Friends•giv•ing (noun):
A holiday where you spend quality time eating, drinking and laughing with the family you get to choose – your friends.
Check out our 10 Tips for Hosting the Best Friendsgiving Ever:
1. Find The Right Venue
Finding a venue is the first step. Whether it’s someone’s home, a local hall or clubhouse for rent, or a nice park if the weather is expected to be nice. No matter where it is hosted, be sure to set the scene with plenty of fall décor, music for all to enjoy, and/or football if your venue has a TV.
2. Theme It Up
Whatever it is that brings your group of friends together, you could probably turn it into a theme for the occasion. Whether that means a mutual love of a sports team, a show, a band, or just good food. At the very least, you can always hit up the grocery store for some pumpkins and fall florals.
3. Set A Dress Code
Whether you’re looking forward to dressing up fancy or dressing down in your stretchy pants, it’s the hosts job to decide the vibe and be sure to put it in the invites.
4. Make It A Potluck
As the host, you should take charge of the turkey, or main dish. But don’t be afraid to assign side dishes, appetizers, desserts, and even beer and wine to your guests. They will more than likely be relieved to not have to come up with a dish on their own – plus this method greatly reduces the chances of being stuck with three different green bean casseroles.
5. Donate To Charity
As a way to feel good and do good for the holiday, organize a donation with all your friends. Ask everyone to bring a canned good to the event and have one person take them to a local food bank the next day, or ask your guests to bring some cash to give to your group’s favorite charity.
6. Send Proper Invitations
If you’re going for a more formal event, it’s nice to send out real paper invitations. Or, if your guest list is a little too large for that, you can send out e-vites via email. And of course there is always a good old fashioned Facebook event as well. Just make sure you establish a way to convey all the important details to your guests, like dress code, potluck assignments, and donation details.
7. Focus On Table Décor
If you are hosting in a home, some of the décor may be already taken care of throughout the house, so you can focus on the table itself. Nice table linens, basic centerpieces, and place cards for each seat give the table a put-together look with minimal effort. Consider renting tableware like china, flatware and glassware to make cleanup easier and for a more environmentally friendly option than disposables.
8. Prepare Activities
Friendsgiving isn’t just about the food, it’s about spending quality time with the people you love! Be sure to offer lots of activities for your guests to enjoy both before and after your meal. Board games, crafts, trivia, football, or whatever your friends would enjoy the most!
9. Send Home Favors
Not that anyone is likely to forget the Best Friendsgiving Ever, but a favor to remember the night is always appreciated. A goodie bag can be lots of fun to put together, and there are a lot of great ideas out there of what to include. From after-dinner mints or gum to mini succulents or “hangover kits,” get creative and be sure to leave some room in the bag for leftovers!
10. Be Ready For Leftovers
Speaking of leftovers, make sure to plan ahead and be prepared with plenty of to-go containers that guests can fill up and take home without needing to return them. You can buy packs of disposable to-go boxes, or pick up some cheap reusable Tupperware from a discount store for a greener option.
Photo 1: Linen Natural Table Linen, Fiona Olive Runner, Light Wicker Charger, Bistro Dinner Plate, Venice Amber Salad Plate, Royce Gold Flatware, Smoke Dixie Goblet, Sonoma Red Wine Glass, Sonoma Champagne Glass.
Photo 2: Black Satin Table Linen, Pebble Delilah Oversized Runner, Beaded Platinum Charger, Faye Dinner Plate, Lucca Grey Salad Plate, Faye Bread and Butter Plate, Fiddle Flatware, Frayed Grey Napkin, Linen Sea Grass Napkin, Kennedy Pebble Napkin, Smoke Dixie Goblet, Cosmo Coffee Mug, Ledge Champagne Glass.
Photo 3: Iron 3-Tier Tray, Maze Carrot Runner.
Photo 4: Walnut Stained Farm Style Table, Beaded Gold Charger, Jane Gold Dinner Plate, Jane Gold Salad Plate, Fiddle Flatware, Sonoma Water Glass, Sonoma Red Wine Glass, Sonoma Champagne Glass, Gold Candlesticks, Harvest Gold Polyester Napkin, Kennedy Canyon Napkin.