How To Host a Fabulous Friendsgiving

Hosting Friendsgiving this year? In search of a little inspiration? I teamed up with friend and DIY expert Miss Kris to offer a few ideas for making it a Fabulous Friendsgiving! Can you guess what (or who) our inspiration was? Read on for the answer, plus DIY Thanksgiving tablescape ideas to die for, and an easy Thanksgiving cocktail that is sure to delight. Enjoy this post on How To Host a Fabulous Friendsgiving!

How To Host Thanksgiving

A fabulous Friendsgiving starts with a fabulous setting. But you don’t need to break the bank to be bold. Here’s how we did it:

1. You don’t need a huge space to play host. We transformed a small patio area outside of Miss Kris’ apartment building into our secret garden setting. Perhaps a public park will be your “backyard.”

2. Get crafty! Two sawhorses from the local hardware store paired with a closet door that Miss Kris unhinged for the occasion provided our table (really!). A swathe of fabric, with the edges left unhemmed, and we had our tablecloth.

3. Rent, rent, rent. We rented all of the show-stopping plates and glassware from Dish Wish, which I couldn’t recommend more. You can also scour your local thrift store or flea market, or even ask friends to bring their own place setting for an eclectic feel. We also rented chairs (for less than $2 each!) from a party supply store.

4. Pick a color palette and a theme. We went with black, white and gold. And channeled the Golden Girls for a cheeky theme.

5. Don’t be afraid to DIY! A simple spraypaint of gold onto small pumpkins and ears of corn will do the trick. We created namecards by folding kraft paper in half and writing names with a marker — Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, Sophia, Stan — and let guests guess who was who. (I was Rose, clearly.)

6. Serve a signature drink. We served Santa Margherita wine, which is delicious on its own, and also made a fun and frothy signature cocktail with prosecco. Recipe below…

FRIENDSGIVING FIZZ RECIPE:

Simply add 1-2 scoops of orange sherbet to each champagne coupe, and then top with chilled Santa Margherita prosecco. Enjoy!

Dee-vine! Festive and frothy, and it couldn’t be easier.

Keep reading for more ideas + photos!

We used chalkboard paint and a chalkboard marker to create a fun way to greet friends as they entered our Friendsgiving party.

As for food, while you could cook Friendsgiving dinner, we knew that as long as you have good friends and great drinks, it doesn’t really matter what you serve, so instead we served…

Pizza!

Well, that and this post was focused on the decor + the drinks!

Know your strengths…

In all seriousness, when it comes to entertaining, I find it’s almost impossible to do it all yourself and still be able to enjoy yourself.

This is why even Ina Garten recruits one friend to do the table setting, another friend to do the flowers, her husband to buy wine and dessert, and why she only focuses on the food. It takes a village! I say this because life becomes so much easier when you know when to ask for help.

And it’s much more fun to assign each person a task. It lets everyone feel involved and keeps you from having a nervous breakdown. Win-win! So while pizza may not be what you decide to do, asking each friend to bring a favorite dish or assigning each person an area of expertise is the way to go.

Here’s to a Happy Friendsgiving!

Thank you for being a friend Gary, Dee, and Marina (er, I mean Stan, Dorothy and Sophia)!

To see how this all came together, head on over to Miss Kris TV to watch the video!

Photos by Jessica Castro Photography

Brought to you by Santa Margherita