Arranging casual dinner table

1.Set a placemat on the table. Placemats protect the surface of your table from food
and brighten up your dining experience. Make sure the edge of the placemat is about an
inch away from the edge of the table.[1] Choose a placemat that matches your plates
and looks nice on your tabletop as well.
 When in doubt, choose a simple white placemat.

2.Arrange your plate and napkin. A casual dining experience can include a soup or
salad as an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert. First, place the large main entrée plate
on the bottom center of the placemat. Next, place your salad plate or soup bowl on top
of the main entrée plate.[2] The napkin can be placed between the entrée plate and the
appetizer plate or rolled up on top of the appetizer plate.
 If you’re serving dinner rolls, place a small appetizer plate to the left of the placemat.
 The dessert plates should be brought in with the dessert for casual dining experiences.
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Place your silverware on the placemat. The forks will be placed on the left side of the
plate and the knife and spoon on the right. Place the salad fork (if needed) to the left of
the dinner fork and place the spoon to the right of the knife. If you want to set out
dessert utensils, place them above the plate.[3]
 The sharp side of the knife should be turned towards the plate.
 Only set the table with silverware that you will use during the meal.

4
Arrange your drinkware. Place the water glass above the knife on the placemat.[4] If
you’re planning on serving wine, place the wine glass to the left of the water glass and
off the placemat. If you’d like to offer more than one wine, add other wine glasses
behind the first in a triangle formation.
 Most casual dining experiences only offer one kind of wine. If you have more than one
kind of wine to serve, consider hosting a formal dinner instead.

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 Plan for your desserts and coffee. Set aside your dessert plates in advance. Once
you’re ready to serve dessert, clear the dirty plates and distribute the dessert plates. If
you’re serving coffee, you can either bring out the coffee cups and saucers with the
dessert or place them to the right of the water glass at the beginning of the meal.[5]
 The dessert silverware can be brought in with the dessert plates or placed above the
table setting at the beginning of the meal.

SETTING A FORMAL DINNER TABLE

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Lay the tablecloth and placemat. If you’re hosting a very formal dinner, spread a floor-
length tablecloth over the entire table. Lay a placemat at each seat, keeping the edge of
the placemat one inch from the edge of the table. Choose tablecloth and placemat
colors that complement the plates and dining room.
 When in doubt, use a white tablecloth and simple white place settings.

2
Set down a charger plate and napkin. A charger plate is a decorative plate for the
other plates to rest on. Place the charger plate on the bottom center of the placemat.
The napkin should be folded neatly and placed on the charger plate or rolled into a
napkin ring and set to the left of the placemat.[6]
 These plates are decorative and therefore optional. However, many people believe that
a table looks empty between courses if a charger plate isn’t used.[7]
 Never serve food directly on the charger plate.
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Arrange your plates on the charger plate. Always arrange the plates in order of use.
For example, if you were serving a soup, salad, and entrée, you would first place the
main entrée plate on the charger. Next, you lay down a salad plate, followed by a soup
bowl.[8] Each piece of plates will be cleared away after use.
 If you’re serving more than three courses, have each plate brought out and then cleared
away after the course to save space.
 Wait to clear the charger plate until it’s time to clear the entrée plate.

4 Set all other plates on the table. If you’re serving dinner rolls, set an appetizer
plate over the forks and place a butter knife on top. If you’re serving coffee after dinner,
 you can either bring the cup and saucer out with dessert or set to the right of the spoons
at the beginning of the meal. Similarly, the dessert plate can be brought out with dessert
or placed above the plate on the tablecloth.

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Arrange the silverware. The forks go to the left of the plate and the spoons and knives
go to the right. Arrange the silverware outside-in, with the utensils you’ll use first on the
outside and the ones you’ll use last next to the plate. The dessert fork should be at the
top of the plate with the tines pointed to the right and the dessert spoon directly above it
pointing left.
 Each course should have at least one utensil. For example, a salad should have its own
fork and a soup its own spoon.
 The relevant utensils are cleared with each course.