Have you ever heard of, been to, or hosted a “friendsgiving”? The first time I heard this term was last year, clearly behind the times. I have never hosted or been to one (hint to all my friends, haha), but a friendsgiving sounds like so much fun! If you aren’t familiar with it, a friendsgiving is basically a Thanksgiving with friends.
Friendsgiving usually happens the weekend before Thanksgiving to allow for families to travel or spend the actual holiday with their families. There are so many families in the Chattanooga area that are transplants, meaning they are not originally from the area and usually do not have family close by. This usually means families are spending the holidays either alone or traveling, making friendsgiving a must!
Since I have not yet hosted or been to a friendsgiving, I thought I would share some ideas I have thought of for hosting a friendsgiving:
- Pick a theme! Since friendsgiving happens right before actual Thanksgiving, having a theme would make it stand out and make it much more fun. Some ideas could be keeping the spooky season going, making it a Christmas theme such as a winter wonderland, or maybe even a theme that goes along with the food.
- Speaking of food, it would be a good idea to choose meal items that aren’t traditional Thanksgiving foods. Eating turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes twice in one week can get old. Maybe make it a fiesta and do a taco bar or have nothing but breakfast foods to eat.
- Inviting friends who don’t know each other well? Make place settings to mix everyone up and keep the conversations interesting. It might also be a good idea to have a few games to play as icebreakers or to just keep everyone entertained while you finish getting everything set up and ready.
- Make it a potluck. To keep things easy on the host, have everyone bring something to the party. This could be a type of food, decor, or tableware.
- Use a shareable spreadsheet. Using a shareable spreadsheet, such as Google sheets, will help keep everyone informed on the date and time. It’s also a good way of keeping track of who is bringing what to the friendsgiving.
Thanksgiving can be stressful. Having a fun, laid back friendsgiving will make the holiday more fun! I can’t wait to host a friendsgiving sometime in the future. I am always looking for an excuse to have a party!
What do you all think? Yay or nay to a friendsgiving? Have any other ideas, tips, or tricks to share? I hope everyone has a great holiday season!
