How to Combine Dinnerware Sets for Large Parties

Most people have china or dinnerware settings for eight or 10. What happens when you have a party with nine, 11 or 42? Read on for some great ways to combine your dinnerware sets for large parties, and create attractive table designs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Make choices that look deliberate. If you have nine guests but only a setting for eight, don't just add one odd setting of a different style of dinnerware. You want to create a pattern so the table has an attractive design to it.

2. Use the different settings at the head and foot of the table. This is a simple pattern, and works especially well if your two dinnerware sets are drastically different. Dining sets often have armed chairs or different style chairs at the ends of the table, so giving those seats the alternate dinnerware follows the pattern of the table design.

3. If you have complementary styles of dinnerware (matching colors of dinnerware or all white china with slightly different patterns), you can alternate the settings on the table. If you have twelve guests, you could use six settings of each type of dinnerware. See Tips section.

4. If your sets of dinnerware are scaled differently, you could give the smaller scaled set to any children present. The pattern looks deliberate, and the children will be happy to have their own special dishes.

5. Integrate settings. If you have complementary sets, you can combine and alternate at the same time. Use a blue glass salad plate with your blue china dinner plate. For the next setting, use the blue china salad plate on top of the blue glass dinner plate. This can make for a very striking arrangement. See Tips Section.

6. Unify your settings with any items you have larger quantities of. If you have 12 guests and 12 crystal soup bowls, use those instead of the bowls that belong to the differing china sets.

7. Unify the settings with linens. If you have radically different colors of china, like pink and blue, try to find a tablecloth or place mats that combine those colors in a print or pattern. White linen napkins at each place setting can also help streamline the look.

8. Consider patterned paper napkins as well as decorative paper plates for dessert. For relatively low cost you can buy all matching plates and napkins for 10 guests or 100 guests. There are a variety of beautiful, bright, and/or elegant prints and textures that can work with casual or formal dinnerware.

9. If you need to utilize more than one set of silverware and/or glassware, assign these items to a particular dinnerware set and use them in each place that dinnerware is used. This will keep the pattern uniform.

10. For extra large parties where a variety of tables will be set and several different sets of dinnerware used, you can apply the above guidelines to each table. Each table can have its own design. If you only have five place settings left of a particular china, set up a round table using just those five settings. Be creative and have fun.

Tips & Warnings

• When alternating dish settings, having an odd number at the table means you'll end up with two same settings next to each other. Put this doubling up at the side or farther end of the table--wherever it will be least noticeable. You can also try changing the pattern. For example, with nine guests, try two blue settings, two red settings, two blue settings, three red. This will make that odd set of three less noticeable.
• For a large party with a casual setting, you can also integrate all your sets in a random fashion. Let each place setting stand on its own, with its own unique blend of dinnerware, glassware and silverware. It adds to the fun, casual atmosphere and can even be a conversation starter.

Resources

• Wide variety of decorative paper plates and napkins at PlatesandNapkins.com
• Beautiful tablecloths and linens at Bed, Bath & Beyond