Don’t you just love it when you walk into a well presented wedding reception or formal dinner banquet? The ambience of the décor usually causes us to pause for a moment and relish in the beauty that was created and displayed. Our eyes float across the room but eventually end up at the focal point, the table and it’s settings.  Everything, from the champagne flute to the salad fork has a carefully chosen placement.  There was so much order and elegance that that set-up brought into the space for a split second there were no need for words.  Well, how about bringing that same elegant order into your own home.  Here are some steps for you to create a proper table setting.

Image via: Indulgy

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Step 1: Choosing a Table Linen

Take out the linen tablecloths that you plan to use and lay it on the table.  Be sure that it is starched and wrinkle-free.  If you do not have a tablecloth, no problem just use some placemats instead.

Step 2: Dinner Plate Setting

Place a dinner or service plate in front of each chair at the table and fold a napkin to be placed on top of it.  The service plate should hold the place for the first course and it will usually remain on the table until the plate with entrée appears.  If guest are intended to serve themselves then feel free to use the dinner plate.

Step 3: Knives, Spoons, and Forks

The dinner knife will lay on the right side of the plate, with the blade pointing in, follow this action with the fish knife with its blade also point inward. Next, take the soup or fruit spoon and place to the right of the fish knife.  The oyster fork comes after the soup or fruit spoon and it will be placed on the right side of the spoon if you plan to serve shellfish.  As for the left side of the plate, you will place the dessert fork first, followed by the dinner fork and salad fork last.

Image via: Love the Day

Step 4: Goblets and Glasses

Have the water goblet to be set above and to the left of the knife area and to the right side of the goblet place the champagne flute followed by a white or red wine glass. Then put a sherry glass to the right side of the wine glass. Above the fork area will be the butter plate with the butter knife on top of it that way it is lying diagonally across from the plate.

Reminders

-More things can be added on depending what type of food and drink will be served, decorations (centerpieces, candles etc.), and the count of people.

-When choosing the linens switch up the color and patterns for the tablecloth and napkins.  Such as perhaps adding a runner cloth and serving plates edges that have a very bold pattern and the napkins being a solid color.

For more dining room ideas or wedding ideas Stagetecture, click here

Is your holiday table ready for a formal dinner? Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years and all of the other formal holidays are on the way are you ready for entertaining?  Formal dining often has many people nervous because they don’t know how to set a formal or informal dinner table. Before the holidays set in, I thought a fitting post on formal and informal dining table setting would be perfect. Thanks iVillage for these great ideas.

1. Chargers and Placemats

For a formal table:

Place a charger, or presentation plate, at every place setting. If you like, you can place a soup bowl or salad plate on top of it when you serve those courses, but the charger should always be removed before you serve the main course. You also have the option of removing it immediately after guests sit down — the idea is to dazzle them with a beautifully set table when they enter the dining room, and to hold their places at the table. Finally, if you don’t have a set of chargers or just don’t want to bother, you can cheat with the dinner plate instead, or simply use placemats. In this modern age, even formal rules are made to be broken — just be careful with Grandma’s china!

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2. Forks, Knives and Spoons

3. Water and Wine Glasses

For an informal table:

The same rules apply as above, although unless you and your guests are serious oenophiles, you can usually get away with just one wine glass for either type of wine — or use a simple glass tumbler instead. And your water glass and wineglass don’t have to come from the same glassware set — feel free to mix different styles.

4. Napkins

For a formal table:

Place napkins to the left of the forks if there’s room on the table; otherwise, you can place them under the forks, or position them on the charger or placemat.

For an informal table:

Place them under the forks, or in the middle of the place setting.

5. Bread Plates

For a formal table:

Rarely seen at home in these carb-conscious days, bread plates go above the forks, with the butter knife laid horizontally or diagonally (pointing toward 10 o’clock) across the plate and the blade facing away from the center of the table.

For an informal table:

Just break bread together the low-key way and pass a bread basket around the table.

6. Dessert Forks and Spoons

For a formal table:

These go directly above the main place setting, positioned horizontally, with the fork’s tines facing right and the spoon’s bowl facing left, and the fork closer to the place setting than the spoon.

Image via: 1, 2, 3

For more dining room ideas on Stagetecture, click here.