What is the right order to serve food?

[tumbletumble]

In our house we don't bother with any particular order, but MIL always serves all the adults before any of the children and I'm interested to know if she is right?

I would have said female guests first (regardless of age) then male guests, then female hosts, then male hosts.

If you have staff then guest of honour is served first followed but female host, male host, female guests-oldest to youngest and then male guests oldest to youngest and then kids. If like most of the uk you don't have staff and are serving yourselves then hosts come before children.

Children come last so they don't have to stare at food, waiting for everyone to be served before starting.

If I got to a house and the children get served first it makes me think of parents on buses who refuse to make their children stand up for old ladies. Not sure why but it does.

If it's a buffet, definitely adults first, you can tell which children are rude and will throw tantrums when their parents insist they go first. What's wrong with teaching them patience and manners?

So Cheese, you would serve hosts before guests? Or have I misunderstood?

What's the point on serving the guests and hosts first when they will have to let their food go cold whilst they assist or cut up the kids food and get up and down for drinks. Not conducive for a conversation over dinner.

I think kids last so they don't have to stare at food they can't eat yet actually only applies to kids over about 10 who before then would have been learning their table manners with the nanny in the nursery.

When I was a waitress, I was taught to serve children first. It makes sense!

I think so. also with buffets often the adults pig out on the simpler things provided with the kids in mind. not trying to start a debate about kids food. just saying that with some children once the adults eat all the pizza cheese sandwiches and sausage rolls they will be left with nothing but maybe some bread if they don't eat things like Cole slaw or hummus or king prawn tempera.

"Old lady visitors, young lady visitors, gentlemen, family, then me" is what I was taught as a child.

I may be nine thousand years old.

Having posted that we serve kids first, I realised this year that now that our kids are older, we expect them to wait until everyone is served before starting, and they no longer get served first, now the guests first, then our kids then us.

When kids were little they started eating straight away, so serve them first.

buffets, we have a quite a few meals in our house with groups of people where everyone brings a dish. When we serve it is usual for kids to be mixed in with adults and younger kids to be taken along the line with a parent who helps them to appropriate food. At larger events (eg church) parents are often asked to 'help' their children at the buffet table.

Anyone elderly first. Then kids. Then guests. Them adult hosts.

The traditional way would be what you describe: female guests, male guests then femal hosts and male hosts.

When my parents were little, the children were made to wait to the end too as not considered important enough to be served first.

In reality, we start with the children (even though they could wait), then the guests and then the hosts with no particular order to men/women.

The one thing that is going to happen is for everyone to wait until everybody is served before strating to eat!