How do you handle people who are LATE every Thanksgiving for the meal?

Question

Is it rude to start eating the meal without some of the guests? How long should I be expected to wait as some of the food will be ruined if it sits there?

Answer 1

I would start to eat without them, they are late and rude, not you. They should start to come to dinner earlier or on time instead of inconveniencing everyone else at your house for dinner.

Or, depending on how late they usually are, tell them dinner is that much earlier than it really is. For example, if they are always 30 minutes late, tell them dinner is at 5:00 instead of 5:30. This way when they show up late, they really aren't late. People who are always late will always be like that. You either adjust to them or they adjust to you. Whatever you do, you are not rude. They are.

Answer 2

It sucks when you've been slaving over Thanksgiving dinner all day long and then it ends up getting cold while you're waiting for your eternally late relatives to show up. What I'm doing this year is telling everyone dinner's at 6:30, but I'm purposely going to time it so it's really not ready until 7:00. That way, my pokey relatives can get there on time without even realizing it. Do that, and if some of your relatives are STILL not there, just start eating without them. When they get there, you'll be able to say, "Hey, we waited for half an hour before we started without you!" Just remember that even though they can really get on your nerves sometimes, they are your family and it is a holiday, so just try to be as nice as you can to whoever doesn't show up until long after you said dinner would be ready.

Answer 3

If they are late every Thanksgiving, then something is going on. I know that my personal family, is known to be chronic late arrivers and I hate it! My husband resents going to my family's house for dinner. But we don't get invited to his family's home.

If late arrivers are your only guests, then go ahead and wait. If you have other guest, don't ruin the meal for your other guests.

We usually invite our guest an hour or more before the meal is planned to be serve. It is a socialization time and we serve appetitizers.

Answer 4

Wait no more than a half an hour, these days people can call on their cell phones to forewarn you about being late because of traffic or anything else, so no call, start eating after nothing from the late guests in 1/2 hour,

Answer 5

Tell people that you invited that your are serving dinner at a certain time and then start without them and then serve them COLD leftovers when they finally arrive. You are not rude by doing this, they are rude by being late. Also make them eat at the snack bar not the dining room table. It is a good idea to invite them to come earlier for the snacks & cocktails, perhaps 2 hours before serving dinner.

Answer 6

My personal experience I set one time to arrive on the invitation and make a note stating that dinner will be served at a 6:00 pm sharp. I would wait 5 min after the stated time for dinner to start if they have not arrived by then start without them they had plenty of notification of what time the meal would be served, they are the ones that are rude holding everyone else up

Answer 7

If there is not a really good reason for their being late,feed them turkey bones. Seriously, advise all guests,when they are invited, that dinner will be served at a certain time,and DO IT.However, waiting will make the food taste better.

Answer 8

If you tell people that dinner will be served at 2:30, then you sit down at 2:30 and begin the meal.

Personally, if this happens all the time, I would be tempted to lock the doors at 2:30 and not open them up to the clods who can't be bothered to arrive on time. But you might simply want to exclude them from the invitation to solve the problem!

Answer 9

Do Not wait!
Your Guest are just being Rude and bad mannered!
If you have arranged to feed these Guests-then the least they can do is to adhere to Your Serving Times and be there Accordingly!!
Do Not be taken for Granted!!

Answer 10

Make it clear to them that dinner starts at the time you tell them and that anyone who is late gets leftovers. Trust me if they are late one year and everyone is already eating and they feel left out next year they will be on time. I would only wait about 15 min. You work hard to make the meal don't worry about hurting feelings apparently they aren't worried about yours or they would be on time. Enjoy the meal while it is hot.