5 Tips for Inviting Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it. If this is your first major holiday with a new boyfriend or girlfriend, the holiday-with-the-family invitation can be a stressful situation. This article presents 5 tips to help make it much easier.

Tips for Inviting Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend to Thanksgiving #1: Introductions First

Having to meet a partner's whole family for the first time on a holiday can be a daunting experience. Try to introduce your boyfriend or girlfriend to as much of your family as possible before Thanksgiving. This will help make things more comfortable for everyone, especially your new partner.

Also, meeting people before Thanksgiving can make the idea of attending more appealing to your boyfriend or girlfriend. Chances are that they will like some or all of your family, and knowing that they will get to see people that they like is always a bonus.

Tips for Inviting Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend to Thanksgiving #2: Feel it Out

Bring Thanksgiving up in a casual conversation. Use an excuse - a TV commercial, the abundance of Christmas products when it's not Thanksgiving - to get the topic onto Thanksgiving.

Remember that this is a no-pressure fact finding expedition. Don't try to sell your boyfriend or girlfriend on how great your family's Thanksgiving celebration is. Look for background details. Does your boyfriend hate Thanksgiving? Is it a big deal (and right at noon) in your girlfriend's family? This is all information that will make the invitation easier.

Tips for Inviting Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend to Thanksgiving #3: Plan First, but Be Flexible

Mention the possible invitation to whichever family member hosts your family's Thanksgiving celebration, to ensure that your boyfriend or girlfriend will be welcomed. Check out the timing of your celebration, and compare it to what you know about their family. If your family is not local, prepare suggestions for travel arrangements and dates that you would leave and return.

It is a good idea to have basic plans about how things will work out before you invite your boyfriend or girlfriend to Thanksgiving. This will help you answer their questions and concerns. Be prepared to be flexible, though, as you will want to account for their desires about the specifics.

Tips for Inviting Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend to Thanksgiving #4: Just Do It!

Take the plunge! You've already done the legwork - your boyfriend or girlfriend probably knows and likes several of the people that attend your family's Thanksgiving. You know how the timing of your family's celebration works well with the timing of your partner's family. What have you got to lose?

Tips for Inviting Your Boyfriend/Girlfriend to Thanksgiving #5: Be Prepared to Hear "No"

Accept that "no" is a possible answer. Your boyfriend or girlfriend may think you are too early in your relationship for a step like this. It may be impossible to co-ordinate times between families. There may not be anyway that your boyfriend or girlfriend can work out the necessary travel to out-of-town locations. Or, they may not really want to go.

Be prepared to hear "no", and to accept it. If your boyfriend or girlfriend chooses not to accompany you to your family's Thanksgiving celebration, that doesn't have to be a fight, an argument, or the end of your relationship. Remember that your behavior now sets the stage for the next time - because hopefully you will be inviting this person to another family function.

Making this a no-pressure, no-obligation, and no-expectation situation may not be easy for you. After all, you wouldn't be issuing the invitation if you didn't hope to have it accepted. Handling disappoint (if you receive it) well will make it easier for both of you the next time you ask.

Good luck!