Elite Cotillion & Etiquette started in the spring of 2024 out of the need for a Cotillion program for 7th and 8th graders. An existing, local Cotillion company chapter changed its programming to offer Cotillion to only 5th and 6th graders.
Students experience more digital than face to face interaction on any given day. Good manners and polite behavior isn’t always a priority and so many students don’t have the chance to see good behavior modeled outside of the home. We find that peer reinforcement is powerful.
My family, including my two sons jumped at the opportunity to assist in the creation and naming of the company. They will be teaching assistants and demonstrate etiquette and dance lessons. They both danced competitively growing up and are going to make sure the music and dance lessons are relevant and enjoyable to today’s students.
We offer private etiquette lessons, tabletop manners training courses and camps as well as a traditional Cotillion program. We are the only group offering a program for 7th & 8th graders. Our program is the only one of its kind to include a full three course training dinner at Ridglea Country Club. Depending on the age of the class, we include lessons about how to act while hosting or attending a sleepover, play date and/or a date.
Manners and polite behavior have a direct impact on our community. We improve and bring awareness to positive behaviors – teaching our students how to treat others well. Southern Hospitality is not an attitude of the past and we strive to pass it down to the youngest in our community.
I like to say “Manners aren’t outdated.”
Our students understand how positive behavior impacts others, and their own lives, for the better. Below are our students’ favorite tabletop manners that they claim helped them feel more confident while in a social situation.
- Using utensils properly and knowing which one to use for different foods.
- Knowing how to sit, act and make proper conversation while at the table.
- Chewing with mouths closed and taking small bites.
- Not talking with food in our mouths.
- Not having elbows on the table.