As a host, nothing rattles me more than people showing up early for an event. I do my best to be as prepared as early as possible for people to arrive. But there are often last-minute details that I want to take care of.
Sometimes, I save getting dressed for the event as my last task. Talk about getting caught with your pants down! Many people think about being on time as not being late. But being early can be just as disruptive (maybe even more) to the host.
Etiquette Guru, Emily Post says: “When you are a guest attending even a casual get-together, you want to show up on time. That is appreciated. However, never show up before the stated or agreed-upon time for the start of the gathering. Showing up early can catch your host off guard and they may not be in a state to properly greet and entertain you. Even with a host’s goal to be ready fifteen minutes ahead of their gathering’s start time, you cannot count on them actually being ready. While you might be willing to or even comfortable waiting unattended as your host finishes up last-second tasks, it puts unnecessary pressure on the host – unless you are the closest of friends and even then you want to avoid it if possible. If you find you’ve arrived early (there wasn’t any traffic, you allotted more travel time than you needed, etc.) take a walk around the block, go run a quick errand, or wait patiently in your car until the actual start time of the gathering. Not being early is also appreciated. And remember, you often have a ten to twenty-minute grace period on the late side (but not the early side). Lean on that if you need to.”
What about you? Do you tend to show up early, late, or right on time? Comment below!