Dave and Jenny Marrs Share Their Top Thanksgiving Hosting Tips
By Movieguide® Contributor
From how to set the mood to where to put the kids, HGTV’s Dave and Jenny Marrs share hosting tips ahead of the holiday season.
“I love incorporating old and new,” Jenny told TODAY. “So we always have lots of vintage brass, and I love candles. Candles are so pretty, and they kinda just set the mood. The house can be a mess, but if you light a candle, you just feel better.”
They couple candles with flowers and music to set a cheery mood when company is over. The Marrs’ also get their kids involved when setting the table by allowing them to make name cards. They take little decorative pumpkins and gourds and have the kids write the guests’ names on them to then place in front of each chair as a name card.
The Marrs family also forgoes the “kid’s table” and opts to have everyone sit together. However, they prepare activities to keep everyone engaged.
“We don’t [do a kiddy table] because we’re just all together,” Jenny said. “One of the things that we do, always, not just at Thanksgiving, any time we have…people come over, is we have this little card game, [TableTopics].”
TableTopics is an icebreaker game with dozens of questions that allow people to get to know others better.
“These are just questions that get you talking,” Jenny continued. “So whoever asked the question, they get to pick who answers and we just keep going around.”
Another activity they do for Thanksgiving specifically is to have their kids write thankfulness cards to each other and share their favorite things about their siblings.
“We have a jar for each kid and everyone writes something nice about that person,” Dave explained. “So you get to write something nice about your sibling – what you’re thankful for. So little words of affirmation for [them].”
Last year, Jenny opened up about their Thanksgiving “flop.”
“Well, our Thanksgiving plans were a flop,” she wrote on Instagram last November. “We went to visit our whole extended family in Florida and, instead, most of us ended up in bed with the flu.”
Despite sickness, she still took time to be thankful.
“Always, always grateful,” Jenny continued. “Because, gratitude is a posture of the heart. It isn’t dependent on circumstances or plans perfectly unfolding.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
In an Instagram post from Valentine’s Day, Jenny Marrs shared a family tradition that allows them to uplift each other.
“My favorite Valentine’s Day tradition is beautiful in its simplicity. I set out jars and little slips of paper and we write down our favorite attributes about one another. After dinner, we sit around the table and take turns reading the words of love and affirmation aloud,” Marrs wrote.
“Words breathe life,” Marrs continued, “It’s often uncomfortable to sit and listen to words of life spoken over you but the words are necessary and so very good.”
“After dinner, we sit around the table and take turns reading the words of love and affirmation aloud. Tears sometimes fall, laughter always erupts, and shy smiles and joyfully flushed cheeks are guaranteed,” Marrs shared.
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