While these are very pretty, and for some dinners I'm sure they make sense, they don't really make any practical sense for any Thanksgiving I've ever had. I've never had enough people to have Thanksgiving buffet style, and having a meal plated by the chef seems a little too formal to me for a family holiday, so I guess they just aren't for me. The food has always been the centerpiece in our Thanksgivings, which I like, and it just doesn't leave much room for a large wooden block with apples on it.

Holler, I agree. Thanksgiving dinners at my family's home were always much too chaotic for this kind of organization, let alone a huge table that seat 12.

Too much stuff in many of these.

We've always done buffet style for Thanksgiving. Huge families. I love tablescapes, so these are super fun!

Overkill. All of them.

At first I felt inadequate. But these are not practical, especially when you have 12+ guests that you have to seat in both the dining and living rooms, buffet-style, and are counter space/storage challenged to begin with! Gueats would have to stash their artichokes under their chairs...and the cost for most of these tablescapes probably exceed my food budget.

#11 and #2 are the only ones that come close to reality, and #2 should still lose the bud vases, the pumpkin name card holders, the candles (you HAVE a chandelier already, and the candles are too close), and those aqua-colored fabric pull-tabs for yanking plates into people's laps.

When I sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, I want to think this: "How elegant. I remember this china (or I will remember this china in the years to come). The flowers or the small mound of natural gourds and acorns are a nice token touch that elevates the occasion, but I am still focused on continuing the conversation with these people I care about."

I don't want to think this: "I haven't eaten a bite but my eyes are full already. Can you really spray-paint one of those? Did the Pilgrims have spray paint? God, it's already warm -- with 10 people sitting in close quarters, do we really need 17 candles? I can't pass the yams directly across the table without burning my sleeves; they'll have to go around the long way. But I can't see the person sitting 3 feet in front of me because of this giant branchy thing. GATHER. GATHER. GATHER. Are we going to eat these artichokes? No, they're raw. So is someone going to come around with an artichoke-collection bin? Is the hostess going to cook them tomorrow or just throw them all out? Abundance is one thing but overflowing into wretched excess goes against the spirit of my favorite holiday. GATHER. GATHER."

I like these. Some families like to keep it super casual on Thanksgiving but I like it when my hosts go the extra mile to make the food AND the table wonderful. When I host, I think it's all about striking the perfect balance between "special" and "comfortable." When I host, I use my favorite restaurants as inspiration. A really good restaurant will make you feel comfortable, cared for, welcome, and appreciated. Everything, from the linens to the lighting, to the chairs, to the interesting visual touches, reflects that. For me, a good tablescape helps accomplish that.

When I sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, I do not think I will have a preference about the centerpiece.

That turkey, on the other hand...

These are all beautiful.