Some people say ‘I love you’ with words, some give gifts, and some show it through acts of service. But we think there’s another way to show someone you love and value them.
Have you ever had someone invite you into their home and offer you a cup of coffee? How special did that make you feel? Or maybe you’ve invited a friend over and found yourself doing a little ‘extra’. Tidying your space… making a snack… little things. I’d guess that if you didn’t love them, you wouldn’t have bothered.
Growing up in our home, we always had a full table. It wasn’t uncommon to have several extra people eating with us during mealtime. Not because we were throwing parties, but because thats just how we lived life. We grew up in a culture of welcoming people in as a way of loving on them.
And that is the heart behind Nourish, too. Our hope is that every dish of food, every cup of coffee, and every cheery greeting would speak love and value to our customers.
We think the world could use a little more of that. So in today’s post, we are going to share a few simple tips to get you started. Whether you are the one who always has people over, or you’ve never hosted a thing in your life – we hope this encourages you to try showing someone you love them through the language of hospitality.
The first, and maybe most important, tip we can give is actually more of an encouragement: hospitality doesn’t need to be elaborate. Your home doesn’t need to be spotless. You don’t need to spend lots of money or time preparing food. Yes, you want to do what it takes to make your guests feel welcome, but it doesn’t need to be perfect. In reality, hospitality is less about the physical things you can see and taste, and more about the way you make someone feel.
Something you perceive as an imperfection may actually set your guests at ease and take away the discomfort of being in someone else’s home. Taking time to greet them, welcoming them into your space, and making sure they are comfortable will mean more to them than making sure a meal is ready right away. Spending time asking questions and actually listening to the answer is more important than getting the dishes done and the house back in order.
Don’t let the desire to be the perfect host take away from the gift of being truly present.
The next tip we have to offer it to do as much as you can ahead of time, so that you can relax and enjoy the time with your guests as much as possible. If you want to tidy up your house or clean the bathroom, don’t wait till the day of to get to it. If you are going to serve food, choose to make somthing that you are familiar with and prep as much as you can the day before.
Something that I find helpful is to sit down several days ahead of time and write out a list of what needs done, and then break that list out into small pieces that you can work on each day. For example, if you invited friends over for Friday evening, it might look something like this:
Wednesday: decide what food to make, get groceries if needed (I would go with something like burgers or grilled chicken, baked beans, and a veggie tray – its something I do often and am comfortable making.)
Thursday: clean the house, prep food if applicable (in this case, there’s not much to do in advance!)
Friday: Set table, refresh the bathroom and entry, last minute food prep
We know it’s not always possible to plan it out this way, sometimes it’s last minute or unplanned guests. But when possible, this is so helpful. And when your guests do arrive, if you are still working on last minute food prep, don’t hesitate to pull them in and ask for help. Having something to do with your hands often lends to more comfortable conversation!
Our third tip is all about creating a welcoming atmosphere. It doesn’t have to be much. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It definitely doesn’t need to cost much. Set the table, turn on some background music, put a
bouquet of fresh flowers on the table (savings hack: forage them from the backyard!), or light some candles. Little touches can really make a big difference, without taking much thought or time.
Hospitality really doesn’t need to be complicated – just little things done with love. And hopefully these tips help break it down and make it feel manageable.
Can we encourage you to do something? Plan something – it can be as small as having one friend over for a late morning coffee or as elaborate as planning a five course dinner party. But practice the language of hospitality. See what comes out of it. Watch how your relationships grow and see how loved it makes the people in your life feel.
And then report back and tell us how it went!
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