A Thoughtful Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart. My husband and I started hosting this holiday annually since before we were engaged. Garrett's (my husband) mother was the heart of his family unit and would always organize the family together for holidays. One of their favorite holidays to get together for was Thanksgiving. Always the lover of football, he especially loved what this holiday represented to him - football, family time, good food and talking pause to count blessings. He explained to me, when we first started dating, that his family hadn't gotten together for the holidays since she passed away. At this point that had been almost 5 years. The news of this devastated me and I decided right then and there I would host his family for Thanksgiving.For my family, my grandmother always gathered us. I remember as a child feeling like her Thanksgiving was magical. She would make at least 5 pies, 10 casseroles, a turkey, a ham, and decorate the table to a T. We would watch the Macy's Day Parade and play with our cousins outside, rain or shine. Because of the mass amount of food and time my grandmother would spend creating the perfect Thanksgiving, I felt a little intimidated when I signed myself up for the task. Now here I am, three years in, and I'm starting to feel I have Thanksgiving almost down to a science.I decided to create a cozy, indoor Thanksgiving table this year. I wanted to make sure that my details were purposeful and reflected the reason for the season, giving thanks. I think we all can get caught up in what we lack throughout the year. I love Thanksgiving because it is a good reminder to take pause and count our blessings - both people and things. Below our my tips on how I created a meaningful and fun Thanksgiving.

1. Let your guests participate

Put a piece of paper and pen on the table at each place setting and have each guest write down one thing they are thankful for. You could also have them write down what they are thankful for about the person next to them and have them exchange them as a fun keepsake. This year we decided to have each member date theirs with their name to hold on to and revisit throughout the years.I picked out ceremony cards from Basic Invite that are typically used for wedding invitations because I liked the size and the flowers on the side. I changed the text from "ceremony" to "I'm Thankful for" and printed enough for our group to all write a blessing.

2. For the hostess

Grab a large sign to hang over your mantle that reflects the holiday. I found mine at HomeGoods. Christmas usually carries so much decor to remind us of the holiday, why not do the same with Thanksgiving? I love this sign and think it might stay up year round.

3. Pick a new holiday tradition

Have everyone write down a tradition they would like to start or keep doing. One of our new traditions is to watch a Christmas movie after dinner the night of Thanksgiving. We also host a family football game the day before and have a brunch the morning of Thanksgiving.

This year I decided to place cards around the table with each guest's name. Instead of "table xyz" I replaced it with "Thankful for you" above their name. It was a really nice touch that everyone enjoyed and helped a lot with the confusion of where to sit.

4. Play games!

We have a box full of fun board games and card games ready to play while family stays with us. When everyone is stuffed from the meal or tired from the day, having a fun game to play allows the family to continue to spend time together and sometimes get to know one another a little better! This has been one of our favorite holiday traditions.I'd like to thank Basic Invite for sponsoring items for this post.