How To Throw Simple-Yet-Beautiful Friendsgiving.

Hosting a Friendsgiving is such a fun way to get a group of friends together to eat, sip, and be merry! With the holiday season starting to pick up, we thought it’d be nice to have some friends over to catch up and have a hassle-free night before everyone’s schedule gets too full.

Because our family Thanksgiving tends to be a bigger, more elaborate dinner, I like the idea of keeping Friendsgiving a little more low-key. Keeping it simple means we can focus on spending quality time catching up with our friends. I want everyone to be able to kick back, relax, and have fun! Evenings like these tend to lead to some of the most memorable moments – and that’s exactly what I’d like to achieve at Friendsgiving!

Wanted to give you a quick peek at our Friendsgiving spread today. I’ve even included three of my favorite tips for hosting a Friendsgiving at the bottom of this post!

A meat and cheese board is always popular. Adding a variety of cheeses, crackers and meat keep guests coming back for more!

We took a simple store-bought cheesecake and made it a touch more festive by drizzling a pumpkin butter caramel sauce over the top. It was delicious!

How fun is this fudge and cracker combo? We brushed some melted butter and sprinkled cinnamon sugar over graham crackers, and served it with a slice of fudge. It was a such a delicious dessert!

Frozen puff pastry sheets are a great item to keep in your freezer. They can be used to whip up all kinds of treats in a jiffy.  We ended up making these rustic-style bites by adding caramelized onions, sliced local apples and gruyere cheese. It was the perfect savoury bite!

Looking to host a Friendsgiving this year? As promised, here are my three of my best tips for an event like this:

Ask everyone to bring something

If you want to hold a big, seated dinner, consider making the turkey and asking your guests to contribute appetizers, sides, and dessert. Or, if you’d prefer a more casual gathering, stick to appetizers and desserts. It may also be fun to request that your guests bring a favorite family dish. It’d be a unique way to get to know everyone a little better.

Put your own spin on store-bought items
No matter whether you’re hosting or attending Friendsgiving, contributing a dish doesn’t mean you have to make it entirely from scratch. Our pumpkin butter caramel cheesecake was a hit! And, in my experience, a meat and cheese board is always a popular part of a party’s menu.

Create a simple mocktail
It’s an easy way to make your party feel more put together, and gives an extra-special touch to show your guests how much you care. We put our own spin on Refinery 29’s cotton candy surprise by adding a little extra shimmer to the cotton candy with edible glitter and serving it in a gold-rimmed champagne glass. It makes an elegant statement piece to impress your friends when they walk in the door. Find the recipe along with more Friendsgiving recipe and decor inspiration on americanexpress.com/friendsgiving.

And, finally, I appreciated using my Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express to pick up the groceries for our Friendsgiving spread. As a Blue Cash Preferred member, I receive cash back on what I care about, which includes 6% at US Supermarkets! It’s the smart choice to help me build toward my future by doing what I do everyday – like hosting a gathering for my friends.

This content is sponsored by American  Express. All opinions and styling are my own!