How to

Host a Friendsgiving

Are you interested in shaking up your Thanksgiving celebration this year? Chances are you have a good number of friends who are in the same boat. This year, celebrate Friendsgiving on, or before, Thanksgiving. Get started with these Friendsgiving ideas from us at Pottery Barn, which will make it easy for you to create the ideal dining experience for your family of friends.

Get Your Buddies on Board

The first step to a successful Friendsgiving is to ask around and see how many of your friends will be around in the month of November. If your Friendsgiving is on Thanksgiving, invite those who usually travel to visit family or eat with local family members. There may be an extenuating circumstance that disrupts their normal holiday plans. After you’ve asked around and let everyone know that you’re planning to host a Friendsgiving, you can set the time, date and location for the event. While it can be nice to have a Friendsgiving dinner on Thanksgiving itself, you can also host the event before or after the official holiday, so even those who have other plans can participate.

Plan Your Feast

With your guest list and basic event details nailed down, start thinking about the dinner. You can certainly cook the whole dinner yourself, but Friendsgiving is the perfect opportunity for a potluck. This is a great strategy if you’re hosting a big group of people.

If you choose the potluck route for your Friendsgiving menu, you might plan to take care of the turkey or another main course. You can also cover drinks and a light appetizer, such as a cheese plate. Then let everyone else bring their own favorite Thanksgiving dishes. This is a fun way to bring many different family traditions together and to see what everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving food is. You might want to do a signup sheet to ensure a wide variety of different dishes.  You can also ask guests to bring specific things. For example, you can ask friends to bring some bottles of wine, a pie, some stuffing and so on.

This is also a good time to take stock of how many place settings you’ll need. You’ll probably have a good estimate as to how many people might show up. Friendsgiving is a special occasion. It’s an ideal opportunity to use your favorite dinner plates, serving utensils and flatware. Be prepared to purchase some extra dishes if you expect lots of friends to show up.

Send Out Invitations

It’s a good idea to wait to send out official invites until after you’ve decided how you want to structure your dinner. That way, you can describe the dinner as potluck-style in your Friendsgiving invitation. Friendsgiving is usually a casual event, so you can simply use social media or email to send out an invite. If you want to go more formal, send out a physical paper invitation.

Create a Festive Feel

As your RSVPs start flooding in, it’s time to think about your Friendsgiving decorations. Spread out table linens in a balanced blend of autumnal hues that lay the perfect foundation for your table. You can build upon that with candles and a beautiful floral centerpiece. If you’re setting up a buffet table, set out some candles and use a festive table runner for a beautiful presentation.

You can also get your front door fall-ready to signal the season. A door wreath with fiery fall leaves and some seasonal gourds neatly arranged by the front door sets the mood. If your Friendsgiving dinner start time is scheduled in the evening, add some stylish string lights to your display and watch your home glow with welcoming cheer.