Setting a Formal Dinner Table: What Goes Where?

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Dec 20th 2009 at 11:01AM

Hosting formal dinner parties isn't an everyday event for most of us, so don't feel bad if you need a refresher course on how to properly set a table. Here are a few basics.

Start with the dinner plate, which we all know goes in the center, and place a salad plate or soup bowl on top of it. The charger, if you're using one, goes underneath the dinner plate. To the upper left of the dinner plate goes the bread plate and butter knife, and to the upper right goes the water glass and wine glass (and the coffee cup, but it usually isn't placed until the dessert course).

To the immediate left of the dinner plate place the salad fork, dinner fork, and dessert fork (in that order from left to right). To the right of the main setting goes the knife (blade facing center), small spoon, and then the soup spoon.

The napkin can be placed many ways. In the water glass, to the left of the forks, or in the very center on top of the salad plate. Also, sometimes dessert utensils are placed horizontally (directly above the dinner plate) as in this example.

Remember that you should only place plates, utensils, and glassware that guests will use during the meal -- i.e. don't set out soup spoons if soup isn't on the menu.

Tags: dining, dinner party, DinnerParty, fine-dining-pedia, table