Dinner
The evening table: who sits where, who is served first, what is said.
The evening meal is where the strictest table customs tend to live: seating, order of serving, who speaks and who stays silent, what is said before eating. These pages gather those customs, from the Japanese phrases said before and after a meal to the Georgian supra with its toastmaster. For the food itself, see Thali.
Seating and order
Many cultures keep a place for the head of the household, serve guests and elders first, or wait until everyone is seated before anyone lifts a spoon. In some, eating is done by hand from shared dishes with rules about which hand and which side of the plate. In others the order of courses, or of toasts, is as fixed as a ceremony.
Words and silences
Saying grace, a blessing, a thanks to the cook or a call to begin is common worldwide. So are the opposite customs: no talking until the meal ends, no phones, no leaving before the elder rises. Dinner is where children learn what their own community counts as good manners.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Dinner (meal). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 3 moreDongzhi冬至
A midwinter festival celebrating the return of light with family feasts and dumplingsSeasonal · Dinner
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas dinner
The festive family meal of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, with roast meats and puddingsTable custom · Dinner
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreReunion dinner團圓飯
A family gathering meal on lunar new year's eve, kept in China and VietnamTable custom · Dinner
🇻🇳 Hanoi, Vietnam and 5 morePhophở
A Vietnamese noodle soup of broth and rice noodles, served hot with beef or chicken.Table custom · Breakfast
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreWedding reception
The party after a wedding, where the couple greet guests over food, cake and dancingFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreChallahחַלָּה
A braided Jewish bread, blessed and shared at Shabbat and holiday tablesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇱 PolandWigilia
Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 IsraelKiddushקידוש
A blessing over wine or grape juice that marks Shabbat and festivals as holySpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 4 moreAfternoon tea
A late-afternoon spread of tea, small sandwiches and cakes, kept across BritainTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇺🇸 United StatesPotluck
A shared meal where every guest brings a dish, kept by churches, clubs and neighborsTable custom · Dinner
🇬🇷 GreeceSymposiumσυμπόσιον
An ancient Greek post-meal gathering for diluted wine, debate, music and lively gamesTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreOld New YearСтарый Новый год (Russian), Стара Нова година (Macedonian), Српска Нова година (Serbian), Hen Galan (Welsh)
An informal holiday marking the start of the Julian calendar year, celebrated on 14 January in the Gregorian calendar.Festival · Dinner
🇺🇸 United StatesFestivus
A secular December observance marked by bare poles, voiced grievances, and wrestlingFestival · Dinner
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 4 moreDongzhi Festival冬至
A winter solstice festival of family reunions, ancestor rites and sweet rice ballsSeasonal · Dinner
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreTsiknopemptiΤσικνοπέμπτη
A Greek Carnival feast of grilled meats held on the second to last Thursday before Lent.Festival · Dinner
🇧🇹 Punakha, BhutanTraditional Day of OfferingBuelwa Phuewi Nyim
A Bhutanese New Year marked by offerings to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and family feasts.Festival · Breakfast
🇮🇸 IcelandChristmas in IcelandJól
A winter festival of mountain folklore, family feasts and thirteen mischievous visitorsFestival · Dinner
🇩🇿 Tlemcen, AlgeriaAshura in Algeriaيوم عاشوراء
A day of fasting, almsgiving, evening feasting and regional folk masquerades.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇸🇾 Syria and 1 moreThree Sundays of Commemoration
A Maronite Christian observance held on the three Sundays before Lent to remember the departed.Spiritual · Dinner
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇶 IraqShabbat mealsסעודות שבת
Three ritual meals eaten across the Jewish Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday nightTable custom · Dinner
🇮🇱 Safed, Israel and 2 moreZemirotזמירות
Jewish table hymns sung during the three meals of Shabbat and holidaysSpiritual · Dinner
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreStag and doe
A Canadian fundraising party for an engaged couple, featuring games, food, and raffles to help pay for the wedding.Festival · Dinner
🇮🇱 IsraelEve of Passover on Shabbatערב פסח
Special Jewish calendar customs when the eve of Passover coincides with the SabbathSeasonal · Dinner
🇧🇧 Oistins, BarbadosOistins Fish Festival
An annual Easter celebration in Oistins, Barbados, honoring the local fishing community with food and folk games.Festival · Dinner
🇭🇷 CroatiaBadnjakBadnji dan
A Christmas Eve oak log burned in the hearth across Croatia to welcome the holiday.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreTweezaتويزة
A North African tradition of communal voluntary work, mutual aid and shared harvestsCeremony · Dinner
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic weddings
A blend of church rites and long feasts, where guests sit by family lines and gifts are saved for the morning.Rite of passage · Dinner
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreHoshana Rabbahהוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּה
The seventh and final day of Sukkot, marked by seven synagogue processions and night-long study.Festival · Dinner
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dongzhi Festival: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Eve of Passover on Shabbat: בעלת הזכויות - טלי אמתי, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zemirot: ביקורת, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Dongzhi: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Christmas dinner: Austin McGee, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pho: Phương Huy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wedding reception: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
- Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kiddush: Dimitri, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Afternoon tea: joyosity, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hoshana Rabbah: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Potluck: Mack Male, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Christmas in Iceland: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ashura in Algeria: Jan Janssonius, Public domain, source
- Symposium: Nikias Painter, CC BY 2.5, source
- Old New Year: ceridwen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Festivus: en:User:DRosenbach Original uploader was DRosenbach at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Badnjak: Vidonjac, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tweeza: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tsiknopempti: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source