Etiquette workshops for young people, families, friends celebrating together and couples
Led by Tami Lancut Leibovitz, Master of Manners
There are moments in life when people suddenly see us differently: a bat mitzvah girl stepping onto the stage, a young man on a first date, a bride welcoming her guests, a family sitting down to a holiday table with its first guests. In these moments, there is no need to memorize hundreds of rules. What matters is knowing how to feel at ease, and how to make the people around us feel the same.
The rules have changed; people have not. We all still want to feel at ease, and to make others feel that way too. Manners are the tools. Personal presence is the result.
The workshops on this page were created for exactly these moments. They are short, experiential and full of humor, suited to a celebration, a gift or an evening with friends, and participants leave with tools that stay with them long after the cake is gone.
Each workshop is tailored to the age group, the occasion and the participants. It can take place at home, at the event venue or at Tami's studio.
Bat Mitzvah and Bar Mitzvah - "Coming of Age with Grace"
Mother and Daughter / Father and Son - "Just the Two of Us"
The Immediate Family - "One Table"
A Birthday with Friends - "A Different Kind of Birthday"
For the Bride and Groom - "Before You Say Yes"
The Bride and Her Friends - "A Bachelorette Evening with Manners"
Dating for Young Adults - "The First Date (and the Second)"
Bat Mitzvah and Bar Mitzvah - "Coming of Age with Grace"
An etiquette workshop for the bat or bar mitzvah, alone or with friends
Ages twelve and thirteen are the moment when, for the first time, you become the host of the party. Suddenly you need to welcome guests, say thank you for a gift, stand in front of an audience, sit next to Grandma at the head table and know what to do with your phone when everyone is watching.
In a short, light and playful workshop, the young celebrants, alone or together with a group of friends, learn how to be polite, confident and pleasant hosts without becoming different children. Manners here are not a list of prohibitions, but a tool that makes everyone feel good, starting with themselves.
The workshop can be a gift for the bat mitzvah girl, a surprise activity for the party with friends or a family preparation ahead of the event.
Workshop details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens in the workshop?
Welcoming guests: a handshake, a hug, eye contact, and how to say "hello" even to someone whose name you cannot remember
Personal presence: how to enter the hall, how to stand and how to feel seen
Facing an audience: a short thank-you speech, a confident stance and a voice that is heard
Gifts: how to receive them, what to say and how to write a thank-you note people remember
Table manners, party edition: the napkin, the forks, and what to do with a dish you do not like
Phones at the event: when to take pictures, when to put the phone away and what to do when everyone asks for a story
Introducing yourself and meeting adult guests, distant relatives and your parents' friends
Appearance, dress and comfort: how to look good and feel comfortable
Role-play games: "What would you do if..."
Who is the workshop for?
For bat and bar mitzvah children (ages 11-13), alone, with a brother or sister, or in a group of friends (10-15 participants). Suitable as a gift, as a party activity or as family preparation for the event.
Format
One session of about an hour and a half
At the family home, at the party venue or at Tami's studio
Mother and Daughter / Father and Son - "Just the Two of Us"
A workshop for a parent and child: quality time that leaves something behind
Some conversations are hard to start at home: how to dress, how to speak to adults, what to do on a first date, and why "say thank you" is not enough. In this joint workshop, these conversations open up easily, because the parent is not the one teaching. Tami teaches, and both of them learn.
The session is designed as shared quality time: exercises in pairs, real-life situations, plenty of laughter, and a few moments in which the parent discovers that a rule they were sure of has already changed.
Also suitable as a gift for a bat mitzvah, for a birthday or simply as an evening for the two of them.
Workshop details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens in the workshop?
Body language and first impressions, for both of them
How to speak with adults, with teachers and with the parents' friends, and how the parent speaks with the child's friends
Phones at home and outside: rules that respect both sides
Table manners: from Friday night dinner to a restaurant
Dress and appearance: what suits which occasion, and what to do when you disagree
Introducing yourself, a handshake, eye contact
The art of conversation: how to ask, how to listen, how to say "no" nicely
A shared practice scenario: a family event, a first date, an admission interview
Who is the workshop for?
For a mother and daughter or a father and son (or any other combination), from bat/bar mitzvah age to the end of high school. Also for a grandmother and granddaughter. Suitable as a gift for an occasion or as a session in its own right.
Format
One session of about two hours
At Tami's studio
The Immediate Family - "One Table"
A family workshop at home: when everyone learns together, no one is being "lectured"
Most arguments at home do not start with big issues. They start with a phone on the table, a door that was not opened, a "thank you" that was not said. And usually, everyone is sure they are right.
The family workshop comes to your home, around your own table, and allows the whole family (parents, children, and sometimes grandparents too) to learn the same rules at the same moment, from the same person. When the rules come from outside, and not from Mom or Dad, they suddenly become much easier to adopt.
The workshop is suitable as preparation before a holiday with guests, before a trip abroad, before a large family event, or simply because the time has come.
Workshop details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens in the workshop?
A practiced family meal: from setting the table to dessert, with games and roles
Hosting at home: who opens the door, who offers a drink, how to say goodbye to a guest
Phones at home: a family agreement everyone signs
Respect between generations: how to speak to Grandpa, and how Grandpa speaks to his grandchild
Small words: thank you, please, sorry, and why they work
Being a guest at others' homes: children at friends' homes, one family visiting another
Traveling abroad: basic cultural codes for the whole family
"House rules": a short document the family writes together at the end of the workshop
Who is the workshop for?
For families with children aged 8 and up, grandparents who would like to join, and extended families ahead of a shared event.
Format
One session of about two hours at the family home
Recommended around a guided meal
A Birthday with Friends - "A Different Kind of Birthday"
A one-time festive workshop, instead of yet another evening at a restaurant
"I was wondering whether you run short, one-time workshops. I thought it would be fun to celebrate a friend's birthday with an etiquette workshop." That is how this workshop was born, from a follower's request.
This is a birthday celebration that is also an experience: an evening with friends around a set table, a glass of wine in hand, and many questions we never dared to ask. Who pays on a date? What do you do when you cannot remember a name? How do you leave a party without simply disappearing? And how do you clink glasses without breaking them?
Tami comes to wherever you are celebrating, or you come to her, and turns the evening into a clever social game, with plenty of laughter and a few "wow, I didn't know that" moments.
Workshop details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens in the workshop?
First impressions and handshakes: a friendly competition
The art of conversation: how to open, how to exit and how to truly listen
Table and wine etiquette: the rules of toasting, what to do with the bread, who pours for whom
Phones during an evening with friends, and why the best table is the one without screens
Real-life situations from the group's own lives: a restaurant, a party, a wedding, a date
Amusing international codes: what is polite here and embarrassing there
A small birthday "ceremony": how to raise a toast and say something people will remember
Who is the workshop for?
For groups of friends aged 18 and up, birthday celebrants, small teams and anyone looking for a different kind of evening. 10-15 participants.
Format
One festive session of about two to three hours
At home, at a restaurant (coordinated with the venue), at a villa or at Tami's studio
Option to combine a meal or a wine tasting
For the Bride and Groom - "Before You Say Yes"
The flagship workshop for couples before the wedding: the workshop I have given to dozens of couples
A wedding is not only an emotional day. It is also the day on which the couple, for the first time, hosts two hundred people at once: family from both sides, friends from work, the aunt you have not seen in ten years, and everyone wants a hug, a photo and a word.
In this couples' workshop, which I have given to dozens of couples, the bride and groom prepare together for the big day, and for the life that follows: how to get through the reception line without collapsing, how to thank a hundred people in ten minutes, what to do with the in-laws, and how to dance the first dance without stepping on the dress. And also: how to host, together, the first holiday table in the new home.
The workshop takes place at Tami's studio, in a personal atmosphere, with plenty of humor and a few moments in which the couple discovers they do not entirely agree on who opens the door.
Also for the groom and his friends, as a surprise: a bachelor party at the studio, organized by the friends, which the groom discovers only when he walks in. Rare, but when it happens, it is an evening no one forgets.
Workshop details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens in the workshop?
The reception: posture, eye contact, a handshake and a hug, 200 times and with a smile
The couple's thank-you speech: short, moving and free of awkwardness
The in-laws and the new family: the codes that prevent arguments in the first year
Table and wine etiquette: the head table, the toast, raising a glass
Invitations, gifts and thank-yous: what is customary today, and what no longer is
Phones at the wedding, the couple's and the guests'
The new home: first hosting, family holidays, visiting the parents
Situations: "What to do when the uncle starts giving a speech"
Who is the workshop for?
For couples preparing for their wedding, for couples marrying for the second time, and as an engagement gift from parents or friends.
Format
One focused session of about an hour and a half
At Tami's studio
The Bride and Her Friends - "A Bachelorette Evening with Manners"
A whole evening, not a workshop: a fine-dining meal the friends prepare and set themselves, and then sit down to according to all the rules
Most bachelorette parties look the same: a restaurant, a bar, karaoke. This evening looks different. It starts in the kitchen, moves on to a table set like in a luxury restaurant, and ends, around midnight, with a bride who knows exactly how she will welcome her wedding guests, and friends who know how to hold a wine glass.
For about five hours, Tami accompanies the group: from preparing the meal (or having it served, if a restaurant is chosen), through setting the table, to the meal itself, which becomes the most delicious table and wine etiquette workshop there is. Between courses: the friends' speech, the reception, the in-laws, and what to do when the aunt wants just one more photo.
A polite evening? Yes. A boring evening? Not at all.
Evening details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens during the evening?
Opening: a reception for the bride. A handshake, a hug, eye contact, 200 times and with a smile
Setting a fine-dining table: tablecloths, tableware, forks, seating
The meal: course by course, rule by rule. Bread, soup, fish, meat, dessert
Wine: opening, pouring, clinking and toasting
The friends' speech and the bride's speech: live practice
The new family and the in-laws: the codes worth knowing in advance
Phones at the wedding, gifts and thank-yous
Roles for the friends on the wedding day: who stays by the bride, who looks after Grandma, who holds the speech
Who is the evening for?
For the bride and her friends, 8-14 participants. Also suitable for an engagement party and for a bachelorette party before a second marriage.
Format
One evening of about five hours, including the meal
At the bride's home, at a friend's home, in a private room at a restaurant or in a small hall
The meal: cooked by the friends themselves, or served by the restaurant, arranged in advance
Dating for Young Adults - "The First Date (and the Second)"
A workshop on first impressions, conversation and manners: from the chat to the end of the evening
The first date begins long before you meet: with the first message, the time it takes to reply, the choice of place. Then come the big questions: who arrives first, what to talk about, what to do with the phone, who pays, and how to say "very nice to meet you, but no" without hurting anyone.
The workshop is for young men and women who want to feel at ease on a date. Not to learn "tricks", but to be the most pleasant, confident and authentic version of themselves. Because the most attractive thing on a date is making the person opposite you feel truly seen.
The workshop takes place as a small group of friends, as a private workshop or as a special singles' evening.
Workshop details: what we do, who it is for and format
What happens in the workshop?
Chat etiquette: the first message, response times, how to invite and how to cancel
Personal presence and first impressions: how to walk in, how to stand, a handshake or a hug, eye contact
The art of conversation: questions that open up, listening, and what not to ask on a first date
Body language: what we convey without words, and how to read the other side
A café, a restaurant, a bar: table manners, ordering, wine and who pays
Phones on a date: the simple rule that changes everything
Respect and boundaries: how to say yes, how to say no, and how to accept a no
Ending the date: saying goodbye, the message afterwards, and what to say when it is not a match
Who is the workshop for?
For young men and women aged 18 and up, singles of any age and groups of friends. Also suitable as a birthday gift or as a special singles' evening.
Format
One session of about an hour and a half to two hours, or a private workshop of one session
At Tami's studio
