Last week, we invited a handful of our friends over for an Autumn potluck…my favorite season and my favorite kind of meal! I love hosting friends at our home, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the thought of it, and never actually have people over. Inviting people to your home is an incredibly intimate experience, and one that can make you feel very vulnerable! There are so many expectations: a clean house, a perfectly tended yard, perfectly timed meal cooked by one person, well behaved children. And there’s the fact that we can’t fit everyone we invited under our roof in the event it rains. So many excuses, right?

But once guests start to arrive and the candles are lit, plates begin to overflow, bellies and hearts are filled, any excuse to not invite people into our home quickly fades. Joe and I look at each other and agree that we need to host friends and family more often. The laughs, the conversations, the friendships. And if the house didn’t get cleaned to perfection, that doesn’t matter. It’s all so beautiful and worth it.

We try to take advantage of the warm[er] weather for as long as possible, since we can’t fit more than 8 people in any one room in our home. This gathering boasted 22 adults and 11 kids! Most of my events don’t include children, and it was such a lovely treat to have so many kiddos around!

Everyone brought their favorite Autumn dish to our potluck, I made a large batch of Eva’s Roasted Chicken Quarters with Fingerling Potatoes and Garlic, and it was quite the feast! My favorite part of a potluck is uncovering everyone’s dishes to discover what they’ve prepared! I always ask that friends give me a general idea of what they’re bringing (dessert, side dish, starch, salad, etc.) so that when folks ask what we still need, I can let them know. No one wants to come to a potluck where there are 10 serving platters of roasted vegetables (ok, so that wouldn’t be all that bad)…

We set up a small campfire and strung some twinkle lights. A few pieces of my favorite crockery filled to the brim with Autumnal flowers and foliage. White dinner plates, neutral napkins, and a thrifted collection of vintage flatware. Not much else is needed to create a welcoming space!

So many thanks to our friends who joined us for our Autumn potluck and to those who helped set the tables and string the lights and do all the getting ready things: the lovely ladies of Fika Gatherings for their styling prowess, and Anna Clair Photography for her magical photos.