How to Plan a Thanksgiving Party
Thanksgiving is a holiday in November that is cherished by Americans for its familiar food and way of bringing people together. Plan a Thanksgiving party this year and enjoy taking part in this quintessential American tradition. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Place settings
- Centerpieces
- Thanksgiving foods
- Decorating
- Party invitations
Instructions
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Invite Guests
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Send invitations to your Thanksgiving guests. You can purchase a wide variety of pre-made invitations, or you can make your own with simple cut-out shapes like turkeys, pilgrim heads and cornucopias.
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Communicate with your guests directly by calling them and inviting them to your Thanksgiving party. This is a good method to use if your party is potluck style, so you can coordinate what dish each guest will bring.
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Use Evite to send your guests online invitations to your party. Evite's Web site offers different designs for invitations, spaces for entering pertinent party information, automatic updates and places to view your guests' responses (see Resources below).
Choose Decorations
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Decorate your home with symbols and colors of Thanksgiving. Turkeys, pilgrims, Native Americans, cornucopias, gourds, pumpkins and fall leaves are all appropriate Thanksgiving images, done up in shades of brown, red, orange, yellow and green. Incorporate these themes into banners, wall hangings, place cards and centerpieces.
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Set a perfect Thanksgiving table to welcome your guests to your home. Use festively decorated place cards and napkin rings and linens in autumn colors. Thanksgiving is also the time to pull out your best silver, china and serving dishes and make each place-setting immaculate.
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Use centerpieces as the focal point of your Thanksgiving table. They should be dramatic and representative of the season, but low enough that your guests can easily see each other and converse. A straw cornucopia filled with fruits or an arrangement of gourds and candles are great options.
Plan a Menu
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Start with a light salad to whet your guests' appetites. Salads featuring fruit and nuts like cranberries, apples and walnuts are a great way to incorporate seasonal themes of harvest and plenty into your menu.
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Center your meal around a classic main course. Turkey with gravy is the most obvious main course, but you can also offer a baked ham as an alternative. Purchase both of these items at least a week before Thanksgiving so you are ensured a good selection.
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Choose several traditional side dishes to compliment your meal. Bread dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans and dinner rolls are all typical Thanksgiving dishes, but different cultures have different traditions, so serve whatever feels comfortable to you and your guests.
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Don't forget dessert! Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without a selection of delicious pies. Go for favorites like pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, pecan pie, or branch out with a chocolate mousse or lemon meringue pie.
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Tips & Warnings
Include money in your party budget for sharing food with the less fortunate during Thanksgiving. Donate food or money to a local soup kitchen, or visit Web sites that will donate a meal for each daily click you make to a sponsor's link.
