My mom likes name tags at parties where guests don't know each other too. I will admit it eliminates the constant whispered "now who's that again?" but I still hate it. I have not found anyone who was offended by the request to wear one. My father in law found it odd at our engagement party, but decided to humor his son's future mother in law. I doubt the LW and her fellow hostesses will offend anyone, but some may find it annoying and silly, and ditch them halfway through. Somehow it always reminds me of church dinners where we had multiple congregations together. I hated those as a kid and tomato juice and name tags will always be associated with them!

So - who likes them at purely social functions? Who wishes they could get through life without ever putting one on again?

I've never experienced name tags at *purely* social events, however, I know that when I started my graduate program with over 100 other students a few years ago, wearing name tags for the first week was a god-send (that was sort of a mix of work and social atmosphere). seeing a name tag kind of imprints the name of the face in your memory for a long time to come. Also, I feel that when people are wearing name tags it really breaks the ice- I find it easier to stick out my hand and say "hi, john, nice to meet you I'm mary" than to just stick out my hand and say "hi I'm mary." I don't know why, it just seems to all flow better when you know the person's name.

We wear ID tags ay my workplace and I am always surreptisiously glancing at them when i interact with people whom I know I should know, but I can't dig up their name from memory.

I wish all social functions had them, but I agree they are obnoxious. If only there was a way to find out someone's name without having to ask and look like a boob!

I secretly wish for electronic tags that people could wear invisibly, which would be accessed by a discrete device, maybe an earring that whispers their name whenever you are standing near them... ah that would work.

Where is my glorious technological future?

i like that idea!

Thankfully, my main client requires everyone to have their name in big block letters on their hard hats. I've sat in meetings with one guy in particular for almost a year before I finally was out on site with him and able to get the name from the hard hat! (Doesn't help that so many of these guys are middle-aged, heavy set white guy with short hair. Of course they can remember me - I'm teh only young woman there!)

who wants to put pin holes in your clothing? who wants to put a sticker on your lapel that will be half peeling off within a half hour? sure it's nice to have an easy way to know people's names. but i personally have always resisted wearing them. (ok. on a lanyard at a business conference is different...sometims; but definitely not at any social event where i had a choice)

i personally also think it's weird when someone i don't know comes up and uses my name like they already know me. it kind of irks like when bill collectors and telemarketers use your first name as if they are your friends.

Ooo. Ooo. I love them. Especially at naked swinger parties.

I had everyone wear name tags at my large (yet very casual) wedding reception after a tiny family-only ceremony.

We encouraged people to write down their names, along with how they knew myself or my husband. That way people had a jumping off point when talking to each other. It was also nice for my out-of-country family to be noted as mother-of-the-bride etc. because hardly any of the reception guests had been to the ceremony.

At the end of the evening, one of my good friends had picked up every departing person's tags and was wearing them all. Very entertaining.

I don't think name tags should be an excuse not to introduce yourself or introduce others, however it is nice reference after introductions have been made. It's also comforting insurance for a bride terrified of forgetting co-worker's spouse's names.

is that it's ridiculous to have an expectation of people remembering your name when there is no context for it. i have no problem with people asking me my name repeatedly. and if they have a problem with me doing it, they are probably so uptight that i don't really want to talk to them anyways.

backtracking a bit, i DO see the value of it. i just don't like them. and not everyone wants to be in the middle of the social mix. since you mention your wedding, the last one i went to, i did have the problem of forgetting people i'd just met (damn those champagne toasts!) and in one sense it would've been nice to have some sort of name tag, but they wouldn't have stayed on anyhow as much fun as everyone was having on the dance floor! no. until they come up with a better form of name tag, i'm against them. now. if we're talking monogrammed bridal party sweatsuits a la britney... /sarcasm.

;)

I used to attend a large church many years ago where they put out nametags each week, which had the name of the church and were labeled "Member" and "Visitor" for people to write their names on. An elderly lady of the congregation died. Her kids tried to decide which of her 3 "Sunday Go to Meetin'" dresses to put on her for the funeral.

Red dress? No, it had a "Members" nametag on the lapel. Blue dress? No, it too had one. Puple dress? What the ... ? All 3 dresses had the name tag, so the survivors selected one, and buried her with her nametag proudly displayed.

I'm sure she would have wanted it that way.

a picture, or...maybe an emotion, or a type of metal. You know, something as a conversation starter.

Reminds me of this job I had where my nameplate was stolen or lost or disappeared at least. One of my coworkers made me this cheesy replacement in Powerpoint with clip art horses. People who never met me would see it on my desk and say, "Oh, you like horses?" Sometimes I'd say "Yeah, I love 'em!"

At a bridal shower I hosted years ago, the women guests who were already married mailed me photos from their marriages. I had those turned into button name tags for them. Everybody loved them, oh how clever. I did the same thing at a baby shower with baby pictures.

I guess it depends on the name tag. Hello, I am________ is a boring name tag.

If I were queen of the universe, everyone would wear name tags all the time. Maybe permanently implanted into our foreheads. (Yes, I'm very bad at remembering names. Why do you ask?)

I liked your story, IncogNeato. Reminds me of "church ladies" I've known over the years.

I'm sort of on the fence with name tags--I think they're really useful but for whatever reason I don't like wearing them that much myself. But I was surprised the LW thought it a big enough deal to write Prudie about. And, as your story demonstrates, churches have been doing this for years. It's not strictly corporate, as the LW seems to believe.

Hate 'em. I have a name that has a couple different ways it can be pronounced, and maybe 1 in 50 people get it right the first time. I'd much rather introduce myself, or have someone else introduce me, so I don't have to constantly correct people afterwards. It makes them feel uncomfortable, and it gets me cranky after awhile (I'm pretty introverted).

'Sides, most of them are idiotically perky ("Hi! My name is______ ), and they don't stay on for more than 10 minutes anyway.