Three directions cover almost every table. Apple and honey leans warm — reds, golds and amber. Pomegranate goes richer — burgundy, jewel tones and gold. Royal goes formal — silver, white and navy. Pick one and let the linens, plates and centrepiece follow it rather than mixing all three.
A honey dish with its own spoon, a plate of sliced apples, and a round challah on a board with a knife. Many tables also set out the simanim — the symbolic foods eaten at the start of the meal — either plated together or in small individual dishes. A whole pomegranate makes an easy centrepiece and needs no arranging.
Order two to three weeks out. Anything coming from a small vendor needs that runway, and the popular honey dishes thin out in the fortnight before yom tov. Setting the table itself is best done the day before — erev yom tov fills up faster than anyone plans for.