The first part of a V'Shal dinner: serving family tea
A V'Shal dinner, also called a V'Shal ritual, was the ceremonial engagement dinner between a Vulcan couple, in which the prospective groom would be formally evaluated by his betrothed's parents. A failed dinner could give them cause to break the betrothal agreement, which would result in any subsequent union being unrecognized under Vulcan law.
The ritual consisted of three parts. The first was the husband-to-be preparing and serving tea in the traditional manner, with a Vulcan teapot, to his fiancée's parents, in accordance with their family's recipe. The second was the Ritual of Awakening, in which the couple were informed of their attributes that their respective future parents-in-law thought in need of improvement. The third was a mind meld between the future groom and his own parent, in which they shared a memory from his childhood.
In 2259, Spock and T'Pring held their V'Shal dinner aboard the USS Enterprise, at the insistence of T'Pring's mother T'Pril. With Spock and Sarek not on speaking terms, only Amanda Grayson attended on Spock's side. Spock proceeded through the rituals only with great effort and much coaching, as he had been recently transformed into a full Human by the Kerkhovians. Nurse Christine Chapel managed to appeal to the Kerkhovians and reverse Spock's condition just in time for the mind meld. Yet despite the success of the dinner, Spock chose to reveal his temporary Human nature to T'Pril after she referred to Grayson as a "handicap". (SNW: "Charades")