7 Simple Steps for Hosting a Friendsgiving Party

The month of November is a time of thanksgiving and reflecting on all that we are grateful for in life. Friends have become such a big part of our lives so why not host a Friendsgiving party to say thank you.

Here are 7 simple steps for hosting a Friendsgiving party to remember.

1. Send Out Invitations

I love making invitations for my customers but I prefer sending an Evite to my friends so that I can easily track who has opened. You can also send out reminders to those who haven't replied. Another great thing is that you can have your guests sign up to bring something. So simple and doesn't cost a thing!

2. Decide On a Menu

Not only will guests look forward to spending time with you and your friends, but they will also be excited about the food. Decide what food you would like to serve. You can offer to make the main dish whether it is turkey, prime rib, beef tenderloin, or whatever food you fancy. Then have each of your friends sign up to bring a side dish. You can create a list with specific foods or a food group or just let them choose their favorite dish.

For this year's Friendsgiving, I picked the food for each person to bring. We had prime rib, southern green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, green salad, and pumpkin cookies. I also asked everyone to bring their food in a white dish for display. 

3. Serve a Signature Cocktail

Besides serving red and white wine, how about a signature cocktail? We made Caramel Apple Sangria and the guests loved it. Check out this blog post for the recipe. We served the sangria in this glass pumpkin beverage dispenser we got from Pottery Barn a few years back.

When planning drinks for your Friendsgiving party, you can dress up some bottled waters with a custom printable label and serve non-alcoholic drinks like tea or cider for those who don't drink. 

4. Must-Have Charcuterie Board

Charcuterie boards are all the rage and so perfect for a holiday gathering. You can use various cheeses, cheese spreads, olives, fruit, and crackers.  Finger foods paired with cocktails are perfect to serve before dinner. Display the charcuterie board with some fall decor and enjoy!

5. Party Decorations

Set the mood by decorating in fall colors. We used a fall farmhouse theme with decorations from our online shop. The black and white with gold and orange color scheme was so festive. The paper fans were used for the backdrop on the dessert table and the mantle above the range. I also mixed in paper leaves from our harvest leaves banner. 

I used the Give Thanks banner, acorn and leaves mixed banner and the buffalo checkbanner as a backdrop behind the dinner table.

I purchased the flowers from a wholesale floral place because I wanted some flowers in muted fall colors. I usually grab some flowers from Trader Joes or Whole Foods but they tend to have brighter colors and not as much variety. This was the look I was going for and I love it how the arrangements turned out!

6. Set The Table

The next step is to create the perfect table setting. For easy cleanup, I used paper goods from our online shop. Since I already had black plastic chargers, I started with those as the base layer. Then I added the gold dinner plates, followed with the buffalo check plates and topped with the thankful/grateful small plates. 

The orange leaf napkins were a cute and colorful touch to the table setting and were handy when it was time for dessert. The modern and sleek gold flatware looks so classy on the table with the plaid dinner napkins. The flatware is reusable and the paper goods are disposable, so very little clean up was required.

7. Finish with Dessert & Have Some Fun!

Choose simple fall treats to serve for dessert. We had pumpkin cookies, cinnamon popcorn, and pumpkin spice pretzels. Decorate the sweets table with fall decor and use cake stands to display desserts. Dress up snacks like popcorn and pretzels in snack cups like these fall baking cups. You can also bake muffins or mini cakes in these baking cups. So simple and cute!

Each place setting was decorated using our Pilgrim crackers. Guests love popping them open to find some cute wooden key chains to take home to their kiddos. Each cracker also has a paper crown and a joke. The jokes were so funny and had us laughing out loud.

Have you ever hosted a Friendsgiving party? What are your favorite party tips or foods to serve?

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