Simply put, a “Friendsgiving” party is a Thanksgiving party thrown for friends, by friends, in an attempt to celebrate and be thankful for said friends. As you can tell, the theme of a Friendsgiving party is friendship. For this reason, Friendsgiving parties are different from typical Thanksgiving family parties, and that’s a good thing.
You’re probably used to being home for Thanksgiving, having your family host a huge dinner party (more like late lunch given that dinner is served around 4pm). You get filled up with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce – the works. This is great until you realize you hate turkey, your cousin is snoring on the couch, you start getting questioned about your classes and co-op interviews, and your older relative has had way too much to drink which is causing him to start debating Trump’s foreign policies. Friendsgiving parties provide a less-stressful alternative.
When hosting a Friendsgiving party, you get to invite people you actually want to hang out with. You can pick friends you know won’t fall asleep on your couch. You can eat dinner at dinner time if you want! You can pick and choose which of your favorite or unique traditional Thanksgiving dishes you want to offer to your guests. You get to relate with other people your own age about the struggle of classes and work. You get to talk about politics with people you actually want to talk politics with, or you can avoid it entirely. The event is up to you now, and there are four key steps to follow to make sure it goes off without a hitch!
Step 1: Schedule and Invite Appropriately
People are going to get busy fast so make sure you plan your Friendsgiving when you know people will be around and available. Keep in mind that a lot of students leave campus early in the week before Thanksgiving, so you will definitely want to plan in advance. Also, make sure you’re inviting people you actually want there! The beauty of hosting your own celebration is that you can plan it however you want. So don’t put yourself in an awkward situation by inviting people you really don’t like.
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Step 2: Coordinate Who is Bringing What
Sure, it’s fun to cook a meal for a large group of people. But what’s more fun is letting your guests bring some of their Thanksgiving favorites and experiencing their traditional foods and preferences. To make sure you don’t have ten people bringing stuffing, create a sign-up sheet in a Google Doc so that you can avoid duplication. Your guests will also appreciate this because they will be able to see what will be served in advance, and bring their own food if they have any dietary restrictions.
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Step 3: Decorate Accordingly
Your apartment is cute, but this is a party! You wouldn’t go to Rockefeller Center to ice-skate on Christmas if there wasn’t a huge tree, otherwise it would be just an ice-rink. On that note, without some décor, your apartment is just your apartment. Add a fun garland or two, put a few small pumpkins on the table, use your imagination and cut out some paper shapes. Thanksgiving as a holiday has so many dimensions you definitely won’t struggle to come up with decoration ideas (Pinterest is a party planner’s best friend).
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Step 4: Be Grateful for the People You are With
Lastly, and most importantly, be grateful for the people you are with. The friends you are celebrating with today have made and will leave an impression on your life forever. Listen to them, confide in them, and appreciate them. There isn’t another time in your life when you’ll be surrounded by so many like-minded people, and unlike any other day, Friendsgiving is the perfect time to show these people how much they mean to you.
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