If you're invited to a dinner party at 6pm...

[NMAmy]

If I'm going to my sister's or my mom's, they've already told me to get there early and have tasks for me. Anybody else, I'd get there as close to 6:00 as possible.

My niece and her family live about 1.5 hour away but we usually leave about 2 hours early to account for traffic jams/construction, etc. We went for her dd's birthday party and had one of those days when the traffic gods were smiling on us so we ended up arriving 45 minutes early. DH couldn't figure out why my mom and I insisted that we needed to kill some time going to a bakery while waiting for a more decent time to arrive.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

If you're invited to dinner party at 6pm, what time do you arrive at the party?

Help me settle this discussion with my friend.

Never, EVER before 6 or the stated beginning time of the party. It is horribly rude to show up early to a dinner party because you may put the hostess in a position of not being 100% ready to entertain. That last 10 - 15 minutes might be used to put a fresh shirt on, do a quick reapply of makeup, etc. If you arrive at the house early, drive around the block a few times.

And if a dinner party, no later than 6:15. A cocktail party, fashionably late starts getting irritating at 6:30pm.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Guess I'm the oddball out here. I'm always an early bird. I figure if I show up a bit early, I always help out whoever is throwing the party with the last minute things. I'm not talking an hour early, but within the 1/2 hour.

I would be extremely ticked if my guests showed up half an hour early. I don't need help applying my makeup.

Half an hour early, I may still be in the shower. If you showed up that early, I would feel like I had to entertain you and be very annoyed/ticked that I wasn't given the opportunity to finish putting myself together. It is pretty presumptuous to think that the host/hostess may need or even want help.

I agree with everybody else that it is far ruder to show up early, especially a full half hour early than it is to show up half an hour late.

I would never let you know how ticked/embarrassed/irritated I was that you showed up early as that would be rude in itself, but rest assured, as another poster said, it would be the last invitation to any of our functions you would ever receive.

If I say 6, that means 6, not 5:30 or even 5:45. Late I can deal with; I am ready, prepared and your lateness only reflects on you. Early - that is just plain obnoxious.

Bring a good book and wait in your car until 6 and then ring the doorbell promptly at 6.

 

[TiggerTails57]

Guess I'm the oddball out here. I'm always an early bird. I figure if I show up a bit early, I always help out whoever is throwing the party with the last minute things. I'm not talking an hour early, but within the 1/2 hour.

I don't think I would invite you back.......sorry.

 

[horseshowmom]

If I am invited for dinner at 6P, I show up at 6P.

That's what I say, but she said that you should show up earlier (15-20 minutes early). I said that most people that are hosting a dinner party are running around like crazy the last few moments and they don't need to worry about entertaining people when they are trying to get things prepared.

I agree. No more than 5 minutes early and by 6.

I once had friends that I invited for dinner who showed up more than a hour and a half late. Yes, we're still friends. No, they've never been invited for dinner again.

 

[wdwfan16]

If you're invited to dinner party at 6pm, what time do you arrive at the party?

Help me settle this discussion with my friend.

It depends on who is throwing the party. If it is a close friend then we get there an hour or more early. We arrive so we can help them or watch stuff while they get ready.

If it is anybody else we try to be there a few minutes to 6.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Between 6:00 and 6:05

Those last 10 -15 minutes could mean catching me dressed or not.

Me too I get everything as ready as I can and then run and grab my shower and get dressed and made up. I do make sure I am ready by 5 minutes till in case a guest's clock is not set to the exact same time as mine--but if you are any earlier than that you will REALLY throw me for a loop. IF I wanted help getting ready (very unlikely) I would ask you ahead of time if you would mind helping and then let you know what time I would like you do come to do that (and you would probably be my mother in law).

 

[Liberty Belle]

Guess I'm the oddball out here. I'm always an early bird. I figure if I show up a bit early, I always help out whoever is throwing the party with the last minute things. I'm not talking an hour early, but within the 1/2 hour.

Well, I'd invite you back , but I might tell you the dinner is thirty minutes after it really is. Of course, once you came over, found my husband in his boxers, me without a bra, and both of us running around trying to get things ready, you might not come early again.

 

[tasha99]

For most people, I would show up sometime between 6:05 and 6:15. Occasionally I have shown up half an hour early, but that was because I had a friend who needed help (and said yes when I asked if she wanted me to get there early so she'd have an extra set of hands.) I would never show up early unannounced because when I'm serving dinner, those last 20 minutes can be chaotic.

For my mom, 6 means 6, so I make it a point to not be even a few minutes late. Maybe it's because she just serves dinner right up. Most people I know have hors d'oevres and drinks for a half hour or so before dinner really starts.

 

[antmaril]

Between 5:55 and 6:00 p.m.

 

[clh2]

This is me. I appreciate it when people show up about 5 minutes late. No more than 10, though.

I remember once we went to our friends for dinner-we were invited at 7:00. We got there at 7:00 and they didn't even start to cook dinner until 9:00!!

Do you know my sister? For a while - we would actually stop somewhere, grab a light dinner, and then get to my sister's.

I am pretty specific with my family - I will tell them what time appetizers are being served...and what time we are planning on eating dinner. I don't appreciate any one showing up early. And, to be honest if they can't show up on time when dinner is being served...OH WELL...I'm not adjusting the schedule for someone who can't plan ahead. Yes...there is history...

 

[shortbun]

I'd arrive around 6:05pm. Never more than 10 minutes late as it delays the hosts plans.

 

[BuffettFan]

I usually arrive about 15 minutes late.
If its a party given by friends here in our hometown...I would plan to leave my house at 6, which would put me at the party somewhere around 6:15...Of course if the party were given by my next door neighbors....I would leave even later ! haha

 

[smiley]

Funny, around here, the main meal is served more than at least an hour after the party starts. We're pretty big on eating appy's and having a few cocktails first! I can't imagine dinner being served right away.

Yep, this is pretty much how we hold our parties. Also, most people would show up 6:15-6:30 if the start time were 6pm. I have never had a person show up before the given time. I'm wondering if the time that people generally show up to a party varies by region in the country. In our area of California some people even show up an hour later and it's not considered rude or impolite not to call and notify the hostess.

The way I see it is if I'm hosting a party and someone shows up an hour late than they missed out on the first hour of food, fun and cocktails. I have never been annoyed by this one bit.

 

[sunlver]

I guess I am the oddball
If somebody gives me an invitation for a dinner party, or a birthday party, or any sort of gathering, I never show up late
If any of the above mentioned were at 6pm I would try for 5:45-6pm..
I hate being late for anything. But, I will admit, as much as I "try" to be at any sort of party 15 minutes early, normally I am there right on time, or 5 minutes early.

If I invited people to a party(any sort of party)and put a start time of 6pm, I would find it rude if people showed up at 6:30(without an excuse..traffic, working late)

 

[MoonFaerie]

Well it really depends on who's throwing the party, what type of party, where the party is, etc. Generally though, I aim for 10-15 mins early. That way, when we get stuck in traffic or whatever, we're not late. If the party started at 6, but dinner or other festivities weren't scheduled until 7, I might show up just after 6.

Being late is a MAJOR pet peeve for me. And I absolutely can't fathom hosting a party and still being in the shower 10 mins prior to the start time.

 

[mickeywho?]

6:05

 

[Angelhalo]

6pm

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Well it really depends on who's throwing the party, what type of party, where the party is, etc. Generally though, I aim for 10-15 mins early. That way, when we get stuck in traffic or whatever, we're not late. If the party started at 6, but dinner or other festivities weren't scheduled until 7, I might show up just after 6.

Being late is a MAJOR pet peeve for me. And I absolutely can't fathom hosting a party and still being in the shower 10 mins prior to the start time.

Just because you can't fathom not being 100% ready to host 10 minutes before an invitation, if the responses here are any indication, most hosts/hostesses are still doing last minute prep at that time.

Being early is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine and from the looks of it, most people think it rude.

It is my belief that people who consistently try to arrive earlier than 5 minutes before the stated start time are just looking to "catch" their hosts unprepared and to subtly embarrass them. Must be a inferiority complex in the early birds that they have to make their host or hostess uncomfortable in order to feel good about themselves. They can pat themselves on the back that they are so superior because they are "always" prepared before a party. Not anybody here of course, but in real life.

I don't get it the thinking that if you are invited at 6:00 that 5:45 is ok. If the host or hostess wanted you at their house at 5:45, they would have put 5:45 on the invite.

 

[Sheree Bobbins]

6:00 p.m.