Thanksgiving is here! Many people will celebrate the holiday with their families and some teens are now also hosting their own “Friendsgiving.” This modern tradition is growing in popularity, perhaps due to its potential ties to the popular 90’s TV show, Friends. Regardless of its origin, Friendsgiving is a great opportunity for people to get together with their chosen family/friends and have some fun.
A quick how-to for planning your Friendsgiving:
- Step 1: Choose a date, time, and location for the event.
- Step 2: Determine whether you will have a sit down, traditional meal or an informal, more casual dinner.
- Step 3: Outline a potluck style menu
- Step 4: Create your guest list (consider including classmates who may not celebrate Thanksgiving with their families as well as your regular friends)
- Step 5: Send your invitation
Friendsgiving works best as a potluck style dinner where guests help to prepare dishes to share. Have each of your friends sign up to bring different food using free tools like SignUpGenius.com. Ensure appetizers, a main course, and dessert are all covered. You do not have to create elaborate items, store-bought food will do, too. Places like King Soopers and Costco provide cheap options for things like rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes. Your group can opt for a traditional dinner or plan for a more casual lunchtime meal.
Plan on dressing nice, because chances are, someone is going to want to take pictures to commemorate the day.
Make the event fool-proof and festive by letting your guests know whether they should dress casually or more formally for the event. You can include this suggestion within your invitation. Try a free, online invitation tool like Evite.com and do not forget to include a link to the SignUpGenius.com potluck menu for your guests’ convenience.
Possibilities for decorating are endless. Ask guests for baby pictures and create a fun, DIY centerpiece using the images! It might be fun to make some hand-turkeys if that is something that you enjoy. You remember the hand-turkey, right? Simply trace your hand, cut it out of tan construction paper and glue on multi-colored “feathers” also made from paper. Candles can also add a nice touch to the table.
You might choose to serve Friendsgiving as family-style where dishes are passed guest-to-guest, or to arrange the food buffet style. It may be fun to go around and say what everyone is grateful and make toasts.
After you have eaten, you could watch a movie or play a game. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a classic, but Modern Family, That 70’s Show, and Friends all have great Thanksgiving-themed episodes to choose from. Games like Pictionary and Charades will get everyone up and having fun before dessert.
Ultimately, you can organize your Friendsgiving any way you like. It really is about celebrating friendship with the ones you love and it does not matter if your potatoes are chips or mashed.
