The age-old tradition of dinner parties has brought people together for decades, because who can turn down sharing a warm home-cooked meal with the people you love? This year I hosted my first dinner party, and the memories made that night are ones I'll remember forever.

Friendsgiving-- a mash-up of the word "friend" and "Thanksgiving"; the North American tradition of hosting a Thanksgiving-style dinner for close friends rather than family or relatives. The word first started gaining traction in 2007 as a replacement for the holiday typically spent with family, and usually takes place in November.

As someone who had yet to attend a Friendsgiving party, I decided to shake things up and host my own festivities for me and my friends to enjoy.

This being my first time attending and hosting a Friendsgiving meal, I made sure to do my research. I watched holiday-themed episodes of television shows, checked out popular dish recipes and even tried to learn the art of napkin folding. I wanted to make sure I did this thing right.

After seeing my friend's smiles through the flames of the bonfire late into the evening, I knew the night had been a smashing success. Here's how you can have a home run of a dinner party yourself.

1. The Little Touches Make the Biggest Difference

While I didn't have an unlimited budget, I still wanted the night to be special for everyone participating. One way to do so was by creating a visual invite. Similar to the ones you sent out to your classmates in elementary school, invites are a great way to set the "vibe" of the event. Bright colors can be used to create excitement, or muted colors can create a relaxed feel. Keep in mind what decorations you may want to put out during your dinner party, to coordinate with your invites. Once I had gathered a list of recipients, I put together an invite on Canva and sent it out to all of my prospective guests.

With a free template from Canva, I was able to make an invite easily.

Another thoughtful detail I included was name cards on each seat. This made the seating feel personalized and easily ensured couples would be sitting together.

2. Mentally "Check-In" On Your Guests

It's important to consider your guest's feelings throughout the night. While it may be easy to over-fixate on hosting duties, you should mentally "check-in" on people's moods regularly. This helps you figure out what next step to take. Are things seemingly lull? Maybe it's time to pull out a card game (I recommend Cards Against Humanity). Are people staring into the bottoms of their empty cups? Time for a refill. Chances are if you're wanting a shift in the atmosphere, so are the people around you.

The easiest way to ensure a light and happy mood? The right music! Cheerful but not too distracting, so people can feel like they're in a music video whilst entertaining conversations.

Here's a link to my Friendsgiving playlist from the night, which listeners raved set the mood for gratitude.

3. Consider Making It a Potluck— You'll Be Glad You Did

To make things a little less stressful, I decided to divide the food responsibilities among everyone and have a potluck dinner. I asked each guest to bring their favorite side or dessert dish for everyone to share. Because the invitees were from different friend groups of mine, I thought the sharing of good food would help bring a sense of community to everyone. This ended up being a fantastic way of bringing people together. It's easier to like a stranger when their delicious dish is blessing your taste buds.

My recommendation for hosts is to be in charge of the main course and beverages. This way no one has to figure out how to drive to your event with a bowl of punch in the passenger seat.

After searching through a few different recipes online, I decided to go with a cranberry mimosas recipe I had taken off of Pinterest. The simple mixture of cranberry juice, champagne and vodka made for the perfect tasty but-sneaky alcoholic holiday drink. I also added cranberries to the top of the drink for a visually-pleasing effect.

4. Opt For Sustainable Décor Options

While I did use paper and plastic products for the utensils and plates (I already had them leftover from previous parties), I tried to stay from purchasing one-time-use table and room decorations.

Instead, I stopped by the flower cart while I was picking up ingredients for my main dish (a two-for-one stop!) and purchased three variations of flora. I bought a handful of daisies, baby's breath and eucalyptus.

Once the table was covered in cloth and ready to be adorned, I separated the stems of each variety and placed them in no particular order onto the center of the table. Afterward, I arranged the main plates and other table decorations around the flowers.

I had wanted to go for a warm-neutral theme, to bring out the cozy feel of the season. When you live in South Florida, the weather doesn't necessarily correlate with the idea of traditional fall, so I had to make sure my décor elements made up for the lack of winter energy in the air.

I decided to also create name cards for each of my guests to add a personalized feel to the meal.

The way I created the cards included the names of my guests written atop pieces of folded and cut-out craft paper (another item I already had!).

Using candles and candle holders you already have around the house would be a great way to give your décor some height. Try not to make it too busy, or at least make sure people can still easily see and talk to each other!

Here's how my table ended up looking:

5. Don't Be Afraid to ask for Help

Hosting for 12 people ended up being a bigger task than I had imagined. I was overwhelmed by the number of things I had to get done in such a short period. Although I didn't have to make a full course menu alone, I still had to juggle cooking the turkey, setting up the table, cleaning the space, making sure the drinks were made at the perfect time (so they would be as cold as possible once guests arrived) and of course getting ready myself to make sure I looked the part of the hostess with the mostess.

With all of these obstacles pulling me into an anxious frenzy, my good friends offered to help out while I was busy getting dressed. Coming back to the venue afterward and seeing everything ready once I arrived was such a weight off my shoulders. The night was young, and it was time to party.

6. Be Sure to Capture the Memories

If you don't take any blurry, flash, loved-filled photos during your dinner party, did it even really happen? Documenting the night is the best way to keep its memory alive. If you don't consider yourself a good photographer, delegate the title to the best-fitting person on your guest list. Make sure to take videos as well! These capture the warmth and joy in a way a photograph just can't. I also recommend purchasing a disposable camera to take cute film photos of your

loved ones. These film photos also make a good gift for guests!

7. The Post-Dinner Checklist

Although your guests have left, you have just one more step left. After everyone has gone home after dinner, send out a sincere message thanking them for being such great guests. Here's a template you can use to text your guests post food coma:

"Thank you so much for coming tonight and bringing such an amazing dish! I appreciate you taking the time to enjoy dinner with me. I hope you have a great rest of your night."

Feel free to add some heart emojis here and there!

While there were some minor moments of stress, I loved every minute of hosting my friends for a dinner party. Seeing everyone so happy, filled up on cranberry mimosas and showing as many teeth as possible during bouts of deep laughter filled me with so much joy, I couldn't imagine it being a better night.

I hope you enjoy these tips and tricks, be sure to tag me @amnd_mrtnz (Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest), I'd love to see how your nights turned out!

Happy holidays and happy hosting!

-Amanda