Thanksgiving means gathering friends and family around the table to eat, laugh and talk but what if you don’t have family close by? Or what if you have friends you enjoy so much you want to actually celebrate holidays together? The idea of a ‘Friendsgiving,” a more casual celebration of the holiday with friends, is rapidly becoming a popular way to celebrate gratitude in late November.
A few months ago I had the privilege to work with what is truly an event “dream team” in our area to stage these photos for our local woman’s magazine–She Magazine. While I brought very little to the table for this project, other than some printables for the leftovers containers and providing another set of hands, being a part of this photoshoot was so much fun.
Our former co-blogger, Terry who now runs her own uber-successful event planning company {read about our blog beginnings here} was the creative force behind this event. She pulled together some of her talented event partners to do the photography, catering, event rentals and flowers to stage the perfect Friendsgiving. It took place at the lovely Retreat at Eastwood, which is THE place to have a wedding or event in the Washington DC area.
For my local reader/friends She Magazine is available now so don’t miss seeing the full spread which has easy Friendsgiving recipes and so many more details from this day. Terry has incredible vision for her events, she staged not only a gorgeous table setting {set up in the beautiful barn at Eastwood Retreat} but several themed food stations in the outside courtyard as well.
The sit-down part of the meal was set up inside the barn at a gorgeous handmade farm table by Local Wood. The dishes were found at HomeGoods– Terry and I were thrilled when we found the blue florentine-style bowls there to pull in the blue from the flowers and glasses. Aren’t the flowers amazing? The talented Sarena Floral design pulled together the beautiful florals that were the star of the show.
I contributed the menu cards {long ago I had an invitation event design business, which was part of what started this blog so many years ago} and the other printables.
Just like Thanksgiving, a Friendsgiving is all about the food and with that comes leftovers. These kraft paper leftovers containers are not just practical, but they look pretty set up on display too.
Wouldn’t it be fun to come home with a complete leftover meal in a cute box? What a nice touch.You can find these leftover boxes HERE, the soup containers HERE and the wooden utensils HERE.
In addition to the leftovers station, there was a dessert station and a soup/snacks appetizer bar.
The dessert station was set up as a fun pie bar with mini pies (yummy) and other seasonal treats like candied apples. All the food and drink was delicious and provided by A La Carte Catering, another wonderful local company.
A self-service coffee bar goes right along with a dessert bar, doesn’t it?
All the beautiful vintage furniture came from Bella Villa Rentals {Rosana also provided the props for our “What if you Fly? Middle School Dance” post, one of the most popular pins our Pinterest boards}, she has quite the collection of vintage furniture, tableware, and accessories to create a truly unique event.
Working on projects like this is always so much fun. So much of blogging is working solo, so having a team to collaborate with is a nice change. I also felt inspired to incorporate some of these ideas into our Thanksgiving celebration, next year, maybe I’ll even add in a Friendsgiving too 🙂
Sources–
Florals
Photography
Blue Velvet Couch
HomeGoods–dish stands, patterned bowls, plates, tiered serving stands
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What a gorgeous set up. Everything is just perfect. I could see this working for a smaller fall wedding as well.
Such a good eye Lauren! I think you are so right, so much of this would be perfect for a wedding! XO, Amy
Very interesting idea, and the photos all look so incredible, beautiful!
Thank you so much Diana!