Is Inviting Dinner Guests into Your Home Hospitality or an Obligation?
Since I love to entertain, I get asked this all the time: Do we always invite the same people over for dinner, or do we change it up and invite new faces?
Both!
We have friends that go back 30 years that we dine with and have very special friendships with. Friends that we are so grateful for.
But we’re also inviting new people into our home as they come into our lives.
For me, it’s important to mix up guests with the old and the new!
Another thing I’ve learned about dinner parties is that you can never re-create the same exact party. It rarely can happen with the same group of people, the same feeling and conversation. So don’t even try.
I really look at a dinner party invite as a special gift.
At least for myself, when I get invited to someone’s house for a meal, I take that dinner (think about holding it in your hand as a gift) and I’m thankful for it.
I do not stress or worry about getting asked back again, but focus on the gift of that night or meal. Amen. :)
I take the experience from being invited to a dinner party, and then spread the love into my home by inviting people over for dinner.
In other words, there’s no obligation that you’ll dine with those people again. There’s no guarantee.
In almost 22 years of marriage, I can think of single dinner engagements with different friends – which were a gift!
We didn’t dwell on trying to make those happen again – because they never did.
It doesn’t mean we’re not still friends with these people, either.
Friends weave in and out of our lives in beautiful ways … some stay, some leave, some return years later.
Do you always feel obligated to invite the same people over for dinner, over and over?
I love the idea of mixing new and old friends. I have never thought to do that. Thanks!
I don’t host a lot of sit down dinners other than holiday dinners. I tend to host gatherings and serve the food buffet style. I tend to invite the same people to my parties, but if someone wants to bring a friend they are always welcome!