The Home Bar… Custom Beer Steins or Custom Champagne Glasses?

When couples entertain they sometimes disagree on the tone the party should take.  She wants to serve Brutt in pretty champagne glasses and he wants to serve Bud in ceramic beer mugs.  She wants to dress up and he wants to dress down.  Maybe the two ideas won't merge, but you can entertain separately once in a while.  He can host a poker game while she and her friends play bridge.

By way of a compromise, this isn't too bad.  Of course now you need separate party supplies… Finger sandwiches and cookies for the bridge players; hoagies and potato chips for the poker crowd.  You will also need champagne glasses for her and beer mugs or ceramic beer steins for him.  Not to mention you'll need to purchase the liquid refreshments.

If you don't want to break the budget, you can buy your champagne glasses and ceramic beer mugs at the same place on line.  Some vendors sell bar supplies for both commercial as well as individual customers. Generally you can purchase these items less expensively from online vendors who specialize in bar glasses.  Some even offer etching or imprinting services so you can personalize your mugs and glasses. Many households nowadays set up their personal bar with custom barware.

Just because you and your spouse don't see eye-to-eye on entertaining, doesn't mean you aren't well suited.  Men and women often enjoy different activities and it's perfectly okay to do things separately now and again.  Poker games and bridge clubs are staples in American society, and in most cases the poker games are frequented by men and the bridge clubs are the purview of women.  It's that whole men are from Mars and women are from Venus thing.

As long as you get together on Saturdays for tennis or golf or whatever other activities you enjoy, you can entertain separately on Wednesday night.  So she gets her custom champagne glasses and he breaks out his custom ceramic steins or beer mugs and everyone's happy.  She can have custom champagne glasses etched with her own monogram and he can have his beer mugs imprinted with Bob's Beer Joint.  Set up the card tables in different rooms and you're ready to enjoy your own friends in your own style.

Sometimes couples forget that it is good for women to enjoy the company of other women and for men to enjoy the company of other men.  When men are with men and women are with women, they behave differently than when they are in mixed company, even if the mixed company is a spouse.  Enjoying things that are exclusively male or exclusively female is part of gender identification and a natural part of life.

By accepting and working with your differences you and your spouse both get what you want and need.  Thus, it’s not about champagne glasses or ceramic beer mugs, it’s about male and female and celebrating your differences.  You really don't want your spouse to give in every time you have a difference in needs.  Your partnership is stronger when you find ways to compromise.  Enjoy your poker game and your bridge club and come together for activities you both find pleasurable.