Table Setting for a Six Course Meal

Formal table settings require an economical use of space because of the large number of pieces.

A six-course meal is a good way to entertain guests with a full sampling of appetizers, entrees and desserts. Setting the table for a six-course meal involves a lot of utensils, plates and glasses, and it can be confusing figuring out what goes where. However, you can follow a few simple steps to make sure you have laid out every single item in its proper place with not a bit of wasted space. There are no hard-and-fast rules for what makes up a six-course meal, but generally it starts with an appetizer followed by a light salad or pasta, soup, a palate-cleanser such as sorbet, a meat entree and, finally, dessert.

Things You'll Need

• Service plates
• Soup bowls
• Service knives
• Fish knives
• Soup spoons
• Fish forks
• Dinner forks
• Salad forks
• Folded napkins
• Bread plates
• Butter knives
• Dessert spoons
• Cake forks
• Water glasses
• White wine glasses
• Red wine glasses

Instructions

1. Place the service plate directly in the center of the setting, right in front of where the guest will sit. Put a soup bowl for the third course on top of the plate, in the center.

2. Place the service knife for the entree, the fish knife, if you are serving fish, and the soup spoon from left to right immediately to the right of the service plate.

3. Place the fish fork, if necessary, the dinner fork and the salad fork from left to right to the immediate left of the dinner plate. Place a folded napkin to the immediate left of the forks.

4. Place the bread plate, often used for the appetizer, with a butter knife on top of it directly above the forks.

5. Place the dessert spoon and cake fork for the final course horizontally directly above the dinner plate, with the cake fork on the bottom and pointing right and the dessert spoon on top and facing left.

6. Place the water glass, white wine glass and red wine glass from left to right directly above the knives and soup spoon.

References

• Did You Know?: Proper Table Settings
• Fine Dining: Rack of Lamb, Dinner Party - 6 Course