Making the holiday your own this year: Tips for how to throw your own Friendsgiving dinner all season long

What used to be a niche pop culture reference now turned into an established holiday tradition, Friendsgiving is an event you don’t want to miss out on this holiday season. Even President Joe Biden got in on the festivities at a recent Friendsgiving event with service members and their families. 

While mostly being used as a word to describe the day you have a cozy feast of Thanksgiving dishes with your friends, for many it may replace the official holiday altogether. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the term was first found in 2007 on social media platforms Usenet and Twitter, but could have origins elsewhere. Some credit the iconic sitcom “Friends” for popularizing the activity altogether, as many episodes depicted the characters enjoying their Thanksgiving meals together instead of with family. 

Belong Center is a nonprofit organization with programs across the country dedicated to ending what they call the epidemic of loneliness and isolation across the planet. In collaboration with Sprout Society, they are hosting an NYC Friendsgiving on December 5th at their location in Brooklyn. This “potluck style party” is the perfect opportunity to meet some new people and still experience the magic of community this year.

Becca Bernstein, Chief Community and Operations Officer at Belong Center, hopes guests do just that at this year’s Friendsgiving event. “Making new friends and community as an adult can be HARD. We live in a culture that centers the question ‘What do you do?’ instead of ‘Who are you and what are you experiencing as a human being?’” said Bernstein.

This Friendsgiving has been crafted to help people connect over that shared experience,  “and feel a renewed sense of belonging to a sense of community and themselves,” said Bernstein. 

If you’re instead looking to host your very own Friendsgiving this week, don’t be overwhelmed. There are plenty of easy ways to make the big city feel nostalgic and homey this holiday.

Katie Getz, a junior undergrad student at Pace University, recently threw a Friendsgiving dinner of her own. Despite working with a college budget and sharing an apartment in FiDi with 4 other people, Getz transformed her place into a cozy nostalgia-filled space straight out of our childhoods. You would never have believed that a Halloween rager took place in that same apartment less than a month prior. 

Getz explained that she always goes to Pinterest first and foremost to get ideas for everything from the decor, to the ambience, and recipes. The fairy lights were on, candles were lit, and fresh fall flowers decorated the humble dining table. Immediately upon entering, the aroma of a home-cooked meal permeated the space, transporting all of the guests right back to their childhoods.  

In terms of the dishes, “my main priority was making sure there was at least one dish that made everyone feel like home, so I made sure to put out feelers for what everyone’s own Thanksgivings looked like,” said Getz. Through a Google Form, guests could communicate to Getz any dishes that were non-negotiables at their own Thanksgiving tables.

To gather ingredients, “I shopped mostly at Trader Joes & Whole Foods- I’ve found Trader Joes is my go-to for a cheap grocery store run, but Whole Foods is where I go for specifics,” said Getz. Whatever your local grocery store looks like, don’t be afraid to go for the store bought meals instead, if you’re short on time. The fast-paced and busy lifestyles of many New Yorkers can make the holiday sneak up on us quickly! 

The pressure of being a perfect host can dissuade many to take up the mantle, and Getz could definitely relate. “It wasn’t too difficult putting everything together because I’ve always loved hosting, but it was my first time ever doing something this “big” with everything made by me so I was super nervous that my lack of time management would get the better of me,” said Getz. 

It is most important to remember that the true heart of the holiday comes from the togetherness of those who attend. Getz kept this in mind while preparing to keep the pressure off, and stated that “having friends that I knew would’ve been happy with burnt potatoes and some cubed cheese, made the experience much easier. I was just happy to have us all together for such a warm fuzzy holiday.”