We’re having a big old gathering this year – 20+ – and man, am I running into a lot of opinions…so I was thinking people gather around 11:30 or 12…then we eat at 1:30 or 2…then we can always take a long walk after…and come back for pie!
What’s your schedule? (also do any of you do smorgasbord platter beforehand…say, 2 or more hours before dinner…i was thinking of doing that),
We tell people to come on over at 1 PM for drinks and apps. Dinner is at 4.
Yeah, we prefer later in the afternoon. 4 or 5
We used to.gather at 2ish and eat around 4. But my mom and stepfather are.getting older and don’t like to drive at night anymore so this year we moved it earlier and will sit down to eat around 1 or so. I have to get up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in but it is all good.
Dinner is around 6-7PM. We eat at normal dinner time and have always done it that way. Same with all the holiday dinners.
I grew up in Detroit Lions territory, so timing of the game drove dinner timing at our house, since they play on Thanksgiving.
We always have heavy apps/lunch around 12:30-1pm and then sit down for dinner around 6pm. Intervening time used for last minute cooking, football, impromptu street hockey, or drinks around the fire pit - depending on the weather and preferences of those in attendance in any given year.
Gather around 1 or 1:30, light apps and then dinner probably 2:30ish - after clean up a little football and Catch Phrase, then pie after our bellies make some room. 
4:00
Gather at 1:30, dinner at 2-2:30, pie/desserts a few hours later.
Husband’s parents are divorced and remarried and one set lives an hour north of us and one set an hour south. As they have all gotten older, they prefer not to drive at night, especially for that distance, so we have moved lunch up to 1:00 instead of the 4:00 we did for many years. Most of my dishes can be prepared the day before so at least I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to start cooking.
I have everyone over at 6:00 with the hopes of sitting down for dinner between 7:00 and 7:30. Several of our family members go elsewhere for lunch with the other side of their family, so if we want everyone, this works best for us.
My niece has a 7 month old and wanted me to have dinner earlier as the baby goes to be at 7:30. Unfortunately, I can not accommodate her and everyone else, so she will come for appetizers and leave before dinner.
We eat when the bird thermometer says so. B-) Wish me luck… the ovens are still on the floor in the kitchen. Mr. B says the install will be either “a piece of cake or a one-way ticket to hell.” That is reassuring.
People gathering at 1-2, dinner 4ish.
When it’s big family dinner usually everyone comes around 3-4ish with dinner around 6-6:30ish.
When it’s just small gathering at my house we’ll sit down for dinner around 7-7:30 - with cocktails/hors d oeuvres starting about 5:00. We aren’t early dinner eaters.
“My niece has a 7 month old and wanted me to have dinner earlier as the baby goes to be at 7:30. Unfortunately, I can not accommodate her and everyone else, so she will come for appetizers and leave before dinner.”
Probably a subject for another thread but I never understood when folks keep their kids on such a rigid schedule.
If things go well 7:00 pm.
Whatever time the hostess says, or later. Often she says 6 but things are still being laid out and folks enjoy appetizers until dinner starts at 7.
My sister always hosts Thanksgiving and I am thankful to her for that but…I hate that she does it so early. Gather at 1:00, dinner at 2:00 or so. I’d much prefer a 4 or 5:00 dinner but until I’m prepared to host I’ll show up when I’m told to with whatever I’ve been asked to bring lol.
^^ that’s what I do. I think there is just much work involved, that I hate to say it, I want the dinner over and dishes washed early enough that I can relax the rest of the day like everyone else is.