Top 10 Tips For Planning A Friendsgiving

Thanksgiving is a wonderful tradition, but for those looking for an alternative to the holiday, let me introduce you to Friendsgiving. Friendsgiving lets you enjoy all the fun of Thanksgiving with your closest friends. This year, Friendsgiving falls on November 25th. That's only three weeks away, so let's get planning.

Here are our top 10 tips for planning a Friendsgiving celebration!

Get your buddies together and decide who is going to host. The host should have space for all the guests and the food. The great thing about hosting a Friendsgiving is that the host is only responsible for the turkey. The side dishes are the responsibility of the other guests. We will get to that in a moment.
Send out the invites. Every party needs invitations to tell people when, where, and what time. Decide if you will go old-school and snail mail your invites or use an online RSVP service like Facebook events or Eventbrite (both are free to use).
Start the conversation about the menu. Once your guests are confirmed, get out your tool of choice to keep track of who is bringing what and who will need kitchen space/time to prepare their dish before the meal. I recommend Google Docs because it's free and easy to use. Make a spreadsheet with the confirmed guests' names and columns for what they are bringing and if they have any allergies or dietary restrictions. This will help ensure you don't have three variations of sweet potato casserole and only one vegetable on the table.
Get the space ready. A few days before, clean the area and prepare for all the fun. Determine the seating arrangements and if you need to borrow another table or more chairs from a friend. Give the kitchen a deep clean so it's primed and ready for anyone who needs to prepare their dish before the party starts.
Get to decorating! Go to your local party store and pick up some festive decor. Tip. Keep more oversized decorations out of high-traffic areas that could cause a tripping hazard or would be in the way of counter space. And make sure you use wall-friendly products that won't cause any damage to your lovely walls.
Figure out the parking situation. Encourage your guests to carpool or take a ride-share service to reduce the chance of any parking issues. Apartment complexes can get busy during the holidays due to family and friends visiting. Encourage your guests to carpool or take a ride-share service to avoid having your guests drive around for a spot or risk being towed.
Plan out before and after-dinner activities. Who doesn't love games, right? So ask your guests to bring their favorite group game or break out a few of your own that you can all do before or after the meal. The simpler, the better, so you can jump right into playing.
Have a festive playlist. Pick out your favorite albums and spin the tunes. I'm not talking about a dance party. Just something to have as background music to prevent awkward silence while everyone hangs out. Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music have great pre-set holiday playlists.
Everybody clean up. That's right. Everyone should help pitch in and clean up at the night's end. Using throw-away-china (A.K.A paper or plastic) will make this a breeze. This is also where everyone grabs their to-go containers and divides up the rest of the goods for the next day's lunch. Bonus if you have containers with your guests' names on them, so everyone gets a fair shot at the goods.
Make time to sit and relax. A lot of times, the host doesn't get to enjoy the party. Rotate out the responsibilities so that everyone has a chance to sit, talk, and relax.

However you celebrate, make sure to have fun and enjoy yourself, and may your Friendsgiving be blessed with an attitude of gratitude.