Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start (sings Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music).

We have never written about our time, our adventure, into the world of etiquette. Looking back now, we are so grateful that we did it when we had the chance, time, energy and all those indulgences, now that we are Mommies of two each. Having uninterrupted days, endless cups of tea and shortbread, being taught by Ladies (Father’s being Earls), at Debrett’s, in the heart of London-Mayfair, at Christmas time, ending off at the Ritz … what a treat!

We settled right in with the other delegates, ranging from a businessman from Shanghai, to a footballer’s wife from Essex. All keen to learn how best to navigate Business and Social etiquette. We did it all, from good old school deportment (which needed an emergency stop in at Harrods to buy a pair of heels each … on sale), to today’s machine of social media. A real then to now of protocols and the most enlightening concept: that etiquette is all about making those, people with whom you converse, feel at ease. Learning that there is a right and wrong way of doing things and that sometimes a situation calls for doing the wrong thing, to make the person that you are engaging with feel comfortable. Using discretion, of which to use when, is what it’s all about. It’s not about getting it right all the time. Some of the best stories come out of situations going wrong, believe us! Put the kettle on and we’ll tell you all about them, in detail. This understanding paramount. It’s our passion to help people, counter-culturally, to positively engage with one another. To leave an encounter feeling good at how your information was exchanged.

So since 2013, along this journey, we have done a thing or two, and now decided to capture it all in a blog. Might make for some good reading for our future selves who will still be learning and laughing as we go, but the best part is that we get to do this together. Partners, sisters, friends.