the grocery store for the food, anyway. You can get the food and the florals all in one stop!

Here's another tip: The flowers don't all have to be real! I wanted some pussy willows and dahlias for the arrangements but the grocery store didn't have any. BUT, Michaels did, and they were 80% off! Score!

I'm not much on artificial flowers unless they really look like the real deal, but if you do a good job strategically placing faux flowers in with real ones, it's really hard to tell that they aren't all real!

I'll bet you're scrolling back to get a closer look at my floral arrangements to find the fake ones now, aren't ya? ;)

When it comes to shopping for pretty Thanksgiving table decor, Oriental Trading is a great place to start.

Their goodies are both amazing and affordable!

When I was looking for a pretty, classy way to showcase the florals, I came across some gold geometric terrariums on the OT website.

They are absolutely stunning, and look beautiful with flowers tucked inside! They are sold in sets of two and are so very pretty in person!

You'll be wanting to use them as home decor when your Thanksgiving dinner is over, so money well spent, if ya ask me!

I mentioned that ambience is important, but candle holders can be expensive...especially if you need quite a few of them.

When I was browsing the Oriental Trading site, I came across these gold-flecked votive holders, which complement the gold terrariums perfectly! The best part? You get a dozen of them for only $15!!! These can soooo easily transition into Chrismas decor, too...double duty decorating!

Paper is Pretty!

I don't know about you, but when I have guests over for a meal, I actually want to spend time with them.

Being stuck in the kitchen washing dishes is definitely not how I want to spend my Thanksgiving, how about you?

Enter paper plates and plastic flatware!

I gotta tell ya, if you haven't noticed, the paper plate game is rockin' right now! There are some absolutely gorgeous selections available, so you can set a pretty Thanksgiving table with very little clean-up to follow! Now THAT is what I call fabulous!!! :)

Via Blossom shared these modern chic geometric plates on their instagram page, and I instantly fell in love!

Non-traditional colors are the trend this year, so I chose these plates for our Thanksgiving celebration. Doesn't that gold foil and marble just make you swoon?!!

And that gold flatware? I'll just tell ya that it doesn't cost $200. ;)

Use it and lose it for several dollars. How do ya like the sound of that?!!

Personalize with Printables

Printables are fantastic because they're pretty, they're personalizable, and they're inexpensive!

If you're not familiar with how printables work, they are customized PDF files that you pay one price for, and can then print as many times as you'd like.

So, in our case, I'd pay one flat rate for a menu PDF file, and then I could print 18 of them for that price, as opposed to having to pay a "per piece" price if I had them printed for me.

It's typically a substantial savings if you don't mind printing and cutting yourself.

Both these printable menus and printable place cards are available in the shop, and can be customized just for you. They are the perfect match for the rest of our pretty Thanksgiving table decor, don't you think?

So there you have it...my best tips for creating a pretty Thanksgiving tablescape without paying a fortune.

I think the only other thing I'd say is not to be afraid to look around your house and repurpose things that you already have. See those gold pumpkins on the table? They were leftover from Halloween, they just got repurposed for a new holiday. :)

Be sure to share pictures of your tablescapes on social media and tag me @jentbydesign so I can see!

Sources:

Jen T by Design: Party styling, photography, menus, place cards

Oriental Trading: Gold geometric terrariums, gold-flecked votive holders, acrylic frames for menus, gold flatware

Via Blossom: Blush and gold hexagon plates, marbled hexagon plates

Target: Gold pumpkins, marbled hexagon coasters

HomeGoods: Napkins, wine glasses