Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Setting the table
• Part 2 of 2: Adapting the table arrangement to each course
• Tips

In today's hectic world of fast food restaurants and eating while watching TV, it's easy to forget how to set a table for a formal dinner. While it is not a skill that you will often need, it does occasionally happen that a formal table arrangement is absolutely necessary. Learn the basic rules and you'll be ready to host or attend a formal dinner party with ease.

To step

Part 1 of 2: Setting the table

1. Decide which courses you want to serve. Ultimately, your table arrangement depends on the courses you are going to serve; a five or seven course meal is most common with a formal dinner. Decide on your menu and keep in mind that the courses are served in the following order:
   • First course: starter / shellfish
   • Second course: soup
   • Third course: fish
   • Fourth course: salad
   • Fifth course: roast
   • Sixth course: game (for a five-course dinner, the fifth and sixth courses are combined into a set menu).
   • Seventh course: dessert
   • Eighth course: fruit, cheese, and coffee (optional)
   • Ninth course: nuts and raisins (optional)
2. Choose your cutlery and plates. Before setting the table, make sure you have all the correct cutlery and plates properly prepared. You will need one fork for each course (a fish fork is used for a fish appetizer), a spoon for the soup and dessert, knives for the main course, the butter and fish (if serving), a bottom plate, a plate for bread and butter, and some glasses (a water glass, a white wine glass, a red wine glass and a champagne glass are all possible).
   • Each course is brought in from the kitchen on its own plate. So don't worry; you don't have to set the table with all the plates you need.
   • Put a napkin ring around your linen napkins for decoration.
3. Put the plates on the table. The central piece when placing the plates is the under plate. This is a large plate that is placed under the plates on which the food is served. The under plate remains on the table until after the main course and is then removed from the table together with the plates of the main course. Place the under plate in the center of each place. The second plate you will need is a bread and butter plate. You place this to the left of the plate.
   • When removing plates before the main course, leave the bottom plate and remove only the used plates.
   • You could put various types of bread on the bread-and-butter plate.
   • Your linen napkin should be on the under plate.
4. Put the cutlery on the table. While three forks, two knives, and two spoons may seem like a huge amount of cutlery, where they should be makes a lot of sense. Cutlery is used from the outside in. So to the left of the bottom plate you have from the outside to the inside the fish fork> salad fork> fork for the main course. On the right side of your bottom plate, now from the inside to the outside, are the knife for the main course> fish knife> soup ladle. Place the dessert spoon and possibly a dessert fork horizontally above the bottom plate. Place the butter knife diagonally over the bread and butter plate.
   • Every piece of cutlery is removed from the table when it has been used.
   • If you don't serve fish, you don't have to cover a fish fork and knife.
   • If you are serving seafood as a starter, place the special fork to the right of the ladle. This is the only fork on the right side of the plate.
   • All cutlery should be the same distance from each other and from the bottom plate.
5. Put the glasses on the table. Which glasses you cover depends on the dishes you serve. Traditionally, there is at least a water glass and a wine glass, but this can vary. Place the water glass directly above the knife at the level of the bread and butter plate. Place the wine glass to the right of it, usually above the ladle. If you add a second wine glass (for a different type of wine), place it between the water glass and the other wine glass. You can also put a champagne glass on the table; you place it at the top right of the first wine glass.
   • As with the cutlery, arrange the glasses in the order in which they will be used.
   • Water is often served in the glass, while wine and champagne are poured at the table at the part they belong to.
   • If you choose to serve coffee (as with a nine-course dinner), serve the coffee in espresso cups, clearing them off along with the fruit / cheese plates.

Part 2 of 2: Adapting the table arrangement to each course

1. Set the table for the soup. You have two options for serving the soup: serve bowls of one type of soup straight from the kitchen, or offer a water-based soup and one cream-based and serve them at the table in soup plates. The first is served from the kitchen. You scoop the latter at the table (carefully) into clean soup bowls. The soup bowls are brought in on serving plates in case of spills. When everyone has finished eating soup, the soup spoons (convex side up) should be placed on the left side of the soup bowl on the serving plate.
   • The plate, bowl and spoon should be removed from the table after this course.
   • The bread and butter plate must remain on the table, even if it was used with the soup.
2. Set the table for the fish. When the soup plates and cutlery have been removed, the fish is served on its own plate. It is placed on the bottom plate and eaten with the fish knife and the fish fork (the cutlery that is now furthest from the bottom plate on both sides). When the fish is eaten, you should place the cutlery crosswise on the plate, with the handles at four o'clock as if the plate were a clock.
3. Set the table for the salad. The salad is eaten at a formal dinner for the main course. This course is eaten with the penultimate fork. When the salad is finished, the plate and cutlery are removed from the table; the underplate remains.
4. Set the table for the main course. The main course should be served on a large preheated plate. It is placed on the under plate and eaten with the dinner fork and dinner knife. The knife and fork are placed diagonally across the plate when you have finished eating, as with the cutlery used for the fish. When everyone has finished the main course, the plate is removed along with the bottom plate, fork and knife. The bread and butter plate, the knife and the wine / champagne glasses are all removed. The only thing that remains on the table are the water glass and the dessert spoon (and any dessert fork).
5. Set the table for dessert. The last course of the evening is usually dessert and then coffee, unless you're serving a very formal nine-course dinner. Either way, the dessert is brought in on a plate and placed on the table in front of the guest. The coffee or tea cups are placed under the water glass at the top right of the dessert plate, with a coffee or teaspoon. Milk and sugar can be placed on the table for use as desired. When the dessert is finished and the coffee or tea is finished, the entire table is cleared, leaving an empty table.

Tips

• Opt for low central table pieces. You don't want them to get in the way of the guests and prevent conversations.
• In most cases, except on a very formal occasion, you can mix-and-match with confidence if you don't have enough of the same cutlery. Mix-and-match is very popular right now.
• The most important thing in setting the table is the comfort of the guests. Since a weekday setting is the norm, it is great fun to pull out all the stops when you are going to have a formal dinner. However, do not lose sight of the comfort of the guests and your own pleasure (that is the first reason to organize a dinner). If you don't have everything you need to organize a formal dinner, you can rent whatever you need or indulge and improvise. Some of the nicest table arrangements are the result of improvisation and the use of unexpected objects.