Even if you love and embrace the whole ethos of Thanksgiving, there’s something a little extra special about Friendsgiving. Thanksgiving’s focus is definitely family but for many girls, it’s friends they want to remember and give thanks to at this special time of year. After all, your friends are your second family. So, if you’re hosting a Friendsgiving this year, here’s some useful tips:
The best Friendsgivings always occur when you have a relaxed and flexible attitude to your guest list. By adopting something of an open-door policy, letting your BFF bring their partner etc., you are much more likely to be able to assemble everybody you want to come, and let’s be honest, there is always too much food for your planned number anyway! Don’t be too strict with who you invite; be open to everyone.
After all, you’re not anybody’s mother here! Give yourself the best chance of having a stress free and fun day by giving tasks and responsibilities to everybody that comes through the door. Have somebody setting the table, having somebody topping up drinks and snacks, and for god’s sake, make sure you have somebody keeping tabs on the football scores for all the sports fanatics at the gathering!
With so many people coming to dinner, you are bound to have the odd vegetarian, gluten intolerant and every other type of dietary restriction there is, but the trick is not to worry. Reach out to those people beforehand and they might be able to help you by bringing at least one dish that they know they will be able to enjoy. This way, nobody gets left out.
To put it bluntly, you don’t want to be putting the turkey in the oven just as your guests are about to arrive! Before the big day, sit down and write a thorough plan for how you are going to tackle getting everything done in time. The more plans you have in place, the less stress there is going to be when it comes to cooking dinner for potentially dozens of people!
There tends to be more drinking at a Friendsgiving than a normal family Thanksgiving, so make sure that you head out to the store and stock up a variation of alcoholic beverages to keep the festive cheer up amongst your friends. No doubt there will be a few drinking games once the turkey and stuffing have been digested!
It’s vital that you keep the conversation flowing to avoid any awkward prolonged silences amongst your group of friends, some of whom may not know each other. You can work at this just organically, or you could even buy a few of those party game sets that are filled with fun conversation starters. It might seem cheesy but it can actually be really fun!
The crossover between fall and winter is arguably the most beautiful in the year, so take inspiration from that and make your Friendsgiving decorations nature themed – it’s the easy way to hassle-free décor. You can have warm colors throughout the house and then have some fall floral centerpieces that immediately put you in mind of the holiday season!
The point is not to stress about stuff and not over-complicate things. The people who you invite are coming because they love you and want to share the special day with you.