Etiquette Expert’s Guide to Holiday Gatherings: Tips for Being a Gracious Guest and Hosting a Successful Event

2023-12-22 22:58:57

The holiday season is a time to entertain loved ones, share family meals and celebrate the end of the year, but what behaviors should you adopt during these festive events to avoid ending up on the “naughty” list? of Santa Claus?

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Here are some tips for making your receptions a success and being a radiant guest during your family gatherings.

1. Offer help to the host

Offering help to the host can be a nice sign of respect as well as a way to show that you appreciate the invitation. However, Julie Blais-Comeau, etiquette specialist and founder of etiquettejulie.com, affirms that it is “not obligatory”.

2. “Sharing” meal

Rather than cooking for the whole family, some people prefer to entertain their guests with a potluck, better known as a “potluck.” This is a meal where each guest brings their own dish.

“I recommend putting the meal in a seasonal serving dish and with that, we take the utensils and put them in a dish towel,” explains the etiquette expert. “This way, we avoid having to rush to clean all the dishes to take home.”

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3. Remind guests to bring alcohol?

Ms. Blais-Comeau believes that with the current economic situation “no one will be offended by being asked to bring their own alcohol.”

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4. Dealing with allergies

It is the responsibility of allergic people to announce their allergies to the people who receive them. “For a potluck, it’s a very good idea to put the list of ingredients on a piece of cardboard and place it next to the dish,” says Ms. Blais-Comeau. “It can prevent a medical emergency.”

5. How to manage conflicts?

It is very likely that within a family, two or more people do not get along. Ms. Blais-Comeau therefore affirms that we must be “strategic”.

“We will assign places to avoid conflicts,” she said. “We can also have a bowl with topics of conversation. When we see that the two cousins ​​are starting to argue, we pick a topic and go around the table.”

6. Chase away guests

Coffee before you leave? Some people don’t know when their hosts would like them to leave.

The etiquette specialist says there are tips to make guests understand that you would like them to leave.

“We’re going to turn down the music, we’re going to increase the intensity of the lights, we’re going to maybe stretch a little and remind the guests that the children have to get up early the next day,” she explains.

She points out, however, that the responsibility for ensuring that guests do not drive while intoxicated rests with the host.

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Ms. Blais-Comeau concludes by reminding that the role of the host is to ensure that the expectations for the evening will be communicated, and this, “not at the last minute.”

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