Get Ready, Get Set
If you’re hosting a holiday feast this year, there’s something you need to know. It’s not how to prepare the plumpest turkey or the most delectable dessert. Although delicious food is important, the ambiance you create will also help to get everyone in the holiday mood. And one way you can create an air of both celebration and tradition is to properly set the table.
A Formal Table Setting
What is described below is a full-blown table setting for a very formal dinner party. From cocktail fork to coffee cup, it includes every piece of dinnerware your guests might need. Don’t feel like you have to follow it exactly. Instead, adjust it as necessary to fit your specific menu. That way the table won’t be littered with items your guests won’t ever use, and they won’t feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable.
To the Left of the Dinner Plate
Starting from the left, the first item at each setting is a napkin with its fold facing toward the dinner plate. Next to that you place the forks. First, the salad fork, then the dinner fork, and then the dessert fork, which will be closest to the plate.
To the Right of the Dinner Plate
On the right side of the dinner plate, first place the dinner knife with the blade facing the plate. Next come the spoons: two teaspoons, then a soup soon. Next to the soup soon resides the cocktail fork, farthest from the plate.
At the Top
The bread-and-butter plate (with a spreader resting across it) is placed above the forks on the left-hand side of the dinner plate. The glasses are placed above the spoons on the right-hand side of the plate: first the water glass, then the red-wine glass, and then the white-wine glass. Next to those, place the coffee cup and saucer farthest right.
Don’t Forget Place Cards
Including a place card at each table setting offers a nice, personal touch. Not only do place cards take the guesswork out of where your guests should sit, they can also add a bit of festive decoration to the table. Place cards may be set either above the forks, directly above the middle of the dinner plate or on the dinner plate itself.
In the fall, use real autumn leaves in an array of shapes and colors or attractive river rocks as your place cards. Use a gel or paint pen to write each guest’s name.
In the winter, cut out snowflakes in rich, velvet fabric and glue them to a small card including the guest’s name.
And in the spring or summer, a simple stemmed flower, such as a gerbera daisy, with a ribbon and name tag tied around it is a sophisticated way to inform a guest of his or her place at the table.