Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving

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During the holiday season, I love to gather with friends and family and celebrate with good food, cocktails, and conversation. That’s why today, I’m sharing my Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

My friends over at 1-800-Flowers.com are also joining the festivities. They were kind enough to provide me with beautiful flower arrangements to help get my Friendsgiving party started. Did you know that they offer a huge variety of gorgeous blooms for Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, and the rest of the holiday season? Be sure to check out their entire selection here. (Also, pay attention to the end of this post for details on how you can enter to win an arrangement for your Friendsgiving celebration.)

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

In addition to all of that awesomeness, I’m super excited to be joining the Blogger Stylin’ Home Tour: Thanksgiving Table Edition. If you’re coming to IBC from your visit to A Designer at Home, welcome! Corinna’s bohemian-inspired tablescape is so fun! If you’d like to start at the beginning, click over to the The White Buffalo Styling Co., the host of the Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours (BHST).

As a stop on this BSHT, I’ll be showing you my own Friendsgiving tablescape and sharing tips and tricks for creating your own celebration.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

In my opinion, the premise behind Friendsgiving is to have a relaxed and enjoyable meal with friends whose company you treasure. While Thanksgiving can often be a stressful day (especially if you’re the host), Friendsgiving should be fun and stress free. Let me walk you through some of my tips to help you achieve that.

As some of you probably know, I always recommend picking your color palette first when planning any event. There are a lot of decisions that need to be made when you entertain, and having a color scheme limits some of those choices immediately. It can even help with your food and beverage decisions. In choosing my colors, I pulled inspiration from the 1-800-Flowers.com Garden of Grandeur for Fall arrangement. With pops of red, orange, green, and purple, it’s perfect for the season and my space.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

For Friendsgiving, I recommend hosting a potluck. As the host, you cook the main course (in my case, roasted chicken), and ask each guest to bring a favorite dish of the season. Not only does this cut down on the work and expense for the host, but it also makes everyone feel a part of the celebration.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

(Did you notice that I roasted my chicken upside down? In my defense, this was only the third whole bird I’ve ever cooked. I should just stick with appetizers and desserts, right?)

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Another thing I love to do for any party is to create a signature cocktail. While it’s a good idea to also have several standard beverage options available, a signature cocktail gives your guests a chance to try something different. Plus, you can match the drink to the theme of your celebration.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

For this celebration, I decided to make Apple Pie Moonshine. (Tomorrow I’ll be posting the recipe here on IBC.) I thought this drink would be just the thing for a group of friends since it’s typically served in shot glasses.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Offering a toast with friends can be an excellent opportunity to say the things we’re thankful for and to celebrate another year of friendship.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

I also recommend that you start thinking now about some of the things you’ll need to host Friendsgiving instead of waiting to the night before your guests arrive. Check to make sure you have enough entertaining supplies, test your recipes (so you’re not roasting your chicken upside down on the big day), and stock up on ingredients. If you’re ordering flowers, place the order now so that it will arrive a day or two before your celebration. This will give your beautiful blooms a chance to open, and you’ll have less to worry about the day of the event.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

I added a pair of the In Love with Fall Bouquets™ to my side board and bar cart to wrap the room in flowers. The gold vases had me the minute I saw them. You know how much I love gold.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Speaking of flowers, if you have a few greens or blooms left after you’ve styled your arrangement, don’t toss them. Gather up small bud vases and fill them with the extras. These mini-arrangements are perfect for your bar cart, the bathroom vanity, or any corner of your home that needs a bit of brightening.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Strive for excellence when entertaining, but remember to keep things simple. While you may want to have the most elaborate Friendsgiving, often less is more. Limit your menu, decorations, and even your guest list. With fewer things to plan, buy, and cook, entertaining becomes much less of a fuss.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Also, Friendsgiving is a great opportunity to do something fun, but not overly fancy with your décor. In that spirit, I opted to use chalkboard paper as a table runner. It’s the ideal place to list your menu, and then, during the meal, you can encourage friends to write messages to one another. Tapping into your inner child at Friendsgiving is one way to keep things lighthearted.

Also, don’t forget some tunes for your celebration. Create your own playlist, or check out my Tuesday Tunes: Celebrate Friendsgiving playlist here.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Keep in mind that a dinner party with friends shouldn’t break the bank. When purchasing décor and supplies for your gathering, mix in reusable items that you’ll want to keep for years to come. Also bring in things that are truly special and unique. Personalization and DIY projects are two ways to do this.

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

Finally, remember to relax and enjoy yourself. A stressed out or nervous host isn’t fun to be around. I recommend sitting down and having a cocktail (or a shot of Apple Pie Moonshine!) 5-10 minutes before the event starts. This allows you to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and it gives you a chance to relax before guests arrive. After all, that’s what the holiday season is really about. There’s no sense in entertaining if you can’t enjoy the party, too!

I hope these tips and ideas are helpful for celebrating Friendsgiving and putting together your own unique tablescape.

If you’re hosting Friendsgiving and want the chance to add a beautiful 1-800-Flowers.com arrangement to your table, check out this Instagram where I explain all the details on how you can enter to win. Good luck, and happy Friendsgiving!

Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com
Tips for Celebrating Friendsgiving | inspiredbycharm.com

If you’re continuing on with the BSHT, click here to head on over to Nesting with Grace’s Thanksgiving celebration! Brooke’s table is looking fabulous. I’m loving her placards!

For more information about 1-800-Flowers.com or to place an order, visit their website. You can also find them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest

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17 Comments

  1. As usual everything is beautiful. Those flowers are gorgeous. Do you perhaps remember where you got the plates that say Fluff your feathers? I have a precious flock of pet ducks and I NEED those plates. thanks!

    1. I’m glad I’m not the only one. My mom told me to explain I did it on purpose to keep the chicken moist. Haha. Which, surprisingly it did. Who knew!?

      xo Michael