Etiquette for Edwardian Receptions

     

Will you kindly inform me the proper thing to do at a reception? Should I leave my calling card? What should be served? – S. A. B.

Greet your hostess, be served to refreshments, leave your card and take your departure, is about the prescribed formula for an afternoon reception. 

Tea, coffee, chocolate, sandwiches, wafers, nuts and bonbons, salad, and sherbet of ice cream are the usual refreshments served in the dining room. Two or more ladies, generally intimate friends of the hostess, “pour,” with one or two waiters assisting in the service.– From Madame Merri, 1912

 🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia