Everyone seems to like my dh but he is quite introverted & does not have that many friends. He cannot always find things to say to get into a group conversation if he clicks with someone then he's fine.
We have a "couple" friends who we've known years. They invited us, along with other couples from their friendship circle to a bbq at their house a few weeks ago. Out of the males dh only knew the host. He'd met one of the other men & clicked over a few pints at an event a few months prior to the bbq & I thought it would all be ok at the bbq. The host said hello to us & of course had to play host to others too & he didn't really try to make conversation with my dh. Neither did the other chap who he'd met once before. They soon formed a clickey circle & kind of forgot about my dh. They weren't the equivalent of mean girls, just thoughtless.
I immediately fell in with the wives & dh ended up sitting with us all for most of it. I asked him if he'd like to go & join the husbands as he was looking left out & under my thumb. He said what's the point, I'm left out, don't know most of them & have nothing to say. If he could have gone home there & then he would have.
The last hour was a lot better as it dispersed & opened up, but probably for most of the night my dh wouldn't have felt so good.
We've been invited to another event & dh is reluctant. How can I help my dh to feel more included & confident instead of always on the edge, so we can enjoy a social life? Do we persist with these people, who are all very nice, but perhaps a bit thoughtless to introverts, or give up straight away? Like I say once dh clicks with people then he's fine. Not the life & soul, but he's ok & enjoys himself