Throwing a Friendsgiving party like you’re Mariah
“Thanksgiving - an annual national holiday in the United States and Canada celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. “
This festivity means nothing to me as an Asian growing up in Asia. I’m taught to be thankful for everything, every day! Since I moved to Singapore, I can only be more thankful, particularly the friends I’ve made - such a diverse and unique bunch and I won’t trade them for anything else.
So, I’ve started my form of annual Thanksgiving, “Friendsgiving” because these are the friends who embrace diversity, celebrate differences and accept everyone for who they are. This year, I decided to celebrate this in the comfort of waves and vitamin D. I chartered a yacht from YMPL (highly recommend - great price and service was spectacular).
As with any kelvinkuan event, I try to make things a little more extra and personalized. If it’s not extra, you know it’s not an event by me and true friends will understand me. Thought I’d share my thought process here so if it’s your first time throwing a Friendsgiving, you can start here.
1 - firm up your guest list
Always know how many people you plan on inviting. It’s important to keep the party small so you can plan well and everyone will experience the moments you curate and have enough time to connect with others. If you have to ask “should I invite Felicia?”, the answer is probably no!
2 - send out “Save the Dates” and personalized “Invites”
I know you think it’s too extra to send out Save the Dates, but this gives you a good sense of your guests’ interests and availability (and also to buy time making the personalized invite). Your guests will appreciate the thoughtfulness of their names printed on the invite and clear instructions on what to expect - dress code, if there’s food, if there’s booze. Your friends will know you mean serious business if you have a personalized card - also you don’t need a wedding to be this extra because your friends are equally special at any moment in time.
As a drink, I like “Don’t Call me Angel” the most
3 - name your booze
I asked my mixologist friend, Reshawn (his drinks are amazing by the way!) to help me make free-flow cocktails and champagne. I want my friends to just chill and get whatever drinks they want without lifting a finger. I sat down with Reshawn to come up with a few drinks that will suit the overall taste palates of those who are coming. Of course, I then named the drinks using references suited to the theme of the event, and more importantly, represented me as the host.
4 - food, food, food
When there’s so much booze involved, always make sure there’s enough food. A good yardstick of the number of dishes - one large main carb, one large main meat and 2 to 3 sides of salads and other meat. I would usually cook but since we’re out at the boats, I ordered a customized catering plan from the trusted caterer - Neo Garden. They do a great selection of food, especially during festival seasons of such. Your job then is to arrange the food to make it look lush and plentiful - after all, it’s meant to be a feast after harvest!
5 - curate a playlist
If you don’t have Spotify, then just go and get one. They have a lot of good public playlists that you can choose from. If you are as ambitious as I am, try curating a specific playlist for the event itself. This goes from knowing the type of music that your guests like and it’s important to have a good build up of songs from arrival, to when people are having a chat in the beginning to when people are all in a party mode. I cannot stress the importance of music at a party as it determines the mood of everyone!
The stress of hosting a personalized event goes right up to the moment your guests arrive and when everyone is in a happy mode (especially after a glass of welcome champagne, it always works!). Despite having to maybe scream at your cab driver for driving slow and making you late or hating yourself for forgetting to bring something you should have, it’s all worth it and that’s when you shake it off and have the time of your life.
I think my biggest takeaway here is that I’m able pull together a few different group of friends and to see them connect after the event. These are good people and they deserve to make more new, likeminded friends and continue to help each other grow. When people say, “remember during Friendsgiving…” even after a few months, that gives me the pleasure of knowing I have created moments of elevation and connection in one of the days in their lives.
I may not know everything about creating these personalized moments and I’m happy to hear from you. Let me know your thought process so I can learn from you.
