Friendsgiving – 2020 Edition!
November 10, 2020
With the recent release of the madcap comedy Friendsgiving and the addition of the word to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in January 2020, you might think this way to celebrate America’s favorite holiday is a new trend. But anyone who has lived in a studio apartment in a far-away city in their younger years, who was either stranded by weather or obligated by work and couldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving, knows the unique joys of cobbling together a version of the holiday with friends—the very first Friendsgivings!
When To Celebrate It
Like nearly everything else about this spontaneous holiday, you’ve got options! This year especially, when many people won’t be traveling over the holidays, you could choose to have it on Thanksgiving Day itself, as a substitute for the family holiday. Or, as Food Network suggests, you could choose a weekend earlier in the month or over Thanksgiving weekend. Be sure to celebrate only with friends from your bubble to keep it a safe celebration!
Thanksgiving Day as Friendsgiving
If you choose to have Friendsgiving on Thanksgiving Day, make it an all-day affair! Gather early and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while sipping mimosas as you start preparing the food.
If you’re going for an evening meal, you can start later in the day. One of the best parts of Friendsgiving is that everyone helps prepare the food together throughout the day—maybe while watching a classic holiday movie like Meet Me In St. Louis or Holiday Inn.
Or plan a potluck-style dinner—assign each guest a category of food or drink that they bring ready-made, while you tackle the turkey and gravy. The Kitchn provides a countdown timetable to help you plan for the event—whatever day you want to have it! Some key moments on the timeline: 4 days before the event, thaw the turkey, and 4 hours before dinner, cook the turkey!
Don’t Forget to Decorate
Friendgiving has the potential to be much more glamorous than the traditional family meal—Elle Decor shows some fun and elegant ways to set a festive mood! Create a foliage-inspired table and don’t forget to decorate the front door with one of these autumn-themed wreaths from Ever Blooming Original!
Or you may want to go in a completely different direction and make it the most COMFORTABLE Thanksgiving anyone has ever had! Cosmo suggests hosting a PJ Party where everyone comes dressed in their most festive fall pajamas! This option also works well if you are hosting a virtual Friendsgiving (where it’s a given that everyone will be in their PJs!)
Virtual Friendsgiving
If you decide you’d rather not gather a bunch of people together, you can still host a great Friendsgiving over Zoom. Real Simple offers some ingenious tips for pulling off a full-fledged virtual dinner! Divvy up the responsibilities, according to each guest’s abilities! Let a design-savvy guest create a fun display of Zoom backgrounds—maybe collections of photos from Thanksgivings past.
Let the bartender in your group come up with themed cocktails or mocktails that everyone can enjoy at the same time together, and then open bottles of the same wine for dinner. Make sure to give everyone the ingredient shopping list in advance so everyone will be ready to mix them up together.
Consider a Carry-Out Plan
If some of the friends in your group lack basic skills in the kitchen, let the chefs among you make the food and pack it up for distribution to everyone. You can even opt for restaurant take-out—what matters most is you’ll all be enjoying of the meal “together.”
And finally, consider creating a playlist and entertainment content. No doubt you know just the friends whose specialty this would be! Have them come up with a playlist of music that gets everyone in the mood to cook, eat, and clean-up! After dinner, enjoy some light entertainment to watch together—check out this list of 19 Thanksgiving TV episodes!
Celebrate Friendgiving at Southshore!
Be thankful for the friends you have when you celebrate Friendsgiving together at the master-planned community of Southshore! You’ll love Aurora’s only lakeside community and the family-friendly atmosphere. Take a tour of the brand new homes from Toll Brothers, Richmond American Homes, and Taylor Morrison for a taste of Life at the Lake. These ranch and two-story designs are priced between the $400s and the $700s.