A Guide to Setting the Table

A place setting describes all the eating, drinking and serving items used during a meal. These can vary from one plate and a few pieces of flatware to a five-piece china setting, multiple spoons and several drinking glasses.

The following is a list of basic pieces plus a few extras that are fun, but not necessarily required:

• dinner, salad, bread, and dessert plate
• dinner and salad fork
• dinner and bread knife soup spoon
• water glass
• wine goblets
• cloth napkin
• charger plate
• place card

Of course, if you are not serving wine, leave the glass off the table. If the table looks cluttered, simply bring out the dessert spoon with the dessert.

• Start with a dinner plate in center of each guests place.
• Place a dinner fork next to the plate on the left. The salad fork, which is smaller, goes to the left of the dinner fork.
• Place a dinner knife (with the blade facing the plate) to the right of the plate. A soup spoon goes to the right of the knife
• If using, the wine glass goes above the knife and a water glass is placed to the left of this glass.
• The bread and butter plate goes above the forks with a butter knife placed lengthwise across the top.
• A dessert spoon lies on the table above the dinner plate and points left.

With plates, flatware and glasses in their proper place, you can bring in fun touches. While formal table settings use most of these things, they are easily switched out to create unique and modern looks.

• Linens Classic white linens provide a clean, crisp backdrop for a colorful centerpiece while also letting the food stand out on the table. By contrast, a pumpkin orange or peacock blue tablecloth can help establish a seasonal theme, while patterned napkins add a pop of playful color to traditional table settings.
• Place cards Traditionally made out of paper, place cards can be so much more fun. Write your guests names on wine glass tags or print them with icing on sugar cookies. You might not even need to use names. Print out a photo of you with each guest and lay in the center of his or her plate.
  Bonus: Each of these ideas serves as a small gift to say thanks for coming to the party.
• Charger plate Chargers are large plates that go under dinner plates giving place settings a polished look. With so many choices from gold to red glass to wicker, choose chargers to reinforce the mood of your dinner party.