Some Details
The bread and butter plate is optional at a casual dinner party, so don’t worry if you don’t have them. If you
are planning to use a bread and butter plate, place it to the upper left of the dinner plate and lay the butter
spreader horizontally across the plate, with the blade facing the plate.
Knives are set to the immediate right of the dinner plate, blades facing the plate. A soup spoon, if needed, is
set to the right of all knives.
Forks are placed to the left of the dinner plate in the order of their use, from the outside toward the plate.
Dessert spoons and forks can be brought to the table with the dessert plates.
Water glasses (if used) should be set just above the top of the place knife. The wine glass is placed slightly to
the right of the water glass.
A cup and saucer can be brought to the table along with the teaspoon with dessert.
Place a folded napkin to the left of your forks.
I personally stay away from candles and centerpieces. As far as I’m concerned, they may look nice but I feel
they can get in the way of the interaction.
Imagine having to constantly look around the centerpiece to speak to your guests. Again, this is a personal
choice.
Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it. You now know how to set a table in an informal setting.
A formal setting is more extensive, and changes with certain foods, so I won’t cover it here.
I would think that if you’re ready for a formal dinner party, you will have done enough informal ones to know
where to get the information (research, remember?)
With your table set, we’re ready to move on to the next phase – planning your menu!
|
|
