This post contains affiliate links — if you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no cost to you. The china and crystal came from Replacements, Ltd. as a partnership on the original reel; this post is not sponsored.
The Idea —
A vintage train dinner party, built around the best thing on any Thanksgiving table: mashed potatoes and gravy.
The minute I started planning Friendsgiving I knew two things. I wanted a train on the table that could actually carry the gravy around to people, and I wanted to finally use my granny's silver. Everything else grew out of those two ideas: a ticket counter at the front door, a conductor's uniform, a Black Watch tartan table with a loop of track running through the middle of it, and a gravy boat riding a flatcar behind a Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive.
How I Prepped —
The table came first. Our dining table doesn't seat everyone, so I used three folding tables and ran two long tartan tablecloths over them so it reads as a single table. Benches down the long sides, chairs on the ends.
The track went down before anything else. It's a simple oval, and the centerpiece has to live inside it, so I laid the track, then built the middle, then set the places around the outside. On each place setting, I placed a leather luggage tag that I embossed with each guest’s name. A fun touch to go with the train whistles that were also placed there.
The china was borrowed from Replacements, Ltd., along with the crystal. They carry over 475,000 patterns, so if you've inherited half a set of anything, that's where you finish it! Before anyone arrived we ran the train once with the gravy boat on board to make sure it cleared the centerpiece and didn't slosh. It did neither of those things on the first try. Worth the test run.
For my train- I used your typical train that goes around a christmas tree. I painted it to match my theme and attached my own gravy boat onto one of the carts using cardboard and hot glue and extra tape to be sure!
I, then, created a ticket counter and added suitcases and a vintage looking clock. I printed fake tickets to punch when people arrived and handed them a french 75 cocktail!
What We Ate—
Mashed potatoes and gravy were the headliner. The potatoes were plated, the gravy came around on the train, and the toppings ran down the table on silver trays: bacon, shredded cheddar, sour cream. My friends all brought a dish to share that would go with potatoes.
We had roasted turkey, brussels sprouts, squash, mac and cheese, an arugula salad with pomegranate and apple, and warm rolls.
Dessert: a slice of pie and crème brûlée in little pumpkin shaped ramekins to finish!
