Newsletter Archive

Sending a wedding gift within 48 hours of receiving a wedding invitation is easy to do, and from my experience, most considerate! The first presents that arrive are always opened with great joy and anticipation and tend to be remembered most.  I can still fondly recall the first ten gifts that Stuart and I received, but after that, I would need to refer to my wedding gift list. It is thoughtful to reach out to the bride or her parents to see which address is most convenient.  In the past, the gift was sent to the bride’s parents. They were the hosts of the reception, and their address was indicated on the wedding invitation envelope. Today, many brides are living and working away from home, living with their fiances, or sharing the expense of the reception with both sets of parents.  The bride may appreciate having the gifts sent directly

A place card (or seating card) tells a guest where they will be seated at the table. Guests appreciate place cards, and they also admire little place card holders!  The name on a place card faces the guest. A place card may be tented (folded at the top) which does not require a place card holder, or not tented, and flat, which requires a place card holder. Place cards, in place card holders, may be arranged above the dinner plate centered on the place setting or placed above the forks. A place card may lie flat, without a place card holder, and placed in the center of the service plate, or on top of the napkin. An escort card, also called a table card, is used to direct guests to their table, but not their actual seat. It will have the name of the guest on the outside of the envelope, and the

I am most grateful for your enthusiastic questions which have been simply splendid! Here are a few of my answers and suggestions concerning dining: As you are dining, the knife blade faces away from you. When you are finished eating, place your knife blade toward you. A knowledgeable server will know this rule and it is your silent cue that you are done. The knife and fork are placed in the 10-4 o’clock position in America. For Continental dining the fork tines are placed down toward the plate. When using a knife and fork to cut your meat, remember to keep your elbows down. Oh, you must remember Mummy reminding you: “No elbows on the table, dear”, right? Well, “elbows on the table” appears to be quite popular these days, don’t you agree? Eat your noodles/spaghetti with only a fork, no spoon is needed. You may need to cut the noodles if they

Have you ever been seated at a banquet table, restaurant, a club, or even someone’s private dinner table, and had the bread and butter placed in front of you? When this occurs, the onus is on the closest guest to pick it up and begin offering the bread basket and butter dish to the guest to their right, or to the left for any ladies present. When dessert is served, there may be an additional plate of cookies or chocolates placed near the center of the table.  Again, these are placed there for the entire table to enjoy so it is up to the guest closest to begin passing it. Quite often, I have passed these types of dishes to the guest next to me and they reply, “No thank you” without any effort to keep passing on. So, my response to them is, “Would you mind passing it to

Just recently, I received a question from the engaged daughter of a dear friend of mine. She wanted to know what the traditional thank you note format for an engaged couple (who live together) is. Should both names be on one card with the bride’s maiden name on top and her fiance’s name underneath. The contemporary format suggested above is efficient, where the card has both names for the engaged couple to use before their wedding as thank you notes. Once they are married, if the bride chooses to take her husband’s last name, then their names would become one, using his surname, and the bride would require new writing paper to indicate her new name. However, to fully answer the question posed, traditionally only the engaged bride-to-be’s maiden name is represented on the thank you note! Her fiancé would have his name on his card. So, in essence, there

Flying a flag, the emblem of our identity as a sovereign nation honors our great country and those who have served to protect it. Memorial Day is a day to honor and show respect to our men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. My father served in the U.S. Army. He taught me how to respect our flag. My husband and I are proud to live in the village of Farmington, where American flags hang on the street poles along Main Street from May until September. We hang our American flag over the front door at Fox Hall most of the year, as do the majority of our neighbors. Did you know that is appropriate to fly the flag at half-staff on Memorial Day, but only until noon? This procedure is to show respect for the ultimate sacrifice our servicemen and women have made