Company Christmas dinner invitation etiquette, sorted

It's the 19th of December. Someone in the group chat asks what 'elegant' means. Someone else wants to know if their partner is invited. The dinner is on Friday and the area manager still hasn't answered either question in writing.

None of that is a difficult crowd. It's an invitation that left the etiquette blank. Who sits with whom, what the company pays for, what happens if you turn up at nine instead of eight: all of it gets settled before you send the link, not on the night.

Company Christmas dinner invitation etiquette: time, dress code, plus-ones

The invitation is the only thing every guest will read, so put the information there in a form nobody has to interpret. If dinner is served at 8:30, write 8:30, and give the drinks reception its own line above it. Dress codes have to be checkable in front of a mirror. And say whether plus-ones are welcome, because if you don't, three people will ask.

• 'Dark suit' or 'shirt and closed shoes' can be checked in a mirror. 'Elegant' can't.
• Arrival time and dinner service time, on two separate lines.
• The event name with the year, so nobody opens last year's link.
• One sentence about plus-ones: welcome, not this time, or with a supplement.

Seating is etiquette too, and nobody writes it down

If you're putting two departments that don't talk at the same table, the place to say it is the link, not the area manager's face on the 20th. The confirmation form can carry one simple question: how many of you are coming. That tells you how many chairs to reserve without a single phone call.

What you can't do is promise a seating plan and then let everyone sit wherever they like. 'We'll seat you' written on the invitation breaks in the first minute, and the host looks careless for the rest of the evening.

A change two days before doesn't mean resending anything

If the restaurant moves you to a different room, edit the map and the room name. The link stays the same and guests see the new version when they open it. Same if the dress code drops from 'suit' to 'smart casual': change it in the editor, no second email, no calling anyone one by one.

Etiquette at a company dinner isn't politeness. It's who's coming, when it starts and who's paying, written down before anyone has to ask.

What the company pays for and what it doesn't

Say whether the open bar runs until midnight or all night. If there's a car park arranged or a paid taxi home, put the exact address with it: that's the detail people are grateful for at two in the morning. And if guests pay a supplement, give the amount in the same sentence. Anything left out of the link gets asked out loud, in front of everyone. Before you publish, read it as the guest who knows nobody: what time, where, alone or with someone, and what they have to answer. Then the only decision left is what to wear.