Dinner Etiquette: Place Settings
If you have never attended a formal dinner before, knowing what to do with all the different silverware and place setting options can be difficult. Even if you are hosting an elegant dinner for the first time, you want to impress your guests with your charm and grace, and setting the table appropriately is a sure way to set the tone for the evening. Does this Spark an idea?
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Plates
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At the center of the place setting should be a dinner plate with a soup bowl on it. This reduces the amount of space taken up on your table while ensuring that each guest has what he needs throughout the meal. Since the soup course comes before dinner, the bowls will be cleared away before the main course is introduced.
The forks sit to the left of the plate, and just above the tip of the fork is a bread plate. The bread plate is always on the left side of the setting, while the drinks are always on the right.
Forks
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There are three forks used throughout the course of a full dinner: Salad fork, dinner fork and dessert fork. To the immediate left of the plate is the dinner fork, and to the left of that is the salad fork. This way, guests start at the outside and work their way in as the meal progresses.
Positioned horizontally above the plate should be a dessert or cake fork with its prongs pointing to the right.
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Spoons
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Just above the horizontal dessert fork should be a horizontal dessert spoon, positioned with its handle to the right.
On the right side of the plate, directly to the right of the dinner knife, is a teaspoon. To the right of the teaspoon is the soup spoon. Similarly to the forks, guests work their way in from the outside--since soup service is first and coffee or tea service is traditionally later in the meal, the soup spoon is the outermost spoon.
Knives
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The dinner knife is placed to the immediate left of the dinner plate, while the butter knife lays horizontally across the bread plate with its handle to the right.
Drinks and More
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Just above the tip of the dinner knife is a water goblet. To the right of that is a smaller red wine glass, and to the right of that is an even smaller white wine glass. A cup and saucer for coffee or tea are brought out later in the meal. A folded napkin may be placed either to the left of the salad fork or, if there is no soup service, on top of the dinner plate.
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References
- Photo Credit Red table setting with wine image by jeanniner9 from Fotolia.com
