How To Be The Perfect Holiday Guest
For many people, this will be the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to get together with family and friends for social gatherings and holiday meals. Here are some basic rules of etiquette to help make sure you’re the perfect guest.
Dietary concerns. First, notify your host of any dietary issues well in advance of the event. Whether it’s food allergies or vegan requirements, make sure you tell your host if you need anything special for dinner. Better yet, you could also bring your own preferred dish and share something new with your host.
Hostess gifts and food. Making food for an army of guests is a pretty difficult task, so ask your host if you can help by bringing a dessert, bottle of wine or non-alcoholic beverage, or even flowers to make the event more festive. Another good idea is to bring a breakfast casserole for the next day to give your host a break from cooking if guests are staying overnight.
Children. If your children are also guests at the event, talk with them beforehand about using proper manners at the dinner table. A holiday meal not the time for a food fight or having children complain about something your host may be serving.
Be on time. Most hosts have a set schedule for serving a holiday meal, so make sure to arrive a little early before the meal and never show up late—especially after the meal has started.
Play nice. The holidays are not the time to bring up politics or any other hot-button issue. A host’s table will most likely have people from different social or political persuasions and the polite thing to do is to keep the conversation on non-controversial topics.
Device-free. As with most dining situations, a holiday meal is no time to be staring at your phone. Go device-free this holiday season and your dinner hosts will surely appreciate it.
Gratitude. Even though your host may decline, do offer to help clean up after the meal is served. And a few days after the holiday, be sure and send a nice handwritten thank you note to your host…it will be remembered and appreciated!
[Adapted from 2018 blog post]
