TABLE SETTING

Table setting refers to the way to set a table with tablewaresuch as eating utensils and
dishwarefor serving and eating. The arrangement for a single diner is called a place setting.
The basic place setting assumes that the meal will consist of salad, bread, soup, beverages and a
main course with dessert and coffee following (with the plates and cups being delivered to the table
immediately before serving).
Informal
When an informal three-course dinner is served, the typical place setting includes these utensils
and dishes:

Dinner plate: This is the "hub of the wheel" and is usually the first thing to be set on the table. The
dinner plate is used more than any other plate. It is used to serve the main course at all meals,
formal and informal. Modern dinner plates measure from 10 to 11 inches across. The bottom of the
main dinner plate should be 1-2 inches from the edge of the table.
Napkin: This usually has a size of 18 to 20 inches and a shape of a square. The napkin is folded or put in
a napkin ring and placed either to the left of the forks or on the center of the dinner plate.
Sometimes, a folded napkin is placed under the forks.
Two Forks: The forks are placed to the left of the plate. The dinner fork, the larger of the two forks, is
used for the main course; the smaller fork is used for a salad or an appetizer. The forks are arranged
according to when you need to use them, following an "outside-in" order. If the small fork is needed
for an appetizer or a salad served before the main course, then it is placed on the left (outside) of
the dinner fork; if the salad is served after the main course, then the small fork is placed to the right

(inside) of the dinner fork, next to the plate. Silverware should be about inch apart from each
other and the plates.
Dinner Knife: The dinner knife is set immediately to the right of the plate, cutting edge facing inward. (If
the main course is meat, a steak knife can take the place of the dinner knife.) At an informal meal,
the dinner knife may be used for all courses, but a dirty knife should never be placed on the table,
placemat or tablecloth.
Spoons: Spoons go to the right of the knife. If soup is being served first, the soupspoon goes to the far
(outside) right of the dinner knife; the teaspoon, which will be used last, goes to the left (inside) of
the soupspoon, next to the dinner knife. Bottom of silverware should all be lined up with each other.
Glasses: Drinking glasses of any kind -- water, wine, juice, iced tea -- are placed at the top right of the
dinner plate, above the knives and spoons.

Other dishes and utensils are optional, depending on what is being served, but may include:
Salad Plate
Bread Plate with Butter Knife
Dessert Spoon and Fork
Coffee Cup and Saucer

Formal
The one rule for a formal table is for everything to be geometrically spaced: the centerpiece at
the exact center; the place settings at equal distances; and the utensils balanced.

The placement of utensils is guided by the menu, the idea being that you use utensils in an "outside in"
order. For the illustrated place setting, the order of the menu is:
Appetizer: Salad
First Course: Soup
Meat Course
Dessert
Service Plate: The service plate is the largest plate. Service plates range in size from 11 to 14 inches
across. This large plate, also called a charger, serves as an underplate for the plate holding the first
course, which will be brought to the table. When the first course is cleared, the service plate
remains until the plate holding the main course is served, at which point the two plates are
exchanged. The charger may serve as the underplate for several courses which precede the entree.
Salad Plate: The salad plate is made in two sized. The larger salad plate is about 8 to 8.5 inches in
diameter, the smaller 7 to 7.5 inches. If salad is to be eaten with the meal, you can serve it directly
on the dinner plate.
Dinner Fork: You can always recognize the dinner fork because it is the largest of all the forks. This is
also called the place fork. This is placed on the left of the dinner plate.
Salad Fork: A fork used which is used to pick up pieces of fruit such as grapes, strawberries, melon and
other various types of fruit. If the small fork is needed for an appetizer, the salad fork will be placed
to the left of the dinner fork. If the salad is eaten after the main course, then the salad fork will be
after the dinner fork.

Dinner Knife: This is to be used with the main course. The large dinner knife is placed to the right of the
dinner plate with the blade facing the plate, a custom that dates to the Middle Ages when an
inward-facing blade indicated good will, as opposed to an outward-facing blade ready for swift
retaliation against the enemy.
Teaspoon: This is used for the coffee. Since coffee is served after the meal, it is placed next to the dinner
knife.
Soup Spoon or Fruit Spoon: If soup or fruit is served as a first course, then the accompanying spoon goes
to the right of the knives.
Coffee Cup and Saucer: The coffee cup and saucer are placed above and to the right of the knife and
spoons, about four inches from the edge of the table. At home, most people serve coffee after the
meal. In that case the cups and saucers are brought to the table and placed above and to the right of
the knives and spoons.
Glasses: These can number up to five and are placed so that the smaller ones are up front. The water
goblet is placed 2 inches above the knives. Just to the right goes a red or/and white wine glass. If
two wine glasses are presented, the glass with the longer stem and cylindrical globe is the white
wine glass. White wine glasses should only be held by the stem. Red wine glasses have a wider
globe and may be cupped in the palm of your hand if you choose.
Dessert spoon or fork: Dessert silverware can be originally placed at the table setting if you wish. The
dessert fork or spoon should be centered above and parallel to the dinner plate. These utensils may
also be provided when dessert is served.
Butter Plate and Bread Knife: This is used to butter rolls/bread during the meal. The small butter plate is
placed about 2 inches above the forks at the left of the place setting. The butter spreader is laid on
the bread-and-butter plate in one of three positions: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. In the
horizontal placement, the butter spreader is laid across the top edge of the bread and-butter plate,
parallel with the edge of the table. The vertical placement of the butter spreader echoes the
perpendicular alignment of flatware. In the diagonal and horizontal placement, the edge of the
spreader is usually faced downward and the handle on the right.
Napkin: Napkins are used for functionality and to add to the decor of the table. Both paper and cloth
napkins can be folded to add decoration to your table. This usually has a size of 22 - 26 inches and a
shape of square. Napkins are commonly placed on the plate, to the left of the forks or inside of a
drinking glass.
Place cards: Name cards are always a good idea for place settings, if the dinner party is large. Place the
card above the dessert utensil, to the left of the drinking glasses.