Is It Ever OK To Charge Your Friends For A Dinner Party?

Oscar Wong via Getty Images “Got invited to someone’s place for dinner and they charged me for it. “I invite my friends I like to hang out with and they pay what they want to make it happen more.” Some wondered if Nelson’s dinner party-throwing friend was from the Netherlands. I think the person meant to write, ‘made a reservation at a restaurant’ instead of ‘got invited to someone’s place for dinner,’” joked Nick Leighton, the host of the weekly etiquette podcast, “Were You Raised By Wolves?” Unless a host is employing the corporate definition of “guest” ― you know how Disneyland and Airbnb call their paying customers “guests”? “But if you ask other people to ‘chip in,’ then you are inviting them to be co-hosts of the event, so you’ll need to share these privileges.” Jodi R. R. Smith, the founder of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting, checked off a few social scenarios where it would be acceptable to charge so long as you disclose your plans — and the price — when the invitation is sent: potluck presumes the guests will be assisting in providing refreshments or sides presumes the guests will be assisting in providing refreshments or sides A rent party where tenants hire a musician or band to play and pass the hat to raise money to pay their rent, originating in Harlem during the 1920s. “It’s fine when there’s open communication among friends and the host makes it clear that they want to throw a party but would love some help,” she said.