The one-decision method: plan your gathering.
You don’t have to wait for an occasion or holiday to bring your people together. Wanting to spend time with them and let them experience the warmth and joy of your hosting is enough. Always.
And truthfully, gatherings with no occasion often end up being the best ones. For you, and for your guests!
There’s no pressure to get everything “right” for the occasion when there’s nothing specific to celebrate. That’s freedom! You get to play with the design, menu, activities, and more and create a bespoke gathering that fits you and your group well.
That said, sometimes having the choice of everything makes it difficult to lock in on anything. From choosing the aesthetic, to planning a menu, setting up your background music playlist — list goes on — it can be overwhelming! But it doesn’t change the fact that you want to host a memorable, beautiful event, whether it’s super casual or a little elevated.
Here’s what actually gets you unstuck, and I mean this in the most loving way possible: stop trying to decide everything at once. Make ONE decision, and considering anchoring everything else to that.
For example, when I get started planning a gathering, I think about two things first: food and design. Often times, there’s a tried-and-true recipe that I’ve been wanting to share with my loved ones. Whether it’s a fresh blueberry-lemon layer cake or creamy buffalo chicken dip recipe, it’s possible I can anchor the rest of my menu around it.
Let’s say I choose the blueberry-lemon layer cake.
Yellow and blue can become the natural color scheme — bright, but option to mute color.
Now, I’m seeing bold blue and cream striped table linens.
Plates in blues, creams, yellows, and greens.
A gauzy, neutral runner flowing down the center of the table with florals, candles, and trinkets layered through it.
Florals are loose, billowing, neutral but with pops of yellow and blue.
But, not too tall, because I see friends reaching across the table to touch hands, the clinking of glasses filled with spritzy drinks, the passing around of a divine caprese salad with a lemon vinaigrette.
….and so on. Before you know it, you’ve designed a beautiful gathering, a coordinated menu, and more decided upon. Now… you just have to get out there and find the pieces that complete your vision.
Once you have your anchor and two or three decisions that follow from it, you have more than enough to send the invite. You don’t need to have the whole gathering planned. You just need enough of an idea to say, “Hey! I am inviting some friends over in a couple of weeks and would love for you to be there. I’m making a blueberry-lemon layer cake that I think you will like. We’ll have dinner, drinks, and games, too.”
Good Fortune Gatherings started with one belief.
If you have the good fortune of loving and being loved by good people, you should bring them together. Often. For whatever reason. Our luxury-feel tablescapes help you set the tone and the aesthetic for your gathering, so you can focus on the rest.