friendsgiving 2015.

This past weekend Aaron & I had the pleasure of hosting a Friendsgiving with some of our closest Seattle friends. It was our second time getting all together (see last year’s festivities here) & I definitely think this is a tradition in the making!

Jess hosted last year, but since she just got married, she asked me to host this year &, of course, I obliged. I LOVE hosting parties & we haven’t really hosted a big dinner party at our house before. I had so much fun planning & hosting Friendsgiving this year!

As you know, I am a big fan of snail mail, & specifically mailed invitations. I briefly perused my usual e-invitation sites (Paperless Post, TinyPrints, & Minted) before I sat down & designed my own in Illustrator.

One of the first things that I do when party planning is start a board on Pinterest. I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest though; I love it because I am super visual & love all of the images, but I hate it because I think it sets completely unrealistic expectations about what a simple dinner party should look like. I was able to find some cute ideas (shared below!) & pick out a fun theme: pumpkins & gold!

Our final guest count was 13 adults, 1 child, & 3 toddlers, so even with the addition of three leaves to extend our dining room table, we still had to rent an 8 foot table & chairs. {Locals: we used Aurora Rents.} I also decided that since we were having a somewhat fancy event, we should use real plates, silverware, & glasses. So I busted out our brass flatware to mix with our everyday flatware, & my late grandmother’s crystal. We don’t have nearly enough plates, so I ordered these re-usable plastic plates (which we can wash & reuse again next year!). But, because we did use “real” place settings, it means we had to wash all of it too, & the kicker was that the brass flatware & crystal glasses have to be HAND washed! Oh well, it was worth it!

The company was so great {it is so good to see everyone all together!} & the food was so delicious! Jess cooked the turkey (at our house) & everyone else brought something to share {potatoes – au gratin, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes; Brussels sprouts; salad; cranberry sauce; stuffing;, green bean casserole; gravy}. It’s nice to have a potluck style dinner when there are so many people!

{prepare for picture overload! I was slightly obsessed with the tables…}

{Jess made the cutest turkey appetizer!}

{Both tables. We had eight adults at our dining room table, plus two toddlers, & six at the other table, plus one toddler.}

{crayons & coloring pages for Jaz – she’s 7!}

{leftovers boxes & stickers!}

{thank you Jess for the family photos!}

 

{all the babies!}

This was such a fun event to be a part of & it feels like Thanksgiving is already over (even though it’s still two weeks away!). I am trying to stay in the Thanksgiving-mode & not just jump right into Christmas (but see what I am up to in that department here!).

Happy Friendsgiving!

M

Source List: white pumpkins: Target (old) {tip: buy them before Halloween!} // gold mercury glass votives: Michael’s // gold leaves & berries: Michael’s // gold pinecones: DIY // placemats: DIY {here}  // leaf placecards: DIY {spray painted fake leaves & write names with black Sharpie} // white tablecloth*: Linen Tablecloth // white napkins*: Linen Tablecloth via Amazon // pilgrim hat crayon holder: DIY // coloring pages: here, here, here // cake stands: Crate & Barrel (old) // polka dot banner: DIY (leftover from E’s first birthday) // give thanks flag: DIY // thankful napkins: Michael’s // leftover labels: DIY // leftover boxes: Sweet Party Shop}

*Note: it was cheaper for me to buy tablecloths & napkins than it was to rent them!

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