8 Inspiring Friendsgiving Theme Ideas (2025)

Friendsgiving is the perfect time to celebrate friendship, food, and gratitude. Whether you’re hosting a cozy, low-key dinner or an activity-filled gathering, choosing a fun theme can transform your Friendsgiving into a celebration to remember. To help you plan, we’ve suggested eight inspiring themes, including plenty of budget-friendly and kid-friendly options. They’ll help make your Friendsgiving as special and unique as your friend group!

Table of contents

• Food-related themes
• Budget-friendly themes
• Kid-focused ideas
• Discover themes that work for you
• Finding the right Friendsgiving venue

Food-related Friendsgiving theme ideas

Like Thanksgiving, a lot of what makes Friendsgiving special is the delicious food—especially sharing it with the people you care about. Here are some food-related theme ideas that embrace that aspect of the holiday!

1. Pumpkin-centric

Celebrate fall’s delicious flavors and cozy aesthetics with a pumpkin-centric Friendsgiving. You can serve pumpkin flavored dishes—like pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie (of course), savory pumpkin soups, and roasted sides—and also decorate with a fun pumpkin theme. Check out some of this autumnal pumpkin decor for inspiration or possible decor for your party.

2. Italian Friendsgiving

Bring the warmth of Italy to your table with hearty, comforting dishes and cozy decor. Homemade pasta, lasagna, and a variety of antipasti like bruschetta, marinated olives, and charcuterie boards with Italian cheeses and cured meats. You can also finish with classic desserts like tiramisu or cannoli. Decorate with string lights, mason jars with fresh herbs, and small bottles of olive oil or Italian wine as table accents to create a trattoria-style atmosphere.

3. Charcuterie & small bites

Make your Friendsgiving a chic, interactive feast with this theme. Guests can graze on a variety of cheeses, cured meats, fresh fruit, nuts, bread, and seasonal spreads, along with small hot dishes like mini quiches and roasted veggies. Be sure to provide beverages like mulled wine, cider, or festive cocktails. This visually stunning yet low-stress theme lets your guests mingle, nibble, and savor the flavors of the season!

Budget-friendly Friendsgiving theme ideas

These affordable theme ideas will help you celebrate in style while keeping costs low.

4. Pie potluck

Maybe your Friendsgiving budget makes it hard for you to prepare food for a crowd. If so, not to worry—a fun themed potluck is a great alternative, and it allows all your guests to share their favorite dishes with each other.

For Friendsgiving, we especially love the idea of a pie potluck where each guest brings their own pie—including not just classically Thanksgiving pies for dessert, like pumpkin and apple, but also savory pies filled with meat, vegetables, and other hearty ingredients.

5. Around the world potluck

If pies aren’t really your thing, how about a potluck where you have each guest bring a different dish from around the world? 

For instance, Chef Taelor Rankin shared that for her “Friendsgiving around the world,” guests brought short rib curry, pizza, sweet plantains, étoufée, garlic bread, macaroni and cheese, peri peri chicken, roasted Brussels sprouts, and dirty rice. Sounds like an incredible combination of flavors from a wide range of cuisines!

6. Crafting night

If you and your guests like to stay busy, how about combining your Friendsgiving with some creative activities? Guests can make simple fall crafts like painted pumpkins or leaf garlands while snacking on delicious autumnal dishes. Since your crafts become part of the decor, you can keep decorations minimal, which also helps keep costs down.

Kid-friendly Friendsgiving theme ideas

So far, our ideas have mostly been geared toward adults, but if your friends have kids they’d like to include, not to worry—Friendsgiving can be fun for guests of all ages! Check out these themes to keep kids entertained and engaged throughout the celebration.

7. Autumn carnival Friendsgiving

Set up stations for different carnival-inspired activities like a ring toss and mini corn hole. Offer a mix of sweet and savory snacks like popcorn, caramel apples, and pumpkin muffins. Kids will feel like they’re at a festive fair while everyone enjoys Friendsgiving together.

8. Gratitude garden Friendsgiving

Since Thanksgiving is about gratitude, why not incorporate that into your Friendsgiving celebrations, too? Have kids write or draw things they’re grateful for on cutouts shaped like fall leaves, then hang them on a “gratitude tree.” You can also serve fun finger foods like flower-shaped sandwiches, fruit skewers, and veggie bouquets.

How to discover Friendsgiving theme ideas that work for you

Whether it’s a relaxed potluck or a polished dinner, each Friendsgiving has its own personality, shaped by your friends, the setting, and the vibe you’re hoping to create. While mapping out your celebration, keep a few key elements in mind:

• Weather and temperature: Factor in comfort based on your venue. For instance, you might need blankets and heaters for outdoor Friendsgiving celebrations.
• Budget: Decide how much you want to spend in advance and, if needed, focus on elements—like decorations, games, or kitchenware—that could be reused for future Friendsgivings (or other purposes). 
• Ambiance: There are lots of ways to elevate the mood, including themed props, music, candles, and creative centerpieces.

If nothing on our list above sparks inspiration, look around your home, check local shops and thrift stores, and explore social media (especially TikTok and Reddit), Pinterest boards, and lifestyle blogs. These are some of the best sources for fresh, trending Friendsgiving theme ideas that you can make your own.

Finding great Friendsgiving venues

Picking the ideal location for your celebration is extremely important—it goes a long way toward setting the tone for your Friendsgiving. Peerspace’s range of ready-to-book event venues makes it easy to plan the Friendsgiving of your dreams.

Ditch the impersonal venue rentals. Peerspace helps you find spaces that are full of character. All Peerspace listings come with high-res photos, in-depth descriptions, and reviews from past renters. It’s all the info needed to choose a space that fits your style!

The hourly booking system makes it possible to keep your schedule and budget in check, so there’s less monetary stress and more energy to focus on the celebration.

It’s time to start planning your Friendsgiving

Friendsgiving is approaching fast. After choosing the perfect Thanksgiving dinner venue, start planning to make your celebration exactly as you imagined it! You can find even more excellent advice for planning Friendsgiving on the Peerspace blog.