Hosting a dinner party can be a pretty stressful time. You have to make sure that the food is up to par, the entertainment is good, and that the disparate folks from your friend’s list you’ve invited will gel together and contribute to a fun party atmosphere. These aren’t easy to stay on top of separately, let alone having them all combined and pressed into a 4-5 hour event.
This is why it falls to you, the dinner party guest, to contribute to the best atmosphere that you can. But how do you do so without taking some of the limelight from the intended host? Here are some tips to keep getting invited back for sumptuous free meals, and to relax among like-minded people. A great dinner guest contributes more than you’d assume to a great dinner party, but unfortunately, the host is largely bestowed the responsibility of making adults enjoy the experience.
Follow this advice to make sure you stay the best dinner guest you can be:
Bring Correct Food
If you have been asked to bring some food to the dinner party, bring some. If you have previously arranged to bring a select variety of snacks to the dinner party, feel free to do so. However, if you just turn up with a desert or a meal with the expectation of having it served at the dinner party, you can seem a little rude, especially if the host has gone to the express effort of creating the whole platter themselves.
To avoid this, be sure to pre-check with the host, or make sure that the food gifts you’re bringing are more of a gift to the host, and not something to be consumed on the night. Also, if you have decided to bring food items and the host is eager to share it among the guests, be sure you are completely aware of any food allergies the guests might have to avoid drama.
Bring Good Alcohol
Good alcohol can help bring a dinner party together, but it needs to be quality so as to avoid muddying the atmosphere. You needn’t bring crystal champagne, but some great quality grain alcohol can help people feel classy and well provided for at the same time. It might feel tempting to opt for a cheaper alternative such as bottled cider, but as a grown person attended a mature dinner party, you should probably opt for something better.
Dress Well
Dressing well but within the limits of the party’s relevance can make you seem a well put-together dinner guest, and can make your host seem gracious and like they mix with good company. This is especially important if you have been invited to a dinner party among some of your best friends work colleagues. Remember, you have an imprint on their social standing, so make sure you’re not doing anything to steal their limelight or make them look bad.
Contribute, But Stay Subdued
A great dinner party guest, especially when attending a party among people they don’t know as intimately, contributes to the humor of the room without trying to grasp that humor for themselves. There’s bound to be someone who takes the conversation and contributes a little too much to it, and these people are usually looked upon with a feeling of distaste. Make sure you’re not one of these people, but don’t be afraid to contribute either. Social, polite discourse requires you give your opinion honestly, openly and respectfully, while immediately lending an open ear. You’ll be surprised at the quality of the conversations you’ll have if you do so.
Go for these tips and you’re sure to be invited back again and again!
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