Roll Out The Red Carpet

( to give a grand welcome to an important guest ... )

To give a guest a very warm, special welcome is to "roll out the red carpet". It was a custom in past times to roll out a long red carpet for an important guest who was arriving. They could walk from their car to the building in style, without getting their feet dirty. Example: "Our most important client will be in town tomorrow, so let's all roll out the red carpet and take him out to dinner." To roll out the red carpet is to make a special event about someone's arrival, and to treat him or her grandly as if they were a king or a queen. Example: "My parents are wonderful hosts; whenever we are in town they always roll out the red carpet." Example: "We are all so excited about your coming home that we're going to roll out the red carpet."