Question: What is the rule of etiquette for an adult opening birthday gifts for him at a B-day party?
Does the birthday guy need to open all the gifts during the party? There will be around 20 to 30 people there, so there may be a lot of gifts.
What’s the rule on this?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Some time should be set aside during the party for gifts to be unwrapped.
How long is the party going to last? Five minutes?
Yes, open the gifts at the party. People brought gifts. At least acknowledge them publicly.
And if they’re crap gifts, just hold them up and let everybody see the crap.
If it’s an actual party, then the gifts and cake ritual should be held. Come on. They bought it–at least you can open it up. It doesn’t take that long.
It depends on what time limit they set. Some people may want the party to be mostly about opening the gifts.
If you are the one hosting the party and you don’t want the gift opening to go on all night or all day, then set a time limit and let people know that is how long you plan to spend.
There is no hard and fast rule about this; but the custom is that the gifts be opened some time during the festivities. Of course, the birthday person can choose to open them later if he/she wants to do that. I recommend this since it will save guests from making comparisons. As I said, there is no hard and fast rule about this.
set aside some time to open the gifts, thank everyone for the gift, and later send them thank you notes with the specific gift they gave you so they know you actually care
At most adult parties, open the gifts while everyone is eating cake OR if no cake, then during the main eating time (like dinner or when the nacho cheese is still hot)
It is the job of the host/party planner to decide when the gifts are opened if at all.
Never open gifts at large parties or in mixed-guest parties (close friends plus not-so-well-acquainted guests)
If the guests at the party are close friends/family, open the gifts in front of everyone and pass the gist around for everyone to see
If they are not close, open them after everyone has left, OR make it a more formal gift-opening event.
If only a few people brought gifts, open the gifts after the party so no one feels uncomfortable about not bringing a gift
Of course, if you have friends like mine, they all want you to open gifts as they walk in the door so they can enjoy them at the party! This is ok too as long as you have those kind of friends… *grin*
If you’re running short on time and there are too many gifts, it’s all right to open them later. But then you should keep track of who gave what and write appropriate thank you notes.
Have a great party!
During the party, it’s a good idea to open the gifts after you’ve served the cake. That way people aren’t just sitting around staring at you opening the presents, they’re busy eating, but not too busy to get a good look at the gifts.
And sending thank you notes is a good idea whether you open the gifts in front of the guests or not.
yes, set aside some time to open the gifts, some people may go in together a one gift rather than some small ones so you might not get that many to open anyway.