No event is as much fun to set up as a Halloween-themed table. Bring out the creepy skulls and cobweb-shaped dishes. You can impress your guests by using a chic (and edible!) nameplate or a magical hanging cap. You can add as many gourds or as much ominousness to your spooky soirée.
What’s the best part? The look can be achieved without spending $2,000 on an expensive server figurine. You can make a hauntingly impressive setup without spending a fortune. DIY-averse need not worry, as you can also frighten your guests by using shoppable items.
You may prefer the classic orange and black theme, or you might want to go for a more sophisticated look. We’ve got some of the best Halloween table designs for all design styles, from dark and eerie through to bright and cheery. Choose your poison. No, it is not the food. ).
GILDED GARNISHES
Fashionable Hostess Amanda S. Gluck likes to use white and black as a way to create a “beautiful,” spooky Halloween look. This cocktail table has been decorated with black and white miniature pumpkins, tapered candles, and a lot of other decorations. Gold-lined cake stand is a chic way to add height to your table.
PUMPKIN FEST
Place settings are one of bakery owner Caitlinhorner’s favorite ways to use biscuits. In this instance, edible biscuits! Horner says they are the perfect treat to have after dinner. She says, “My tip is to make something fun and unique for the centerpiece of the table. Add a personal touch like these pumpkin place settings.”
TEXTURAL TREATMENTS
It’s not necessary to sacrifice class for Halloween whimsy. Consider the tabletop spread of product stylist Suzanne Zingg, which includes a few collectibles and lots of texture. Zingg told ELLE DECOR that the plaid wool throw was a perfect match for burlap placemats, real pumpkins, oak leaves, and bittersweet branches. This is a spooky, impressive, and maximalist moment.
Get Handsy
Tablescape decorator Candace Chen loves to mix and match plates of different colors to create an elegant and glamorous blend. She added a supernatural touch to this Halloween table by adding a skeleton’s hand.
PHANTOM FLOURISHES
Maren Baxter, a graphic designer and illustrator, says that a Halloween table doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. Baxter chose orange, black, and white for this table to give it a classic Halloween feel. She made her decorations, making ghosts from napkins, black paper bats, and oranges into pumpkins. She also added a few warm natural elements to the mix.
Not-so-lively Guests
Blogger Joanna Keel got her inspiration for this table from Pyrex dishes featuring cute Halloween characters. She explains, “I thought that they would make a great treat table.” She let the skeletons on the theme pull up chairs to increase the number of guests. Keel’s advice to enthusiasts on how she creates such a festive display every year is to save some items for the next year. She says that you can repurpose decorations that aren’t Halloween-themed, like these black candleholders.
HOVERING HATS
Interiors enthusiast Tanya Thomas chose traditional colors for this look. She also wanted a classic atmosphere. Thomas says that the gloating witch-hats and skeleton decor add whimsy while layering and height variations provide visual interest.
COBWEB TABLECLOTH
Nathalie Bernard from La Mariee en Colere used “cobwebs” instead of a tablecloth to create a creative and fun way to decorate a dinner party for Halloween. Add some creepy crawlies and silver candelabras to the table.
“MUSIC OF NIGHT” TEA PORCH PARTY
Amber Lyon Ferguson, Follow The Yellow Brick Home, set a table that was enthralling and had a mysterious story to match. This tablescape is a haunting classical piece of music adorned with vintage photographs, skeletons, hands, and music sheets. Antique props are a great way to add a ghostly touch to any event.
PRETTY BUT DEADLY
According to Julie Blanner, adding a prop skull to your table with sweet bouquets and poisoned apples is a simple yet effective way to haunt your guests.
A BUFFET OF EERIE
Reality check: A good assortment of snacks is all you really need for a party. In this case, a scarecrow is watching over them. You can also add smoky drinks to the mix.
GLITTERED SKULL CENTERPIECE
Use black and white plates, gold flatware, faux ravens, and mini pumpkins to strike the perfect balance between spooky chic. Tablesetting kits from Social Studies are a great way to avoid last-minute pressure for any event.
FAIRY TALE-INSPIRED
Revel Group is a live events company that inspired this Halloween table by taking inspiration from fairy tales. The twisted, gnarled florals were paired up with red apples, roses, and candlesticks.
POPS OF BLACK
Revel Group used a lot of black to create a sophisticated Halloween table. The use of black gift boxes, glassware, and candlesticks adds drama to a table while adding a sophisticated touch.
COLORFUL SETUP
For Halloween, Sugar & Cloth created an arrangement that’s equal parts colorful and moody. Woven chairs and vibrant blooms alongside a table setting that features marble chargers and loads of greenery are just a few highlights of the eye-catching look.
FLOWERS GALORE
Sugar & Cloth opted for an abundance of pretty flowers for her Halloween arrangement. Amp up the look with white candlesticks and touches of gold.
GO FOR A MASKED LOOK
Play up a mysterious vibe by outfitting a table with everything from gold masks and candlesticks to clocks and antique objects, as seen in this Halloween setup from Shannon Wellington Weddings. Pull the look together with a sophisticated palette of black, pink, and purple.
DARK, GLAMOROUS VIBE
Experiment with a moody palette by pairing black glassware and plates with pops of gold for a more elevated Halloween table. This color scheme is versatile–and glam–enough to work all year long.
NATURE-INSPIRED
Embrace nature by making a crawling vine a part of your Halloween table decor, as designer Sarah Baynes has done here. The greenery adds a playful touch to the table, which is also dressed up with festive black pumpkins and bat-shaped place cards.
UNEXPECTED HUES
Rather than settle for another Halloween setup filled with orange and black accents, go for white pumpkins, black flatware, and brown goblets, like this look from Twink + Sis. Take the arrangement to the next level with subtle gray plates and flowers in both reds and purples.
WICKEDLY STYLISH DECOR
Orange doesn’t have to be a mandatory part of your Halloween color palette. An all-black affair is equally festive but much more sophisticated. Chanel Dror of Camille Styles designed this spread to be hauntingly elegant, using dark and mysterious flora, eerie candlelight, and plenty of black table decor.
SPOOKY GOLD ACCESSORIES
If you want your table to be festive without screaming for attention, dress up your everyday decor with a few statement pieces. Michael Wurm Jr. of Inspired by Charm styled a stunning fall floral arrangement against a white tablecloth and white china and accessorized with cute spider-pumpkin place-card holders to complete the holiday dinner setting.
MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN
Lush greenery can add a spooky forestlike element to your party. The greens here, styled by Cassandra LaValle of Coco Kelly, are offset by a dark tablescape and jeweled spiders that are both creepy and glamorous.
CLASSIC BLACK-AND-WHITE TABLESCAPE
A black-and-white theme here is so classic that your guests will almost forget that it’s Halloween…until they see the spiders and ghosts subtly worked into the decor. Courtney Whitmore of Pizzazzerie accented the table with candlesticks and white ceramic pumpkins for an elegant fall vibe.
HAUNTING FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS
When it comes to Halloween, we can’t think of a more fitting centerpiece than this spooky (yet beautiful) Medusa-inspired floral arrangement. You would never guess the elements used here were completely thrifted by Justina Blakeney of The Jungalow, giving them an eerie old-world feel.
FESTIVE DRINK STATION
Don’t forgo festivity at your drink station: Black skulls, pumpkins, and spiders offer the perfect Halloween touch without going overboard, as shown in a vignette designed by Inspired by Charm. We are fully support the “I’m Here for the BOOs” wine bucket.
BLACK AND GOLD DINNERWARE
Black and gold should be the holiday’s official colors if you ask us. This Halloween tablescape designed by Anno Domini Home layers the two glamorous tones perfectly, punctuating the lavish look with a skull motif.
RUSTIC FALL DECOR
A rustic table can be easily elevated to Halloween party chic with a few decor swaps. Here, Alicia Winnett of Alicia Fashionista and Best Day Ever topped a table with pink-, gold-, and white-painted pumpkins, some even serving as vases for beautiful blooms. She kept the flatware classic and minimalist, letting the centerpieces be the stars of the show.
SPIDERS AND SPIRITS HALLOWEEN DESSERT TABLE
For a themed dessert bar, Jessica Kirkland of Pen + Paper Flowers used black netting, crawling spiders, cobwebs, and lanterns for a cute but spooky effect.
MASKED BALL
Add a little mystery to your dinner table with chic masquerade masks. These fun party favors double as Halloween decor and give your fete a fun and unexpected twist. The rust-orange tablecloth, styled by Cassandra LaValle of Coco Kelly, also satisfies the need for a classic Halloween color scheme.
GILDED SKELETONS
Scary and chic, this is as festive as it gets. A gilded skeleton holds onto a name card in this design by Haddy Tapia-Clark from House of Creative Designs, as featured on A Blissful Nest. A faux crow and some black-and-gold feathers lurk in the background, perfectly completing the look.
SKULL VASE
Opt for a traditional floral centerpiece, but style it in a skull vase for a playful nod to the holiday at hand. This arrangement of fall blooms is by Jennifer Sbranti of Hostess with the Mostess.
POP OF PINK
Nothing looks better against a dark Halloween tablescape than a pop of pink. Here, Courtney Whitmore of Pizzazzerie used hot-pink cloth napkins and striped plates to make these otherwise creepy Halloween table decorations a little bit luxe.
TRICK-OR-TREAT
No dinner party is complete without a dessert table, like this one that features cobweb netting and a skull to truly inspire the Halloween party mood, as designed by Cassandra LaValle of Coco Kelly.
DIY TABLE DECOR
Get crafty with your table decor, like these adorable spiderweb placemats from Delia Randall of Delia Creates. All it takes is a little bit of puff paint, some wax paper, and a steady hand.
CLASSIC COLORS
The Tomkat Studio dressed up their dessert table in traditional Halloween colors and jazzed it up with a tasseled table skirt and two different types of bunting.
RUSTIC YET CLASSY TABLE DECOR
Embrace the rustic look as Pink Peppermint Design did here, with mismatched chairs, a dramatic floral centerpiece, and candelabras on either end of the table.
SUGAR SKULL MOTIF
Although Mexican sugar skulls are a motif used for the Day of the Dead, they make an excellent addition to a Halloween table, as Pink Peppermint Design demonstrates. Since the design itself is incredibly intricate, stick to a simple black-and-white color palette.
GHOULISH GLAM
Hostess With The MostessPlace a skull on each platter, as Hostess with the Mostess did here, and your guests will be in for an excitingly scary evening.
CREEPY AND COZY
Create a cozy Halloween dinner table like this simple and chic setup by Pink Peppermint Design. Add pillows, flowers in a mason jar, and fun place settings for a more casual atmosphere.
