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Whether you are going home for Thanksgiving break or staying in your apartment or dorm, having a Friendsgiving with your roommates and close friends is a great way to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season. Planning a dinner may seem like a lot of work, but don’t worry! With these four tips, you and your friends will have the perfect Friendsgiving celebration.
Decor
Most college students do not have a lot of extra cash to spend on decor, let alone a Friendsgiving dinner. However, inexpensive decorations like balloons and holiday-themed plates can be found at the Dollar Store along with banners, streamers, etc. All the decorations you purchase the first year can easily be reused for a Friendsgiving the next year, so think of the decorations as an investment. Having decorations is a fun way to get people into the holiday spirit and they’ll look great in photos for Facebook and Instagram.
Decide whether everyone should bring a dish for a potluck or if everyone should contribute money to a food budget. If you decide to do dinner potluck style, assign different people to appetizers, sides, and desserts so there will be a variety of dishes available. If you go for the food budget option, come up with a menu that you believe everyone will enjoy. Make sure that you know what food allergies your friends have so everyone can eat. Recruit some people to help get the food ready and set it all up buffet style or by the plate!
Location
Try to pick a location that can accommodate all of your friends. Remember, the more people at the dinner, the more space you will need for everyone to sit down and enjoy the meal. If a person in your friend group has a bigger apartment, ask if the dinner can be held there. Depending on how many people come, the dining room table might be too small. Eating in the living room and adding extra chairs is a great way to have everyone eat in the same room and the dining room table can be used as the buffet table instead!
Entertainment
Besides eating delicious food and socializing with friends, watching a movie together after dinner is a cool way to finish off your Friendsgiving! Netflix and Hulu offer a wide variety of both holiday-themed movies and popular movies that all your friends will love. Another great way to entertain friends is to create a special playlist for the dinner! Spotify has thousands of songs to choose from and you can create an account for free. You can use your laptop to play the music so you don’t have to worry about speakers. Games like charades and Pictionary are also a fun activity for groups to play because everyone is involved and they’re free!
Socializing over a delicious, hearty meal with your closest friends is the best way to start off the holiday season!
