It’s that time of year! No, not Christmas, or Thanksgiving; it’s FRIENDSGIVING time! Sure, I love all the holidays, but Friendsgiving is the party I look forward to the most every year. I love to have all my friends together in my home; something about having everyone I love together under one roof makes my heart so happy. 

Friendsgiving is about celebrating your friendships and making some fun memories with those with whom you share your life. It’s about appreciating each other and growing deeper in your relationships with one another.

Your Friendsgiving celebration can be whatever you make it. There’s a lot of freedom here, probably another reason why I like it so much. You can invite just your closest friends or expand your radius and invite friends from your outer circle and those that are acquaintances. I’ve known Friendsgiving hosts to allow others to invite friends, too, so it becomes this huge collision of friendship circles. It’s a great way to get to know people better. 

Opening your doors and inviting others in is a unique form of hospitality. My goal is to always offer a safe and comfortable place for someone to be. Our home is a place of rest for our family and I want it to be for others as well. I want people to know they are loved from the moment they walk in the front door and Friendsgiving is one of the fun ways I get to do that.

I’m a fan of a good Pinterest party, but you know by now that I am not your Pinterest party girl. I am more of a subscriber to the “present over perfect” theory. Although it’s been a long process for this recovering perfectionist, I have learned over and over again that doing something is always better than driving myself crazy trying to make it perfect and then never doing anything.

At my home, Friendsgiving is a come as you are, bring your favorite food celebration. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. We have candles burning and music playing. The smell of turkey and delicious food fills the house and a few minutes into the party, the rooms are filled with laughter and conversation. All the makings of a good party!

Tips on Hosting Your Own Friendsgiving

1. Send out the invite and include a list of food for people to sign up to bring. I like using Signup Genius, but you can easily include it in an email. We provide the turkey, and then I ask guests to bring one of the following: appetizer, potato dish, salad, veggie side, rolls, and dessert.
2. Decide on your decor. Are you a theme party expert? If so, can I come to your next party because I love all that stuff (when someone else does it)! I love simple. I grab my pumpkins from Halloween—the ones that didn’t get carved, some pretty acorn squash, and a good butternut squash. Voila: you’ve got decor with a purpose; use those yummy squash for next week’s meals. I put those and some pretty candles in fall colors on my tables for my tablescapes. Done!
3. Set the mood in your home. Light some candles, find a fun music play list, or go with  low key, mellow music. I usually like calming music for a Friendsgiving party.
4. Set up your serving table so it’s ready for the food. Set out some cards so people can write what they brought to label the food. Have plenty of pens, including some markers to write on cups. Have extra serving utensils ready for dishes, too.
5. We provide the plates, napkins, utensils, and cups for our parties. Be sure to set out a big trash can after the meal.
6. Find a fun game. This is when Pinterest wins the day for me!! This year I looked up some fun games for our party. We ended up playing The Bowl Game. It was a fun way to get to know some things I didn’t know about my friends and it helped those that didn’t know each other as well connect on interesting things.
7. Relax and enjoy your friends. This part took me a while to get good at while hosting parties. I used to be so consumed with making sure everything was just right and everyone was having the best time, that I spent the whole party busy and a bit stressed. By the time the party was over, I felt like I’d barely looked up and enjoyed my friends.  I’d missed the whole point of my party. I got so frustrated with myself and learned to let some things go and delegate the rest.

I am so excited to hear about your Friendsgiving. Be sure and tell me some of your favorite tips for making it fun. For even more tips for a great Friendsgiving, check out this post.