How to Be a Good Guest At a Dinner Party

My boss, Diane, likes to throw dinner parties.  We'll usually have two a year for the whole office plus dates.

Now, Diane is a part of high society here in Atlanta.  To my embarrassment, I was not prepared for her high society dinner party.  We arrived right on time and came empty handed, both major faux pas I was unaware of until I saw everyone else arriving "late" and bringing gifts for our hostess.  Dear oh dear, I'm never letting this happen again.

To save yourself the same embarrassment, read this article from Dinner, A Love Story for the low down on proper etiquette.  Then the next trick is figuring out what kind of hostess gifts you can bring after being invited over so many times.  Don't want to seem repetitive, you know?  Here are some ideas and tips.

Job Hunt Tips: The Resume

 Here's Part Three of the Job Hunt Series.

Click here for others tips:
Part 1: The Pursuit
Part 2: Linkedin
Part 4: Interview Prep
Part 5: The Interview 

Job Hunt Tips: Using LinkedIn to its Full Potential

Here's Part Two of the Job Hunt Series.
Click here for others tips:
Part 1: The Pursuit
Part 3: The Resume
Part 4: Interview Prep
Part 5: The Interview

Job Hunt Tips: Focusing Your Pursuit

To commemorate my first year working as a recruiting coordinator, I’m sharing some tips I’ve picked up at work and during my 7-month job hunt before that. Here’s the first batch!
Part 2: Linkedin
Part 3: The Resume

Part 4: Interview Prep
Part 5: The Interview

How We Threw a Japanese Dinner Party (with tips!)

We had some of our old friends over for dinner last month.  We don't get to see them very often since moving to the city, and we were excited to spend time with them.  I was also excited to have the chance to wow them with a fancy made-from--scratch meal.  Having recently taken a sushi class, Japanese was the most impressive thing Caleb and I could feasibly pull together, so that was our choice.  Pride cometh before the fall, my friends.  This Japanese dinner party became much more of an ordeal than I'd originally expected, and it had me mega stressed, especially when I couldn't find the resources I was hoping for.  What's amazing, though, is that not only did we totally pull it off, but all of the worry and frantic rushing was kept behind the curtains while our guests were only aware of a kick ass dinner!  Mission accomplished!

Now I admit that this exposition is long winded, but you know how I need to be thorough.  Also, I wish that I'd had something like this when I was looking for tips.  By the way, if you have any questions or more ideas, please share in the comments! 

Here's what we did!

Wedding Details: In Between the Ceremony and Reception

One of the parts of the wedding that I got the most compliments on was also the part that I put the least amount of effort into and the part that I was most worried about.

Cocktail Hour
 

While the wedding party goes off for pictures after the ceremony, in other weddings there's usually, I guess, cocktails.  There are snacks and mingling or sitting at your table looking at the chocolate kisses and restraining yourself from burning the silverware over the candles.  That's how the weddings I've been to have been like.  And it's usually a nice time when you can talk and make noise and not have to sit still and listen to a pastor for a while.

The venue for my wedding (a historic train depot) had limited space.  We were using the museum room for the ceremony, then the reception would be on a large lawn.  The only area left for a cocktail hour was a smaller lawn on the other side of the building.  A few brainstorm sessions birthed the ideas of board games and a popcorn machine.  I figured we could have some tables and chairs around, too, but that's about all I had when it came time for the wedding week crunch.

What panned out was, as the guests told me, perfect.  Even the DJ commented that it was a great idea.  "Most people think the reception is only dancing, but I like what you did there with the carnival theme."  I wasn't going for "carnival," I was going for "garden party," but whatever the interpretation was, I know the goal was met.  People had something to do, people had refreshments, and people had fun.

This is what it looked like!

 Two young girls in attendance said it was the most fun wedding they'd ever been to, and I suspect it was because of this part.  I know it's not the biggest deal, but that made me really happy.  I wanted people to enjoy the ceremony and the party afterward.  Mission accomplished.

 

Thankfully, the mission was accomplished without me having to go crazy.  We rented the popcorn machine, bought the kernels, oil, and seasonings.  We made blue cones for holding the popcorn, and I purchased white tablecloths in bulk, cups, and drink dispensers.  The tables and chairs were already at the depot available for us to use, and the rocking chairs came from my husband's mother and the corn hole sets came from his uncles.  The games came from my own house.   (We've gathered quite a collection over the years.)  I'd originally wanted to have music, too, but it became something I couldn't afford the effort or reasoning on, so that got cut 2 weeks before the wedding, and people were fine without it!  How awesome is that!  I'm so, so pleased, and I wasn't even there to see it much.

{ All photos property of Sarah Becker Photography }