Celebrate the crisp fall evenings with a cozy harvest party. I’m sharing harvest-theme ideas, food, drinks, and games to host a beautiful fall party.
A fall harvest party is a way to bring family and friends together to enjoy the season. I love to make it special with beautiful flowers and a signature fall cocktail, but the overall feel of a harvest party should be laid-back and relaxing.
How to Throw a Harvest Party
Before planning a fall harvest party, you must decide how many people you’ll invite. I enjoy having just a few close friends and family members; keeping it small and cozy is not only more accessible but also more intimate.
Once you decide on the number of people, you can pick a theme and start from there. I decided to do a sunflower theme to give you some fall harvest ideas. In the spring, I like to do a lemon-themed gathering. I could curate the colors and design once I knew sunflowers would be the focus.
Harvest Party Invites
Unless it’s a formal event, gone are the days of sending a paper invitation in the mail. I always use Paperless Post or Evite to send themed invitations via email. It makes it easy to track, follow-up or make changes to the party. Sometimes just browsing Paperless Posts beautiful design will inspire a theme for your gathering. When I hosted this tea party, it was inspired by one of their invitation designs.
Harvest Party Decorations
This is my forte! I love the decorations; they make the harvest party feel like fall. With charming details and decorations, the party will always stand out!
Fall Flowers – Make your arrangements using seasonal flowers from the grocery store or Farmer’s market. My favorite fall flowers are sunflowers. I also love Hardy Fuchsia, Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Amaranthus, Pampas Grass, Chrysanthemums, Hellebores.
Use any seasonal flowers that fit within your theme and galvanized buckets to create arrangements for your table setting.
Bales of Hay – These can be used as seating, to stack as a side serving table or to just have around to give all the fall feels.
Fruit – Apples and peaches in baskets or galvanized tins make great fall harvest decorations.
Wreath – Grab a simple dried wreath at your local craft store to use on your door or lean it against a bar cart.
Galvanized – Galvanized trays, platters and vessels are perfect to use for fall decor.
Pumpkins – If you’re hosting a fall harvest party in October, pumpkins with be of plenty and make wonderful fall decorations. If the gathering is earlier in the season, use faux pumpkins or concrete pumpkins as fall decor.
Candles – Lighting is key to creating a cozy atmosphere. Candles are a must and if you want to make it even cozier we recommend stringing market lights over the table.
Dried Flowers – We use dried flowers to decorate cocktails, ice cubes, desserts, and more. They’re great to have on hand for parties. Etsy has a beautiful selection of dried edible flowers to decorate your party.
Harvest Table Setting
First, learn everything you need to know for setting a table with our complete table setting guide. Knowing how to set a paper table, whether it’s casual or formal is important when hosting a fall harvest party.
Once you have a harvest theme and a menu picked out, you can decide on the flatware, flowers, plates and napkins you’ll need.
Since I know you’ll ask, the flatware is Jean Dubost Laguiole and we absolutely love it! I used it for our beautiful Christmas table setting too.
For this party, I used classic white plates, pretty yellow water cups, galvanized tins for flowers, striped table runners, and linen napkins.
Harvest Party Menu
Keeping things easy and fuss-free regarding a fall harvest menu will allow you to enjoy the party. There are several ways to feed guests without the hassle of a fancy-coursed meal!
Meat and Cheese Board – Assemble a beautiful fall harvest cheese and charcuterie platter like this one. It’s always a great way to feed guests without the trouble of cooking. Use good cheese, high-quality ingredients, olives, nuts, and unique jams to make it unique.
Crockpot Chili – Get out the crockpot, which allows you to do most of the cooking hours before. Our chili recipe is a favorite!
Easy Cast Iron Chicken – Instead of making an entire turkey, keep it simple with a cast iron chicken.
Simple Salad that Goes with Everything – This is a great base salad and dressing. Add seasonal favorites like pomegranates, cranberries or pecans.
Baked Apple Cider Donuts – These are our favorite apple cider donuts. They’re baked to perfection, brushed with butter, and dipped in cinnamon and cardamom.
Pumpkin Bread – This is super moist and full of fall spices.
Cornbread Muffins – These cornbread muffins pair well with chili or a simple roasted chicken.
Pumpkin Cornbread – This is the best with chili!
Seasonal Fruit Platter – Fill a platter with seasonal fall fruit, such as sliced apples, peaches, pears, and berries.
Sweet Potato Pie – This pie can be made the day before, which always alleviates any stress the day of the gathering. It’s the perfect sweet potato pie recipe.
Crumb Cake – A super moist crumb cake is great for a fall harvest party.
Any of these fall desserts would be perfect for a harvest party.
Harvest Party Cocktails
For cocktails, I suggest any of my best fall cocktail recipes.
Apple Harvest Punch – This recipe is made with whiskey, lemon juice, ginger and apple cider.
Classic Whiskey Sour – Another great option to ease into fall is with our classic whiskey sour.
Apple Martini – This is another quick drink made with just a few ingredients. It’s perfect for a fall party.
Hard Apple Cider Punch – This is a perfect harvest drink for a crowd. It’s made with apple cider and kombucha!
Apple Cider Moscow Mule – My original fall cocktail recipe that I still make every year!
Apple Cider Spritz – I love how easy this recipe is, and it’s delicious!
Here are 30 more apple cider cocktail recipes you can try!
Charming Fall Place Cards
We love this charming touch that works as a place card and a drink marker! You’ll need mini clothes pins, small place cards and a few fun fall garnishes. Just clip the card on the side of the glass!
S’more Kits
If you’re able to have an outdoor fire, make individual s’more kits in small glass jars.
- Add in two marshmallows, two graham crackers and a small piece of chocolate into small glass jars.
- Add an edible flower to the jar for a cute detail.
- Place roasting sticks in a tall galvanized bucket next to the s’more kits.
Fall Harvest Party Games and Activities
Games are great for intimate gatherings where you know your guests well or for more significant events with many adults and kids. I share more than 40 game ideas for parties! Here are a few suggestions for fall harvest party games:
- Cornhole – A classic yard game that’s great for summer and fall parties. We use ours all year!
- Sack Races – Fun for adults and kids!
- Pumpkin Bowling
- Bobbing for Apples – Instead of a bucket full of water, tie the apples to a string from a tree and have guests try it that way. It keeps everyone dry!
- Flash Light Tag – When it gets dark, hand everyone a flashlight for a good game of flashlight tag!
- Bonfire – If you have an outdoor fire pit, have a bonfire and serve s’mores and a nightcap.
- Craft Table – If kids are guests at the party, put together a small craft table with a little folding table and hay bales to sit. Have mini pumpkins and pinecones to paint along with coloring pages and stickers!
Host a Fall Harvest Party in 6 Steps
- Send out an invitation via email.
- Choose the theme and colors.
- Two weeks out, gather what you have at home to use and shop for supplies online or in store.
- Decide on a seasonal fall menu and write out a grocery list and time line for the recipes.
- Decorate the day before, setting the table, making flower arrangements getting the outdoor fire ready. Bake and cook anything you can the day before.
- Finish the rest of the cooking, get the cocktails ready and add any last minute charming details. Then enjoy the party!
More Fall Harvest Ideas You’ll Love
Here are even more charming fall harvest ideas you can incorporate into a harvest party:
I hope you’ve been inspired with some charming fall harvest ideas for your next gathering. Fall is one of our favorite seasons and it’s a time to enjoy the weather, flavors and seasonal food with friends and family.
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