Let’s be real. No one is hosting anything (hopefully) right now and probably hasn’t for a while. I feel rage when I think about COVID robbing me of my Friendsgiving and large family holiday gatherings.
While we can’t do anything about this now, we can be ready for visitors when COVID restrictions and panic lifts, whenever that is.
When you finally have people over, here are my tried and true basic hosting rules. You’re probably thinking, what does this girl know about hosting. WELL LET ME TELL YOU. I’ve hosted many a gathering and I follow these because they are polite and easy things I think everyone should be doing. If you think this is ridiculous and you don’t need to think about these things, trust me. It’s not ridiculous and you really do need to be thinking about these things. I hate going to someone’s house and feeling awkward not knowing where to sit or if I should just go into their kitchen to get water. So to avoid making your guests feel like that, I’ve put together this short low commitment list.
And just to be clear, these are BASELINE hosting guidelines, nothing insane. We’ll get into hosting for a large gathering, a holiday, a sit down dinner, a theme party, etc. another time.
- Offer to take your guests coats, or at least show them where they can hang their coats. If you want them to take off their shoes when they enter, ask them to and show them where they can put their shoes.
- Offer a beverage! People are usually thirsty. You can’t assume that someone feels comfortable enough to walk into your kitchen and get it themselves. And maybe you don’t want them to!
- Provide a place to sit, and invite your guests to join you sitting down. No one wants to walk into a house and feel uncomfortable sitting because there is shit all over your couch.
- If your guests are planning to stay longer than an hour or two, you can put out pickies like nuts or chips or veggies. It’s always appreciated to have something to snack on, especially if it’s during the 3pm dip. Don’t have anything to offer? It’s more likely than not that it’s no big deal. But I do believe a good host should always have something on hand just in case.
THAT’S IT! No expenses, no need to hire a cleaning company to deep clean your house, just basic polite hosting behavior.
Happy hosting!
Tablespoons & Teaparties 