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Setting the table for a formal dinner party is one of the things that brings most of us out in a nervous rash! Where to place the cutlery and  how to organise the crockery into a proper table setting are just two of the main worries. Read on for help and advice, and make your next dinner party a formal occasion to remember.

These days, with the popularity of TV dinners and eating on the run, it is easy to forget the pleasure of a formal dinner. Many families rarely sit down to eat together, and the etiquette for proper table setting is seen as a skill we no longer need.

This is a shame, as nothing beats the pleasure of entertaining around the dinner table, relaxing and enjoying a formal meal at a leisurely pace. So brush up on the long forgotten art of table setting, and treat your friends and family to a celebratory meal with style.

Start with a quick check to make sure that you have the basics needed for a place setting. You should have :
• Appropriate plates, bowls and crockery for each course.
• Sufficient glassware
• Silverware
• A decent, clean table cloth
• Napkins, but napkin holders or rings are optional
• A centrepiece for the table

For a basic setting, simply place the dinner plate on the centre of the placemat. Put the fork to the left of the plate, and then place the knife to the right.The blade of the knife should face the plate. Place a glass of water above the knife. Place the napkin folded neatly on the plate.

That should be enough for an informal, family dinner. For occasions with more than one course, things begin to get a little more complicated, but if you follow some basic rules for setting silverware, you should not have a problem.
• The general rule is that diners start with the silverware at the outside of the setting, and work their way in. So, if you decide to serve a salad, then the salad fork should be placed outside of the dinner fork.
• If serving soup, you can place the soup bowl on top of the plate, and position the soup spoon to the right of the place setting.
• Plates for bread rolls should be placed to the left of the diner, next to the forks.
• Butter dishes or plates should be placed at the top of the place settings, with the knife laid across them.
• Cups and saucers can go above the spoons, with the handles facing to the right. Another option, to avoid confusion and crowding the table, is to leave the coffee cups off the table altogether, and bring them out at the end of the meal when the coffee is served.

If you find it hard to visualize the instructions above, there are many helpful sites around which show diagrams of formal place settings and table settings with pictures.

Don´t forget that you do not only offer your guests silverware for every course, you also need to find room on the table for glasses to complement the place settings. The glasses for wine and water are generally placed to the left of the coffee cup. If serving different wines for each course, your guests will need a glass for white wine, a glass for red wine and a glass for water. You can remove any unwanted glasses from the table later on in the meal.

Here is some tried and tested advice to make sure that both you and your guests feel comfortable with the formal place settings.

• Only place the things you actually need on the table. Don´t go overboard with utensils that are excess to requirements.
• Unless it is a very formal dinner, it is ok to mix and match the silverware. Most of us don´t own enough cutlery to host a dinner party for 12 people, so beg, steal, borrow or hire.
• If you have a smaller dining table, don´t put all of the place setting out at once. You won´t have the room and the table will get very crowded. Remember your guests need to feel comfortable and have room to move and eat! Clear away after each course, and then bring out the place setting for the next course.
• As we have become more informal as a society,most people will be impressed by your efforts to host a formal sit down meal, so don´t worry if you don´t get it perfectly right first time. How many people do you know who can set a formal table correctly first time? Not many!
• Don´t forget to add a few special extras, like a formal centrepiece. Fresh flowers, a few candles, a dried flower arrangement… the choice is yours. Just keep the centrepieces low so that all the guests are visible and it will encourage the flow of conversation.
• Make an effort with your napkin folding. I´m not talking origami, but there are several simple and very effective techniques to create pleasing designs to complement the meal. Check out websites, or a book from the local library for techniques and ideas. If you feel that napkin folding is beyond you, simply buy or borrow some pretty napkin rings and lay the napkins across the plate instead.

Remember, the most important thing is that both you and your guests relax and enjoy the occasion. Try not to forget that comfort and the pleasure of a special meal with friends will far outweigh any slip-ups that you may inadvertently make. So do a little research, get organised and then sit back and wait for the compliments to flow!

 

Tags: etiquette for proper table setting | etiquette for proper table setting | table settings with pictures | table settings with pictures | proper table setting | proper table setting | setting silverware | setting silverware | napkin folding | napkin folding

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Landscape design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.