How to Host a Dinner Party Inspired by Ralph Lauren’s American West Holiday Window
The holiday windows of Ralph Lauren have given us a gift this season: our beloved Polo Bear, brought to life in a cinematic camp scene. He’s wearing a cowboy hat, strumming a guitar beside a glowing campfire, a coffee kettle suspended over the flames, with a steadfast horse standing watch in the snowy forest behind him. The display celebrates “the spirit of the American West, where the Polo Bear and his feathered companion cherish moments spent around the campfire outdoors in a winter forest.” See the enchanting displays here and here.
As part of our Camp VR: Winter Edition, we’re leaning into that same nostalgic pull of everything cozy, fireside, and camp-coded during the colder months. Years ago, we at Venue Report hosted a holiday soirée inspired by a similar Wild West frontier, campsite mood. Guests arrived in western-meets-dinner party chic holiday party attire and entered a space designed to feel as if the outdoors had been brought in: wild brambles, roses, and tumbleweeds encircled three long whitewashed feasting tables, vintage mismatched chairs framed the room, and 80 taper candles blazed down the center casting a warm, flickering glow like a campfire and illuminating the space like lanterns guiding travelers along a frontier trail.
With that same cozy camp spirit in mind, here are 10 tips for hosting your own dinner party inspired by the scenes of Ralph Lauren’s holiday windows.
Flip the script on florals. Go light on the tabletop arrangements (to leave room for the food platters) and let nature take over the floor instead. Florist Layered Vintage arranged brambles, roses and tumbleweeds to spread outward like a prairie path surrounding the feast, as if the dinner was set right inside a Western camp clearing.
If you can’t host in a snowy forest like Ralph Lauren’s windows, recreate the magic indoors by building a landscape that feels like a campsite set in the American West. Florist Layered Vintage, had fun with foraged elements like wild brambles, rambling roses, and tumbleweeds arranged at floor level circling long whitewashed feasting tables as if nature simply grew around them. Tumbleweeds and wild brambles were hung from the ceiling, climbing up walls, wrapping around chair legs, and filling every corner like an overgrown prairie path.
This is the heart of the Camp VR collection, embracing the nostalgia of campfire gatherings in any way possible. If it can't be outdoors, then let's bring the outdoors in.
One of the sweetest details in the Ralph Lauren holiday window display is the coffee kettle hanging over the fire. Recreate this moment by setting up an elevated camp coffee station with homemade syrups, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and whipped cream. Add a ‘spike the coffee’ bar with bourbon for a cowboy toddy or vodka for a winter espresso cocktail. No campsite is complete without a cozy cup.
Pro Tip: Try out this after-hours espresso cocktail recipe by Chef Manuel Olveira at La Panthera.
In Ralph Lauren’s holiday window display, the Polo Bear strums beside a roaring camp fire, so if winter temperatures keep you indoors and you can host a party near an actual campfire, recreate the warmth with candlelight. Line the center of your table with eighty taper candles (yes we did eighty!) to mimic the flicker of a campsite. The glow becomes your crackling flame, illuminating the room like lanterns guiding campers along a frontier trail.
Pro Tip: We got our taper candles from The Floral Society
If you are going to set the table ablaze with taper candles, then the vessel they are held in has to honor the time period of the American West. Nestle them in vintage brass candleholders like chambersticks, or mismatched metal vessels you’d expect to find tucked inside an old canvas saddlebag.
These pieces add instant Ralph Lauren campsite romance: worn, glimmering, practical and they ground the aesthetic in Americana nostalgia.
The Ralph Lauren windows lean into character with a cozy hat, sweater and Western wear... so let your guests do the same. Encourage western-chic-meets-holiday-party attire: prairie blouses, embroidered jackets, bolo ties, suede skirts, tailored denim, and hints of festive sparkle. Think “American West supper club.” This is Camp VR at its most fun: fashion as storytelling, attire as a ticket into the scene.
Have guests pose for photos (no smiling), to honor the old western style portraits.
Serve a signature drink such as a smoked Old Fashioned, a maple bourbon sour, or a spiced apple spritz in enamel mugs. Add a cinnamon stick for the campfire effect. It’s a nod to cowboy culture with holiday sparkle.
Pro Tip: We recommend serving campfire drama in a decanter with this 'Frontera Old Fashioned' recipe by The Plaza Hotel, Pioneer Park.
Start with comfort dishes worthy of an American West campsite, then elevate them with thoughtful preparation and plating. Serve buttermilk biscuits, creamy polenta in cast iron skillets (as though they came right off the fire), a hearty squash, and red wine–braised beef brisket. It’s the ultimate campfire meal: rustic, soulful, and refined enough for a holiday soirée. The Polo Bear would approve.
Choose pieces that look like they were plucked straight from a moonlit campsite. Rustic vintage whitewashed chairs, long wooden feasting picnic tables, enamelware details, and textiles that nod to Ralph Lauren equestrian heritage. Think cozy throws, plaid accents, and distressed wood that looks like it has aged outdoors.
Instead of s’mores, serve a mixed apple crisp with a corn-bread crumble, as if someone baked it at the edge of a clearing. Add vanilla ice cream, chocolate truffles, and a drizzle of warm caramel for a fireside indulgence. It’s part nostalgia, part frontier feast, and totally Camp VR.
Find even more recipes here -> Camp Cocktails and Crème Brûlée: 15 Chef-Approved Recipes for Bonfire Season, But Make It Gourmet
The Polo Bear strums a guitar at his campfire, and nothing says camp Western gathering like live music. Invite a friend who plays guitar, set out a harmonica or two, or create a playlist that blends frontier folk, holiday classics, and Ralph Lauren Americana. It’s atmospheric magic.
Camp VR is our ongoing editorial series celebrating elevated outdoor gatherings, fireside meals, and destinations that bring camp culture into modern entertaining. From winter lodges to summer cabins, these stories are designed for group trips, dinner parties, and weekends built around connection.
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