As we approach on of the first holidays with a lot of family and food, I am reminded of little occasions we have for a formal dinner party.

For myself, I have yet to go to a formal dinner party. My other siblings minus the youngest, have had an opportunity in their last year of highschool to go to a protocol dinner, in which is a formal dress up meal with no less than five or six courses.

But why have we as a society have less formal dinner occasions.  Sadly,  much of our negligence of family dinning and formal dinning in general has to do with the busyiness of the family and technology.  This is a saddening trend, that we are too engaged in our work and electronics to take the time to find joy in the simple things such as taking a meal together. Shouldn’t the memories we make be based on the times we sat and took a meal together?

So how do we remedy this lost art?

To start, formal dinning doesn’t have to be just on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc. It can be any occasion. Just pick a day and surprise your family with a beautifully  set dinning table, some really nice dishes, and start some really great conversations

Read up some great books on the subject. There are countless books dedicated to formal dining etiquette and formal table settings. Here are my recommended few

• “Protocol Matters: Cultivating Social Graces in Christian Homes and Schools” by Sandra Boswell
• “Modern American Manners: Dining Etiquette for Hosts and Guests” by Fred Mayo and Michael Gold
• “The Art of Fine Dining: The Essential Guide to  Advancing your Career or Business with Confidence and Elegance” by Chinha Raheja

2. Invite your friends spontaneously, and either go out on a very formal restaurant, or cater the formal dinner yourself. Create lovely memories around the table.

3. Don’t be so hard on yourself if you mess up. We all learn from experience. The more experience one has, the more comfortable and confident they become.

I will leave you with the link to read a lovely post by Tonya Leigh on “The Lost art of the Dinner Party (and why we should bring it back ).   It will truly get you inspired to host more parties whether formal or informal.

Have a blessed week,

Alyssa