20-40-60 Etiquette---How about those hostess gifts?

Got an etiquette question? Email us at helen.wallace@cox.net

YOU ASK! WE ANSWER! YOU DECIDE!

 By Callie Gordon, Lillie-Beth Brinkman, Helen Ford Wallace

QUESTION: I have only lived in Oklahoma City for 10 years, but where I used to live, we didn’t take a “hostess gift” to every event. Here, the bride gives hostess gifts to people having a shower for her, and sometimes there are many hosts. People take hostess gifts when they go to someone’s house for dinner. If we are someone’s house guest, we need to take a hostess gift. It really has gotten expensive (and time consuming) to always be gifting. Is this a local rule? Am I terrible for questioning this? What should I do?

CALLIE’S ANSWER: Throwing parties is expensive and time consuming. Think of it like this: At least you didn’t have to throw the party, right?

Bring a bottle of wine, or send flowers before the event to say thank you for the invitation. A bride should give the hostess (or hostesses) something a little more creative.

LILLIE-BETH BRINKMAN: Hostess gifts are a thoughtful way to thank people for making the effort to entertain or have a shower for you. Perhaps it falls under the category of what we in Oklahoma consider Southern hospitality. I don’t know how the tradition started, but it’s not always expected or required. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

As a guide, think about the type of occasion. Is it being held in your honor? Then a gift is appropriate. Is it a large cocktail party? Use your discretion, but if you are good friends with the host, then you won’t go wrong bringing one. Is it a fundraising luncheon? Then, no, unless you run the organization for which the person is hosting the party. And so on. The 18th edition of “Emily Post’s Etiquette: Manners for a New World” has a good answer to your question about geography: “In some parts of the country, a hostess gift is considered obligatory, while in other places a gift is brought only on special occasions.” You, apparently, are witnessing more of the former.