Welcome to Etiquette Daily
This open thread is your space to use as you like. We invite you to discuss current and traditional etiquette. Feel free to ask questions of each other and the community moderators here.
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- Restaurant rowdiness: When kids get their kicks (on the back of your chair) http://bit.ly/dhxmGV
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- The Gift of Good Manners
- A Greeting for Ramadan“In an increasingly multi-cultural society, it is respectful to know what people of different religions are celebrating during holidays and whether there is a traditional holiday greeting (Saying to a workmate, ‘Hope you have a blast on your day off!’ is hardly appropriate for either Good Friday or Yom Kippur, both days of serious reflection).” […]
- Corn on the CobIt’s August in New England and that means one very important thing: Corn on the Cob! It’s a favorite menu item in the summer. However, corn on the cob shows up in the Those Trickier Situations chapter in our TABLE MANNERS FOR KIDS book for a reason. How do you eat corn on the cob […]
- The Etiquette Business – Challenge Number 4Sometimes when I tell people what I do, they sort of laugh and say, “Manners? Does anybody really pay attention to manners anymore?” What I have found is that many, many people do pay attention. However, there are definite challenges that come along with promoting etiquette/manners in the today’s world. I’ve […]
- A Greeting for Ramadan
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My husband and I received a wedding invitation in the mail yesterday from a woman who we’ve neither seen nor talked to in about ten years. She was more of an acquaintance than a friend. Needless to say, we’ve decided to regretfully decline. I’m just wondering whether or not we are still obligated to send a gift of some sort.
Laura
Hi Laura. As you are well aware the general rule is that all wedding invitations are responded to with a gift. As an etiquette advice expert I am contractually obligated to mention this first. Having said this, there are exceptions to every rule and the situation that you describe is one of the very rare exceptions. We used to make no allowances for this type of situation because of the negative perception that can be created when people don’t send gifts even for good reasons but with larger and looser groups of associates being more common we have been evolving this position slightly. You should of course still RSVP promptly with your regrets about not being able to attend.