Friendsgiving Ideas

Friendsgiving is no different from a thanksgiving party or dinner as we all know it. The obvious difference is in the people we spend it with. Whereas Thanksgiving is spent with relatives, sometimes ones that some of us dread or loathe spending time with, Friendsgiving is spent with our second ‘families’, people we have grown to love over time, in our careers, school days, college, or just our neighborhood. These are people, we are comfortable calling brothers and sisters but are not related to us. People we share our ugly past with, our sweet memories with, and even our ugly sweaters and dirty linens literally. So basically Friendsgiving combines the very best of what you get in thanksgiving, but with a more relaxed group of attendees with relaxed rules away from the prying eyes of nosy cousins, aunties, and other relatives, not forgetting the overbearing scrutiny of a dad to his daughter’s girlfriend.

Themes

Last summer my friends and I had quite an interesting Friendsgiving party that none of us is likely to forget soon. One of the best things I have always loved about thanksgiving parties is the themes around such parties. On this particular one, we came up with the idea of wearing themed T-shirts to the dinner. We had agreed that each one of us should get an ugly sweater or T-shirt to exchange with one of the other friends at the party, the uglier the better. Like Halloween, themes make a thanksgiving party fun and memorable. So get the best themes that oftentimes resonate well with your grouping or conjure up some common history you share.

Group Games

You will need to decide the games that you will take up as a group. Several of our friends were comfortable with checkers and a game of draughts but most of us were thinking of an outdoor game and we settled on hiking wearing our Friendsgiving turkey drop T-shirts and dirty jeans. In the end, even Kyla and Moses who were against the idea of outdoor activity and preferred an indoor cuddly idea realized they could actually get to steal plenty of kisses in the bushes in a game of hide-and-seek as the rest of us were seriously sweating our butts off hiking.

Food and Drinks

For any of these parties to be a success, I have realized one needs to involve the whole circle of friends. Ensure everyone has a role to play and contribute in the long run. One of the best areas to have your friends participate in such activities is by letting them contribute to the food budget or simply assigning them what to cook or buy and come with on D-day. Since I was the host I offered to buy and cook the turkey and set up the necessary themes - we had one main theme and several mini-themes running throughout the program, depending on the activity at that particular time. The others took up roles depending on how convenient it was for one to have it delivered and affordability. In whatever you do or undertake to do, always strive to keep it within your budget and means but ensure you deliver it. 

The men came with their best wines and soft drinks while others had the opportunity to concoct new cocktail recipes and impress the girls with, while the girls came with their best home-cooked meals, some having cooked them with some of us, men, in mind but only to end up with disappointments and heartbreaks later as the men they craved for, had eyes for others in return, as is the nature of love - the one you love doesn't always love you back, and most times one has to settle for what or in this case whoever is available (as it happened to me). Most times in such parties with homemade cocktails and all, one always ends up with strange bedfellows literally.

After Party Night out

One of the best ways to finish off a good Friendsgiving party is going out to some interesting place, most times a club or a nice place with music to finish off the night, at least for those of you who will still be sober enough to go out. Some of us, party animals, who like sampling several clubs, sometimes spending less than an hour in a club have been accused of changing our women the same way we change our clubs, I must say sometimes wrongly so. On this day we went out club-hopping the entire night and I think this made Friendsgiving fun and unforgettable and is something you might want to include in planning your party. This is especially so if your circle is mismatched in gender and you want to go out on a fishing expedition in the quest to balance the equation gender-wise or maybe you just might be feeling like going out after a night of filling up your bellies with pieces and parts of one unlucky bird and several drinks to water it down to your stomachs.

Gifts and memorabilia

Any good party, be it Christmas, Thanksgiving, a Birthday party, or just any party, will not be a complete one without gifts. Similarly, at a  Friendsgiving party, it’s good to carry one or two gifts to give to your friends. Friends have various tastes and preferences that might be diverse and unique in more ways than most of us can fathom. Choosing a  gift is one of the simplest as well as one of the very daunting tasks one might have to do, especially for men. I for one hate the idea of having to choose a gift for anyone, and for this reason, I would always choose to get my gifts from one of the best online gifts experts, Famous Real Life. They have a huge collection of themed hats, themed men's and women's shirts, themed ugly sweaters, and themed mugs for you to choose from. Before heading out to a party please ensure you get some gifts and memorabilia for someone at the party because it will look uncultured and selfish to receive one when you will not have carried one yourself.