The ability to correctly receive guests is a whole art. And not every person in our country knows how to organize family celebrations correctly and competently, to which friends, relatives, colleagues and partners can be invited. If you decide to gather friends at a festive table at home, you take responsibility not only for preparing a delicious dinner, but also for the state of the general atmosphere (including even such small details as napkins, lighting and music).
Etiquette is inherent in any celebration. And you must take care that guests feel comfortable and happy, so you need to think in advance about what to do and what to talk with them about.
Any person needs to be informed in advance about where he is going to take part. At the appointed time, each of the members of the family should be ready for the arrival of guests (all cases must be completed nakuchne, cleaning is over, the table is to be laid, chairs are arranged, etc.).
The first thing to remember is that guests should always be greeted and helped to remove their outer clothing. Remember that you should not offer them your own slippers (this is unhygienic). If a person came to your home for the first time, you need to familiarize him with the location of the rooms, then you can offer to rinse your hands. If not all guests are familiar with each other, all must be presented to a friend in a special etiquette: you need to introduce a man to a woman, a young girl, men or two women, they represent the youngest in age. The outstretched hand is a traditional gesture of friendship, so the sign of a woman (whining or saying goodbye) the woman first hands a man, but does not press it.
When accepting a large number of guests, it should be noted that all guests do not come all at once, so it would be nice to organize a small stand-up dinner at the beginning of the evening (lafourchette translated from the French as a fork, the basis for a snack is cold snacks such as canapes, tartlets, thalers, etc.).
The owner of the celebration should take care of the general atmosphere of the holiday, so to start a conversation is necessary, in which all the guests could take part. In any general conversation, one does not speak for too long, they are told about themselves in a small and modest way. Do not ask too many questions. The interlocutor needs to be able to listen, even if you are not interested. You should not also quarrel, as a last resort, you can actually express your discontent. On the absent or not mention, or talk about them only good.
When everything is assembled, the owner of the celebration invites everyone to the table, not forgetting about the right and comfortable driving of the guests. It should be remembered that there should not be "female" and "male" sites at the table, because men should help women to take their places - push a chair and move it.
One of the basic rules of the etiquette is that you can not force a guest to eat - if a person for some reason does not want to try the dish, you should not insist on it.
Usually a festive table (according to tradition) is covered with a white tablecloth, in the center of the table should be vasas with fruit, and in several places in the center - saltcellars. In the central part, cold snacks are placed, and the breadboxes on opposite sides. Large and small plates are placed at equal distances from each other, usually a snack bar is placed above the shallow one, and to the left - a small pie. To all the common plates with food and snacks are served individual appliances (a spoon, fork, spatula or tongs). If the festive table is served with several forks (for snacks, fish or meat), they should be used in order of priority, serving dishes (starting with the most extreme of the plates). On the right of the settee put the knife (blade to the plate) and a spoon, on the left - a fork. All the plugs of the cover must lie with a convex side down. When all the dishes are eaten, it is necessary to rise, remove the table and prepare it for dessert. Devices for dessert are poured with wine glasses or served after removal of other appliances and plates.
In cases when it is treated with linen starched napkins, they are laid out on their knees, and after the meal they wipe the napkin with lips and put it on the table to the left of the plate (but not folding).
Bread, cookies, fruit hands. If the dish is far from you, you can not reach for it, you should ask someone to give it to you closer (do not forget to thank for the service later). A full plate is taken from the bottom of the edge, without touching the food. During food, there is a knife in the right hand, and a fork in the left. If you notice that someone from the invited guests put a knife and a fork on the plate in parallel-this means that the person has finished eating.
The owner and organizer of the celebration should not leave his guests for long, as this is tactless and indecent. On the contrary, it is necessary to try to show concern for each guest - something to offer, support, help and so on.
Remember that after the dinner the guests will want to relax, rest or dance, so it is necessary to choose background music, because it is from the background music that the atmosphere of the holiday is dependent and the mood. Music needs to be picked up easy, easy and unobtrusive.
Many guests after the holiday can offer their help in cleaning and washing dishes. In this case, it would be more polite not to involve them in the cleaning, but to thank for the offer and conduct. All guests are usually escorted to the site of their floor, but if there is a person among the guests who needs to be escorted to a stop, he should not be denied assistance, if necessary, call a taxi for him.