Dear Exhausted

Dear Gala Guru.
I recently threw a dinner party for some friends. Dinner started at 5 pm and at midnight no one was making any moves to leave. I was exhausted. How do you diplomatically get people to go home? Am I being rude?
Exhausted

Dear Exhausted.
This is a problem that anyone who has ever hosted a dinner party has had to deal with. No, you are not being rude. They are! They should have been gone by 10 pm. Anything after five hours and they have become houseguests. First off, let’s find the positive. The meal, libations, and conviviality must have been excellent since they were in no hurry to leave. But let us get real! Everyone has to get up the next day at some point.

First off. Cut off the drinks. Stop serving them. If they haven’t had their fill, they can go someplace else. You know the saying. “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here”.

If that doesn’t work, start yawning and announce that you have an early appointment the next day.

If those two things don’t do the trick, you can always go put your jammies on and start turning off lights.