Virtual Thanksgiving Party

When you have to stay home, stay connected through virtual events. This design features a watercolor living room couch scene perfect for a Friendsgiving Thanksgiving at home. Chat and check in with loved ones, coworkers, and friends online maintaining safety and fun. It’s important to come together during this unprecedented time where sanity is vital to our happiness. 

Everything in 2020, including the holidays are probably going to look a lot different this year. Measures implemented to minimize the spread of the virus have seen travel bans put in place, forcing people across the globe to celebrate their weddings, birthdays, graduations, and other notable events completely online, through video conferencing technologies. These events help you maintain strong and natural connections with friends and loved ones you can’t see due to physical or social distance. Online festivities help maintain a sense of normalcy and a feeling of living full lives even when celebrations have to take place through different formats.

Still, if the thought of hosting a Virtual Thanksgiving makes you cringe, you’re not alone. It will probably be weird, but so is everything else. You can still dine with pals over videoconference — perhaps even on a turkey meal prepared the day before and dropped off at “guests”’ homes that morning. So let’s hang out, catch up, and get wine drunk this year. If you’ve never hosted a virtual event before, this guide will give you all of the tools and resources you need for successfully planning and hosting a virtual Thanksgiving.

1. Coordinate your menus

Work with each household to plan at least a few similar dishes on each family’s menu, so you can all enjoy the same appetizers, your family’s secret stuffing recipe, or a slice of apple pie for dessert. Or consider virtually cooking the meal together. Even if you can’t be together in person, you can still spend time cooking with family. Set up a Zoom call with the rest of your family and catch up with one another as you cook your favorite dishes. While peeling vegetables, talk about all the new hobbies that everyone has picked up while stuck in quarantine or make travel plans for when the global pandemic is over. Or, take a trip down memory lane by reminiscing about past Thanksgiving highlights.

2. Create a decorating scheme

Even if no one is coming over, you shouldn’t forget about décor. You’ll have plenty of time to go all out on your house, whether it be by hanging streamers from the ceiling or blowing up balloons to creating an actual turkey out of paper-mâché – you now have all the time in the world. Look for ways to make it feel like you’re all in the same space. Order the same flowers from sites so you can all enjoy the same centerpiece. If you really want to get matchy-matchy, you can rent the same table settings. Another way to make things feel festive is to mail items to your guests in advance, such as a homemade dessert, a bottle of champagne, a cocktail kit, or custom T-shirts.

3. Set a place for the computer

If you want to make it seem like you’re all eating together, set a place for the computer, so you can all video chat during the meal. Depending on your group, you may also want to consider designating a “tech captain.” That person can teach your less-tech-savvy relatives how to use Zoom in advance and help sort out any technical issues that arise day-of, so they don’t derail the entire event.

4. Get creative with family traditions

If your family is a football or dog show family, gather each group around the TV and video chat or group text as you enjoy. Let each group create a slideshow or video presentation of the things they’re thankful for this year and spend some time enjoying those for a Thanksgiving spin on the PowerPoint party.

5. Play some games

Besides turkey and cranberry sauce, traditional Thanksgiving celebrations often include a family game or two. While you may not be in the same room, thankfully, with the power of the Internet available at our fingertips, we can easily play virtual games.

6. Pie Eating Contest

Totally ridiculous? Yes. Insanely fun? Also yes. Everyone bakes a pie, then goes head-to-head on Zoom to see who finishes theirs the fastest. With witnesses, of course. And yes, you do have to eat with your hands behind your back, thanks for asking.

Pros of hosting a Virtual Thanksgiving:

• No need to book a venue, just make sure that you're somewhere with a good internet connection

• Anyone can join from anywhere meaning no one gets cut from the guest list

• No intensive set-up or breakdown of the event

• No need to provide food and drinks for guests

• Guests can "attend" in their pajamas

• Guests do not need to travel far!

Understandably, many are disappointed this year at how Thanksgiving is bound to play out. While a holiday celebration done virtually may not be the most optimal or the most traditional, there’s no denying that they can still offer a ton of fun and excitement for everyone involved. Plus, it will be an experience that you’ll likely remember for a lifetime! A virtual holiday party presents an opportunity to make lasting memories you can only create online.

Consider Paper Invitations:

It's a little extra to send out actual Thanksgiving invites if you're just going to be chowing down with the fam over Zoom. Although since you are having a virtual party, it may be nice for your invited guests to receive a real invitation in the mail and perhaps a virtual reminder before the big event.

Paper invitations also give you a chance to include some special extras for your invited guests, like maternity photos, baby shower games, raffle tickets and whatever other extras that will help guests feel included in your big event.

If you are sending paper invites, then you will need to adjust the invitation wording so that guests know that it is a virtual party.

Note: Before committing to a virtual option, please check to make sure the platform you are using offers the features that you need to make your party a success. If you are unfamiliar with a platform that you are considering, then jump online and test it out. The more comfortable you are with the technology, then the better chances you will have of making it all work out.