The Perfect Holidays Invitee
You’re invited to a Christmas dinner or cocktail party. Awesome! All the possible questions come suddenly into your mind: “what should I wear?â€, “what should I bring?†and so on. Here are some easy and helpful ideas in case you have those intriguing questions in mind.
Be very careful how late you intend to be! If it’s a cocktail party be 10-15 minutes late; for dinner you can be 10 to 20 minutes late. Never be more than 25 minutes late!
Bring something! If you’ve been told from the beginning what to bring, half of the job is already done. If you have no idea what to bring, buy some wine for dinner, fancy chocolate or a bottle of fruit liqueur for dessert.
Pay attention to the people you’re sitting next to! Remember their names if you’ve just met them, be open and communicative to them. Nothing is more annoying than an unwilling person sitting next to you, right? Remember that!
Don’t use your cell phone during the dinner. Be prepared to close it when the dinner starts, otherwise, in case of ringing, you’ll capture all the attention and the annoyed faces.
If you see an agitated host, offer your help. You might be refused, but you have the advantage of asking.
Don’t stay too long or leave too early. If you forget to leave, your host might begin to yawn or do the dishes, which, by the way, it’s not a good sign. By opposition, if you leave too early you might generate a mass exodus, which is not good either. So, you don’t want to be the first or the last to exit the party.
Thank your host the next morning. It’s such a lovely gesture and doesn’t need so much effort from you. Be sure you call and thank for the nice dinner party. An e-mail with thoughtful words always works. And if you want to be more authentic, send a thanks note or a lovely bouquet of flowers.