You may wish to use a tall, slender clear vase and fill it with cranberries instead of rocks or marbles. These can be placed around the table, or used for the centerpiece.
For the centerpiece, consider a large colorful flower arrangement that includes fruit and/or gourds and small pumpkins. Small pinecones and dried flower pods also make interesting accents, especially if your flowers are dried rather than fresh.
For elegance, of course, nothing beats matched china and crystal goblets, as well as polished silver, so provide these if you have them available.
Consider colors such as cream, perhaps edged in gold, for tablecloth and/or runner and napkins. Or perhaps a gold-colored fabric (rich, but not glittery if the whole piece and not simply an accent).
Another easy accent that adds emphasis is an arrangement of candles in various heights and thicknesses, all in rich fall colors. For elegance, crystal or metallic holders are the best, which can be embellished with something simple, such as a twining branch with a few fall leaves or acorns, but should not be overdone.
I own a beautiful crystal bowl with frosted accents, trimmed in gold. Something like this is perfect filled with apples or an assortment of colorful gourds for an accent. If desired, a rich gold ribbon can be looped among the apples, adding interest and another design element.
The key to elegance is simplicity, in that you want things to match and not over-do embellishments. The play of light (such as with candles and glittering gold accents) is important, and colors should be kept to a minimum -- probably limited to no more than three main colors.
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