The holiday party season is in full swing, which makes it a good time to ask, how do you get rid of guests when you’re ready for them to go? Some people notice when the party’s dying down and make their exit, but others are having so much fun, they don’t seem to notice that you’re yawning and ready for bed.
So how do you nudge them to leave without being rude? Etiquette expert Diane Gottsman says, “You really can just say, ‘It’s been really nice to have all of you here tonight. I’m getting a bit sleepy and I’m going to have to call it a night very soon.’” And if you send out an invitation, even by email or text, you can indicate the end time of the get together, but what do you do when guests ignore that and are still lingering?
It seems everyone has their own preferred tactics:
- Corey Townsend, an audience editor at HuffPost, says when he’s ready to call it a night, he just starts cleaning up. Most people will take the hint and those who don’t can grab a broom and start helping.
- “I just start putting away food and pull out a big trash bag,” shares a Twitter user.
- Others like using a wardrobe change to signal the end of the night. “When you want everyone to leave, come out wearing your robe,” suggests another.
- Someone else tweets that they invite guests to stay without the host by saying, “I’m going to bed, guys. If you need to crash, there’s blankets in the hamper. Stay as long as you like.”
- Another user recommends just asking guests, “So what else y’all getting into tonight?”
- “The evening went very well, didn't it," one person usually asks, hoping the stragglers notice their use of the past tense.
- “Tell your partner loudly, ‘Honey, let's go to bed so that all these good people can go home,’” advises another.
- But one of the best suggestions has to be from this Twitter user who uses an end-of-the night group photo to encourage guests to exit: “Turn on all the lights, make everybody stop talking, make them get into a big awkward group picture, then just start saying goodbye.”
Source: Huff Post