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5 Tips for Throwing a Successful, No-Stress Friendsgiving

published Nov 12, 2015
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If you’d like to celebrate your close friends and show them how thankful you are for their presence in your life, you might be thinking about throwing a friendsgiving celebration. Don’t stress! Enjoy this new holiday tradition with these tips that will lead to a successful gathering.

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1. Don’t be afraid to shake up tradition

Thanksgiving has traditionally been about dinner with family, certain types of dishes and doing activities like watching football. But though friendsgiving is a more common event that takes place in recent years, don’t feel like it has to be tied to any of the old traditions that have commonly been associated with Thanksgiving. Feel free to shake up the menu. Have a funny theme. Sit around a coffee table. Nosh off small plates. Have a picnic if the weather is nice. Get creative and you’ll find yourself having more fun (and feeling less pressure for your friendsgiving to “match” any specific expectations).

2. Don’t try to do it all yourself

Friendsgiving is about friends giving back to one another, so don’t feel like you have to throw an event entirely by yourself! From potlucks to just recruiting a few close friends to throw an event with you, the more you reach out and ask for help with your friendsgiving, the more you’ll enjoy it.

3. Invite folks you’re most comfortable with

Don’t use friendsgiving to network with anyone. Or try to impress that crush. Or invite someone because you feel obligated to. Use friendsgiving as a time to slow down and really enjoy and appreciate your closest and most favorite friends. This will lead to a party or gathering where you feel most comfortable.

4. Do an inventory of everything you need now

Go through the kitchen cabinets to count your drinkware and dinnerware. Check to see how many people you can fit around your dining table or if you need to buy or DIY more floor pillows for a casual, around-the-coffee table affair. Figure out what you need now so you’re not unpleasantly surprised by a shortage of something the day before (or of) your friendsgiving event.

5. Do as much in advance as possible

If you do discover any shortcomings in your entertaining supplies, start adding to your collection of servingware now so you don’t have to rush around last minute (and maybe spend more money than you’d like). But don’t stop there! Plan out and try out recipes now. Get ingredients as soon as you can. Even make any dishes ahead that you can.