I'm guilty of dinner get togethers too!

We mostly have family over. I would love to have friends over but we do not seem to find the right time to get together and my best friend can't handle stairs. You can't get into my house without going up a flight of stairs, except the family room door but then you have to go up a flight to the kitchen, dining room, and living room. We had family over numerous times last year but this year, it has been different since my mom fell at the end of February and she can't climb stairs right now. I do go and see her on a regular basis.

We used to have people over once a week, then we moved. Now we have people over (mostly family) a couple times a year.

If you count children as guests, we have them over everyday.

Not often enough!

Fortunately or unfortunately we live in a popular tourist and conference area. We probably have friends or family in our guest house every month. We love to have dinner and cocktail parties and the norm with our friends is to go to someone 's house before and after going out to dinner. Thus, on average we have guests in one form or the other two times a week - more at Christmas and during carnival season, less during July and August when many are traveling. We love to entertain.

Lovestocook

We love having people over, and I love to cook. Recently it seems that our grown nieces and nephews have discovered our house and it has been wonderful. We have always had friends over for dinner (or breakfast) and love the excitement of a houseful.

Simply put, we'd rather entertain at home than go out. A nice restaurant once and awhile is fun, but you can spend so much more time with friends when you invite them to your home. We bought a professional Karaoke system a few years ago and have brought our entertainment to a whole new level.. So much fun! We recently moved from NJ to SC, so I suspect we will have lots of out of town company (especially in the winter!)...can't wait!

We are currently living in a condo, also requiring a flight of stairs to the main living area. It used to be immaculate and tidy. But as the years went by, we ran out of space and can't seem to get organized so there is stuff everywhere. I love to cook, but it is hard in my smallish kitchen. We have no family locally and with my husband's schedule, when he isn't working, he is sleeping.

We are fully renovating a new home. Our kids hope to have their friends over often and we will have an open door atmosphere. We have close family friends who are like family, and I'm friends with lots of my children's friends' parents. I'm planning "Fridays with Friends" so the kids can have their friends over after school, and their moms/parents with whom I'm friends, or I hope to get to know better, will be welcome too. I can't wait to cook at home more and eat out less.

I absolutely hate cooking! Hours of work for a VERY short "reward." I like FREQUENT (almost daily) socializing via playing bridge and going to lunches & dinners at restaurants or homes of people who actually ENJOY cooking.

I do enjoy having company at home, but I HATE the house cleaning that must be done first!!! So formal entertaining gets done during the holidays and when there are house guests, but only good friends (for whom I don't have to clean!) are in the habit of dropping by (although sometimes they spend a few nights).

Come on over Pam!

We live in the Rockies, so we have lots of visitors in the summer and almost no visitors in the fall, winter, and spring. The high altitude also excludes anyone with breathing problems. All our relatives and friends are from California and Texas and they won't venture out in the cold. (To them, "cold" means anything below 50 F.). As far as entertaining is concerned, it's feast or famine here!

I wish I could say that I have guests every week, but it is more like every couple of weeks. I love having family, friends and neighbors over for a meal or for drinks. A couple of times each year I have a really big bash but most of the time we stick to about 4 to 6 guests at a time, sometimes going up to 10. The big bashes will have as many as 30 to 50. At 65, my husband and I have just moved into a beautiful mid-century house with the biggest entertainment spaces we have ever had and fabulous views. For the next decade we expect to really use this space to have fun with those who are important to us, or maybe longer if our health holds out.

I have found that many of our friends either don't like to cook or think they don't entertain on the same level as we do. It has been difficult to convince them that we eat hamburgers and deli fried chicken same as everyone else. Just love the interaction of friends and fellowship!

Cooking for guests fills me with panic and I am not a natural conversationalist. But I want to build connections for people, so I push myself to host every couple weeks. After 10 years of doing this, I still panic about the food, but my conversation skills have improved!

Sismercedes, try having an informal games night. Houzz did a great article on them. Takes the pressure off you as host. Good on you for trying!

We invite dinner or lunch guests at least once a month. We also welcome drop in guests,

I really love to cook and blather on around the table. We also like to play cards or other games with others. anything is better than tv

quarterly - winter Holidays - Easterish spring - summer family picnic and fall oktoberfest - I work a lot so I don't have time or patience for more entertaining than that

It's weird, I recall when I was a kid there were ALWAYS people over to the house. Dinners, BBQs, cards, sports on t.v., or just to B.S. They brought the kids & while we were outside playing, the grown-ups were either sitting in the shade or in the house shooting the breeze. Now, people are on their phones too much, they think people need to know what they are doing 24/7/365 so if & when they come over, what is there to talk about that hasn't already been discussed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever!

I STILL enjoy having certain friends over, but fewer than before due to the fact that they are constantly looking at their phones which is rude & disrespectful! If I am speaking to someone & they glance at their phone or return texts, then I just walk away. If what is on that phone is more important than manners, then go home & text all you want, but do NOT invite use over & we in turn will respect their rights & NOT invite them over again.......

Guess I should say that holidays & family get togethers are still on our calendars! My mom is suffering from Lyme & it has attacked her central nervous system & she is in a power wheel chair. I go down as often as possible to see her. She has a ramp equipped van but their friends & mom's sisters & my brother all have stairs into their home limiting where she can go as well. At least with warmer weather, she can go to their homes & have a nice chat in the shade.

We have friends over for dinner every month or so- but have overnight company at least once a month. We are on the go a lot- so sometimes, friends just camp out at our house even if we are not there:) It's a big house with lots of room and in a great vacation area.

Hi sismercedes. You could also host potlucks. It is interesting that when everyone brings something that there is always enough, great variety and the ones who do come don't spend time on their phones. How about a block party concept. Just let the neighbors know that on the first Friday or whatever that you will provide the paper plates and drinks. Bring a dish to share and have a relaxed get together. Maybe a Sunday afternoon so the kids can play outside.

Yes we have people a lot as we have a big family of 12 kids. We live on 320 acres with lots of horses quads stainless swimming pool my older kids made for me and all fenced so a big playpen for all ages. I love to cook and make pies and fresh bread yum.

We love to have neighbors over for an inprompu dinner. We almost always get a yes when we invite last minute. (Who can say no when you're right down the road and have nothing planned for dinner??) We invite different families each time, usually 2 families at a time which averages around 10-15 people. A big pot of soup, spaghetti, pot roast, or tacos go a long way! We seat everyone one around the formal dining room table and ask one question that everyone answers. It seems to bring laughter and long conversation. I've relaxed on having everything "picked up and perfect" as I've learned the memories are in the moments spent together not how perfect the meal is or beautiful the house looks. We have developed loving, lifelong friendships with people in our neighborhood!

Overnighters? Once in a blue moon.

I have people over for card games and an occasional dinner. I get many overnight guests who usually stay for a week at a time. I live in Fl. and to some of my friends up North this is a great winter spot for a few days. It's fun having them and I cook and they clean up. We go out often depending on the activity of the day.

When I moved to LA everyone I knew from the midwest came for a long visit. I felt like a tour/hotel service. Then I moved to Las Vegas and everyone came again and stayed for weeks and again I was a tour/hotel and now I'm sick of it and when people say they are coming I ask where they are staying and encourage them to rent a car. The only thing I can make for dinner is a good reservation at a nice restaurant and don't really like having people at my house, too much cleaning before and after. I'm happier lazing around the house with my cats and books.

I was shocked to see a couple of times a year be the majority. I guess people are too busy with work and children to entertain anymore. We make an effort to have one day a month for some down time with our friends... adults only. Usually it is six of us for dinner, a movie and great conversation catching up on what everyone is doing. Wine is always included...l.

If you mean "formal" invitation, then it's probably about 2-3 times a month. If you mean "come on in" type hospitality, then it's probably anywhere from 2-5 times a week. In our 'hood, we don't set for formalities, so it's not unusual to pop by for a short visit. If I'm busy on the funny farm, we talk while we "work", then take a break. I always have stuff on hand from tea, water, smoothies, home made hummus, etc. to a quick easy prep meal or lite lunch such as a salad or guac - Mexican style. With school already started, two of the teens in this area love to pop by to wind down before heading home. They love my doggies and other critters. They tell me about their day, then ask if I need any help on Saturday for an hour or two (with pay, of course).

The "formal" invites are 'hood get-togethers which are always fun and are random as to which houses are the "host" this week. Most everyone brings something for the "nosh" table which makes it interesting. Certain holidays like, Turkey Day, Xmas, NYE, the 4th (more of a street get-together) are pretty much set as to where we all end up.

I have few family members in these parts - in fact only 1 - so he generally calls when he comes up for a day visit of about 4-5 hours. Sometimes I drive to visit him!

Basically, the door is always opened, and the hospitality always flows because life is meant to be enjoyed rather than "scheduled." One thing I've noticed after 20 plus years living in the 'hood - we all can depend on each other, we always help each other out no matter what. Our 'hood is everyone's extended family. We have fun, talk a lot, help each other, respect privacy and give space. Such is life.

Would love to have dinner guests more often as I love to cook & entertain casually..., but having guests cancel last minute, more than few times, or even 'no-show', I decided to stop for now.... Or maybe I need new friends....??

I run a restaurant with catering and work standard 12 hr days so think I just don't have all that many friends and certainly not in my area i.e. neighbors who I could have over - my friends are folks who I work with and we're all scattered throughout the area running our own units so it's more email, text, phone, etc - me and two of my closest girlfriends from work will make a point to have lunch but it ends up typically being once a year - we're all just so busy so there are way more "we need to get together"s than actually getting together :( oh well we're all the same so no one gets offended by it

Redec, I know exactly what you mean. Hubby was a cook. The amount of important social occasions we had to miss ...

I like having people over sometimes. I have them over maybe twice a year, or once every 8 months, a bit more sometimes during holidays. Mostly closest of friends and my brother and his wife. I like small gatherings so that I can keep it all together and so that I can join in the fun.

Sometimes Easter dinner for extended family. A cookout sometime over the summer, maybe. Thanksgiving dinner is for 16-20+ family & assorted hangers-on & strays, but it's a covered-dish, casual, and the more, the merrier. Saturday before Christmas: extended family get-together, very casual. Boxing day drop-in for friends and neighbors that goes all day & night. Other than that, some girlfriends might stop in for coffee & gab a few times a year. I'm not an "entertaining" sort, home is my place to get away from people. We do schedule regular get-togethers with several different groups, but they rotate around & are more often "out"ings rather than "in"ings. When kids lived at home, weekends usually had a house-full of teens piled up like puppies on the floor watching horror movies. I miss that, sometimes.

Sherri Cheney, I completely agree! I used to worry about what the house looks like, but I think sharing time together and making memories is more important. We usually have people over about once a week, and I love to have family holidays here as well. Sometimes it's a bit of a squeeze, because our house is only 1500 square feet, but we make use of our large deck and yard when possible. And we bought property that we plan to build on next year, with our future house being large enough, and being laid out in a way to be able to have large groups of people over. My kids are all young right now, but I would love a place that they want to come home to and bring their families when they grow.

Hi Sherri, you are correct. The memories mean more than anything else! I am one of those people who like everything just so, but I've learned to adjust and make those things secondary to having good friends and family near. Life is all too fleeting to be wasting and sweating the small stuff!

My house is the go to house everyone loves it here they call it the oasis their sanctuary or retreat it raining now but here's a couple pics

We have over night guests every weekend over the summer then once or twice a month during the rest of the year. We enjoy it -most of the time anyway! It comes with the territory when you have a house on the water.

We are retired and live in a quaint resort town during the winter and up north in the summer. We have several families, my husband's, who come south for a week or two EVERY year. So basically, I do a ton of dinners, cleanup, laundry etc.. We also have family, mostly mine, in our guest house up on Lake Erie. Basically, we are inundated with guests in both places. My family is European, so having nice events w good homemade food is important. We have some family and many friends our age (retired) who are generous hosts. However, we have quite a few families who rarely invite us into their home. --Very disappointing and hurtful.

We've moved and don't have the friend system in place here yet. I miss cooking for people. Actually I used to do the main course and everyone else brought canapés, sides and dessert. And their dogs, I had 10 acres in the country so lots of room to run and play. They also knew better than to bother the horses, goats and Bill the sheep. The one guy that didn't cook wouldn't let you back in the kitchen until it was spotless. He was always invited to everyone's parties. And since it was friends no one cared if the house wasn't perfect.