How to Host a Friendsgiving!

The Holiday Season is here! It’s time to embrace old traditions and start some new ones for yourself and your friends. You should host a Friendsgiving! What is a Friendsgiving Party? It is exactly what it sounds like: Thanksgiving with your friends.

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It is often held on a day other than Thanksgiving but can be the main event for those who don’t have a family dinner to attend on actual Thanksgiving. To host the perfect Friendsgiving, you can either embrace a traditional dinner style held during the afternoon or a party style held in the evening. Either way, your Friendsgiving will be a crowd pleaser with your close friends. Why not make it an all-day event. Guests can arrive to the hosts house by around 11am. Eat appetizers and sip wine, talk and play games while the turkey finishes cooking.

Even though hosting anyone at your house causes a little stress, these ideas are meant to keep things fun and easy so you can enjoy yourself too. BONUS: Most of these tips work for celebrating Thanksgiving too!

How Do You Host a Friendsgiving?

Usually, the Host will cook the turkey and whatever else they choose, while everyone else brings a side dish or dessert to share.

LOCATION

Make sure to pick a location with a big table and kitchen. Whether you have five friends or 15, choosing the perfect location is crucial. Make sure you have plenty of room for all guests and the food of course. This should definitely be the first step of your planning.

INVITATIONS

Send out some form of an invitation. You can mail out invitations on a holiday themed card or send out an E-vite to all of your besties. For a less traditional route, make a group text of Facebook group with all of your friends to get the word out.

PLAN AHEAD

No matter how much time I give myself to get prepared the day of a party, I’m always way less stressed if I’ve done most of the work the day before. Make a plan to do the work ahead of time. The only thing I’ll leave until the day of the party is the food prep for whatever part of the meal, I’m in charge of that can’t be done ahead of time. By getting the majority of the to-do list out of the way, when the stress level is low, you’re setting yourself up for success.

KEEP THINGS SIMPLE

No matter how elaborate the plans are in your head, nobody else knows what you set out to do. Life gets in the way and sometimes keeping things simple truly is the best way to ensure that you have success.

THE FOOD

Consider having a potluck. A potluck is a way to make everyone feel included and take some of the pressure off of you. Spend a minute doing a little organization to make sure you don’t end up with 14 pies. When someone only has to bring one or two things, they tend to pull out all the stops and make delicious dishes. This could be the key to having a stress-free Friendsgiving party. Trust me, your friends won’t mind bringing a dish and it will save you so much time/money. If you have a friend that maybe isn’t into cooking, just have them bring a pie they can get at the grocery store.

Party Tip: Be prepared to share your recipes with the others so they can add it to their holiday menu. Print out a few copies beforehand so you can hand them out.

Hostess Tip: Have some disposable containers on hand so guests can take home leftovers for lunch the next day.

Serve your Food Buffet Style

This is the easiest way to serve food because people can just get up and get more food when they’re ready. Set up a table that is specifically for all the food. It works out great.

SET UP A DRINK STATION

A serve-yourself drink station is such a great idea. People are happy when they have something to sip on, so make it super easy for them.

WHAT TO WEAR

Pick out your best Friendsgiving outfit. The holidays are all about spending time with loved ones while dressing warm and cute. Pull out that cozy sweater and leggings for that friend group photo. For bonus points, organize a theme with your friends so that you have a consistent color palette in photos. Try wearing warm fall colors or jewel tones.

  • Fun Socks: If you want to add a little fun to your outfit, get some Thanksgiving socks to wear.

DECOR

Make your home festive with decor. Who says you can’t go all out when you Host a Friendsgiving?

TABLESCAPE

One fun thing to do is creating a pretty tablescape. I like to combine more neutral items so you can add pops of color in other ways.

PLAYLIST

When you host a Friendsgiving having music is key. Pick out a perfect playlist to get the holiday vibes going. Is it really a party without music.

CAPTURING THE MEMORIES

Make lasting memories with your besties. Friendsgiving is an event where you can truly express to your friends how much they mean to you. Be sure to take pictures so you can reminisce in the years to come.

FRIENDSGIVING ACTIVITIES

Usually, Friendsgiving guests come from your close friend group. But in case there are people who may be newer to the crowd, think about having a few activities to help break the ice.

FRIENDSGIVING GIFTS

A way to make Friendsgiving fun is to do a gift exchange. You can even just bring a gift to the Friend who is hosting. Here are some options.

CLEANING UP

Organize a cleanup crew. Unfortunately, your delicious feast will come to an end at some point, and then it will be time to clean up. Divide and conquer amongst your friends so that cleanup is a quick and easy process. Make sure to wrap up all the leftovers and send some home with each guest.

After all of this fun, schedule what you need to Host a Friendsgiving next year. Even though Friendsgiving may be over for this year, you can start planning out next year’s event to make it bigger and better.