how to host: friendsgiving

Thanksgiving is coming up fast and I hosted a little friendsgiving get together of my own this past weekend.  I wanted to share with you what I planned for a fun friendsgiving and share details to help you host your own!

Event Location — My original thought was to host friendsgiving at my house but the guest list grew and grew so I needed a bigger space.  Since I was inviting fellow blogger friends I thought it would be fun to host the event at San Francisco startup StyleLend, a company where you can borrow and lend dresses, such a cool concept!  I figured it would be a great event space for my fashionista friends where we could browse dresses while eating, drinking, and being merry!

Mimosa Bar — It’s important to know your guests and knowing these girls…we needed a mimosa bar.  This made for a fun way to kickoff the event with a bit of a pop-fizz-clink moment with the girls!  I made sure to stock up on lots of bubbly from Gloria Ferrer, a request from a few friends as it’s a local-favorite winery close to us in Sonoma, CA.  I wanted to think outside the typical orange juice mimosa and picked up a selection of organic Suja Juices so we could try out different flavor combinations and add some color to our bubbles–so glad I scooped these up–so yummy!

Food — The whole reason why I wanted to host friendsgiving was so that friends could come together and enjoy each other’s company and have it be a fun time.  With that said, I opted for a potluck-style feast where each guest brought something to contribute.  It was fun to watch guests arrive and unwrap their dishes and I kind of like the eclectic mix of dishes and serving utensils!

Wine — And with food, there must be wine!  Once we said our hellos and did our champagne toast, we switched over to red wine from Caricature Wines–another fabulous winery local to us in California.  I picked up a selection for my guests–Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Vine Zinfandel, and a smooth red blend–so that there was something for everyone to enjoy alongside our fall fare.  And how cute are the bottle labels?  So festive and fun!

Decor — Since the StyleLend office has gorgeous dresses all over the place, it was already a really fun place to hangout.  However, it still needed some festive decor to transform it for the party.  I placed a few frames around with cute little signs (thank you Pinterest!) and added a rustic vibe to our table with natural burlap I found from Shindigz and also our golden silverware, plates, and napkins.  We festooned some string lights in our space to give a nice warm glow to the atmosphere and hung some tissue pompoms.  Party time!

Overall, my first friendsgiving was such a fun experience.  It our digital world where you feel always-connected to friends via facebook, instagram, twitter, etc., it’s nice come together as friends and really live in the moment.  I’m thankful for a great community of girlfriends here in San Francisco and I’m already excited to plan my next friendsgiving!  I hope this post inspired you to plan a get together of your own too!

P.S. Want to see behind the scenes snaps from our event?  Check out #SFBlogsgiving on Instagram and Twitter!

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