It’s the best time of the year friends and after the year we’ve had I think it’s more important than ever to make it special. I love the concept of Friendsgiving. It’s a a combination of Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays and celebrating friendship . What I like most about the ideas of a Friendsgiving get together is that no pressure to do anything big. Just a time to enjoy fellowship and food. This year we have 4 close friends coming to celebrate with us and I wanted to make it beautiful, cozy and relaxing. I put this fun table together and I love how it turned out. So, I’m sharing my easy tips for hosting the best Friendsgiving.
Here are some of my tips when planning a get together no matter how big or small it is. Before you get started, think about the guest list and the goal of your get together. Do you want it fancy and elegant or cozy and casual? That’s usually how it starts for me.
Tip #1 Theme
Whenever I plan a party or get together, I love to give it a theme. Usually it’s a holiday so that makes it easy. But for this I wanted it to feel cozy and elegant without being too fancy. I used the magnolia leaves for the pretty touch and dressed it down with these wood placemats my husband made. I also didn’t want it to look like a typical Fall Thanksgiving table.
The table also has a neutral color scheme with the foliage being the dominate color. Using wood elements and creating texture gives the table a cozy table.
Tip # 2 Personalize
When planning a dinner party, I love to use place-cards to personalize each persons place setting. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but putting names to the table makes it feel more special and shows an extra touch of love. For this one I just used a paper tag ties with string around the napkin. To add a little color and tie it all in together I tucked in a single magnolia leaf. Then I layered the place settings with a wood base, pop of black and a white plate.
Tip #3 Conversational
When you are gathering with close friends, you want time to visit and enjoy each other’s company. Create a more intimate setting and be sure to keep your centerpiece low so everyone can see each other. I used this wood stand and placed a small magnolia wreath in the center with a battery operated birch candle. This way I can also create that cosy touch with the ambiance of candlelight. Also, keep the menu low key so you aren’t spending too much time preparing food and missing out on quality time.
Tip #4 Give a little gift
Whenever I host a get together like this I love to give a party favor or special gift to our guests. I usually always make them homemade and personalized to make them feel special. Since this is a couples get together I wanted it to be something they could both enjoy. When I just have girlfriends, I make pretty items like soaps, scrubs and bath salts. There are have several posts in my blog with ideas for making pretty gifts here How To Make A Beautiful Citrus Themed Homemade Gift Set, Beautiful Homemade Gift Ideas, Simple, Inexpensive & Pretty Homemade Gift wrap & card ideas-(perfect for mothers day or teacher gifts)
To make it even more special I really like to make the presentation match the theme and usually fits right in to the tablescape. For this gift I used a fun brown box and decorated it with magnolia leaves to match the table. Another thing I added was a special treat to go with what I placed in the boxes, caramel apples. A special tag with a saying tied to the treat is another way to show appreciation.
The gift inside the boxes is a jar of homemade apple butter and a package of homemade apple cider spices. For details of how I made them and the recipes you can visit this post Simply Beautiful Homemade Gift Ideas For Friendsgiving And Christmas
For the menu you can do pot luck or something as easy as a soup and bread. We didn’t want to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal since everyone will do that anyway. We are planning to serve individual grilled pizzas where everyone can make their own pizza with fun toppings. I have the recipe in this post How To Make Grilled Pizzas
Overall make it simple and create a setting that will be comfortable and cozy. Adding personalized items makes it even more special and you don’t have to spend a lot to do this. Most people love a homemade item and appreciate the time that goes into it. Plan early so you can have things prepared way ahead of time to avoid overworking yourself the day of. Use these tips to put together an easy and beautiful get together that will make your guest feel really special.
For more tablescape ideas you can go to these posts, How To Create A Bountiful Harvest Table For Fall, How To Create a Simply Beautiful Neutral Fall Table,Four Simple And Beautiful Fall Tablesetting Ideas
I hope you enjoyed this post and feel inspired to host your own Friendsgiving. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to stay in the know with everything Hip & Humble Style.
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EASY TIPS FOR HOSTING
