The Etiquette Expert’s Advice on how to be a Gracious Host this Holiday Season

We are thrilled to re-introduce you to on one of our 2017 Holiday Tastemakers, Beaumont Etiquette Founder, Myka Meier. You’ll remember her as the guest speaker at our Paper Petals Plates events in August. We loved working with Myka then and it was a true pleasure working with her to design her stunning Park Avenue card collection with the our talented Creative Director and designer, Holly Hollon. The artwork was inspired by the architecture in Myka’s in New York City neighborhood and her love of French crests, garland and candy canes. Shop Myka’s cards here.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we thought you might like some advice from the Etiquette Guru herself on how to be a gracious hostess. Whether you are a first time host or you have done it for more years than you can count, we believe everyone can glean a few useful insights from this thorough list of tips Myka has passed on to us.

We love her advice on how to graciously dispel any heated political discussions that could crop up at the dinner table! According to Myka…

If you are the host, then it’s your job to be the conversation moderator at the table. If Uncle Harry starts a political debate at the table, you can try one of two approaches to end the politi-chat:

First – Try the “Honest Abe” approach: Be direct, straightforward and honest from the start. From the very beginning of the conversation, it’s okay to simply say, “Uncle Harry, I respect you are passionate about your beliefs, however, as we share different ones, I think it’s best you and I don’t talk about politics and just enjoy family time.”
Second – Agree to Disagree – Change the subject to something everyone agrees on. Simply saying, “I understand you have a perspective on this and thanks for wanting to share, however I think we’ll need to agree to disagree on this one. Now, I know we can agree on XX… how about we chat about that.” Remember, you can’t help what other people think or say, but you are in charge of your response and reaction. Avoid raising your voice. It’s easy to do, but also one sure way to escalate any situation.

Some of Myka’s other hosting tips follow…