Tuesday, April 19, 2011




How to Treat Your Dinner Guests Well

When hosting a dinner party, the happiness of your guests is pretty much the epitome of importance. In order to make sure an enjoyable evening is had by all then follow the steps below.

Greet people at the door and welcome them into your home. Take their coat and store it in a safe place. If they have brought a gift then graciously accept it. Lead them into whichever room is appropriate for them to wait in (usually the living room) and make sure you make introductions between them and any other guests there, especially if they do not know each other. Throw in a remark about the guest if you wish 'Jenny is a lawyer who I met at the golf club' or suchlike, which will give the other guests an insight into topics they could discuss. Make sure everyone is offered a drink when they are sat down, and have a wide range available so you can give them what they like. Making up your own cocktails can be a fun way of giving them drinks, and display a bit of prowess.

To be a good host you want to make sure you are present as much as possible, so minimise the cooking time of all dishes by preparing anything it is possible to in advance. If there are two of you hosting then one could stay with the guests at all times to make sure everything goes well.

When it comes to sitting at the dinner table, seat people with similar interests near each other so they will be able to sustain conversation. Nothing is worse than silence around the dinner table, so research people in advance and plan an appropriate table layout which will make sure everyone is comfortable. Have some conversation topics prepared as well in case there are any lulls.

Make sure you keep an eye out for empty drinks glasses and offer more, so that people do not get thirsty, and do the same with food if you have made more than necessary. The most important thing to do to make sure guests are treated well is knows their needs. An allergies, dislikes or specific tastes (vegetarianism for example) should be catered for. If cooking a food such as steak, it is courtesy to ask each guest how well done they would like it, and trying to match their needs, rather than make an overall assumption. Small measures like this are the mark of a considerate host.

Once the meal is over then make the atmosphere less formal and maybe add some music to help people relax. This will also allow further conversations if you want to discuss the new CD you are playing, for example. Offer coffee and extras and, if you have any good party games then bring them out.

When it is time to go then make sure your guests are well cared for by returning coats, thanking them for coming and wishing them a safe journey. Make sure everyone is safe to drive and have taxi numbers on hand in case anyone needs them, so you do not need to fetch out a phone book.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_V_Powell

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