If you are hosting a New Year’s Eve bash, here are 6 hostess etiquette tips to help boost your spirits while adding a few classy touches to your party.
- Be the Ultimate Hostess. Etiquette is your guide to a successful party! Help your guests feel welcome by greeting them upon their arrival, or soon after. Glide around your party topping-off flutes of bubbly, offering non-alcoholic drinks to sober drivers and keeping conversations flowing among guests. By all means, try to refrain from bringing up things like the weather if it doesn’t turn out the way you had hoped. You are the ultimate hostess, after all!
- It’s Cocktail Time! If you start to feel stressed about the party, it’s normal; but, don’t let party prepping suck the fun out of you. Before your guests arrive you can meditate in silence for a few minutes or make yourself a very weak cocktail to help take the edge off. Easy-does-it on the cocktail! You don’t want to be completely smashed when guests arrive.
- Use Your Very Best! Dinnerware, cutlery, saltcellars, or whatever you may have, are not meant to be stuffed into cupboards collecting dust only to possibly be tossed out by the next-generation who didn’t quite understand all the fuss. Serving your guests, with the very best, lets them know “they are worth it”.
- Not a Hostess but a Guest? Try not to arrive to a party empty handed. Even though you weren’t asked (or told) to bring something, etiquette tell us to bring a Hostess Gift. A bottle of wine, fresh fruit from your orchard, a box of chocolates, fresh flowers in a vase, homemade treats, or an exquisite bottle of champagne are just a few hostess gift ideas to consider. Use etiquette -or consideration- when choosing a gift. For example, you wouldn’t want to bring a bottle of Rye to a ‘dry’ house.
- Don’t Be Rude! Go without social media for one night. Try focusing on the media right in front of your face—your personal guests.
- Have Fun! You might burn the dinner rolls, but oh well! Someone will likely spill a bit of red wine on your white carpet, nothing that can’t be remedied by a strong foot and a paper towel. Smile, be gracious, and by all means, have a good time at your own party!
Stay classy and remember that “etiquette” is not only your friend, but a perfect guide to a successful party.
Happy New Year!