Abby Connolly
Watch your volume
It’s easy to get loud and rowdy amongst a large party; I get it! It’s very tempting to push your voice and yell across the table to chat with everyone there, but it’s rude to other diners and comes across as obnoxious.
If there’s someone on the other end of the table you want to talk to, see if you can temporarily switch seats with someone in between courses so you get a chance to speak to everyone.
You don’t have to be stuck in one seat the whole night! As long as you get back to your original seat when the courses come out, you’ll be fine.
Stay off your phone
Some people see big dinners as an excuse to go on their phones since everyone will still have someone to talk to or listen to if they tune out.
However, people can still see you scrolling your phone, and it’s incredibly rude. Unless you have an emergency call or text coming in, put your phone on ‘do not disturb’ and stay off it.
Leave a good tip
Servers who take care of large parties work especially hard. They have to juggle all sorts of requests, and serving a large group of people can be stressful. So, be sure to show your server some proper appreciation and give them a decent tip.
Remember, if each person can’t afford to tip their great server at least 20% of the bill, they shouldn’t be eating out!
If you follow all these etiquette rules during a big dinner, you’ll do just fine. Just remember to be polite, be yourself, and have fun.
