Table Setting Basics: How to Set a Table for a Formal Event

Table Setting Basics – It so important to know how to set a table right, but often we forgot the right ways to set your table. A Chair Affair offers  everything you need to set a table, from chargers to flatware and stemware, but once you’ve got it all, you need to know how to use it to its best advantage. Fortunately, setting a table properly for a formal event has many components, but is not difficult.

Formal table settings are perfect for events or weddings that feature a menu with three courses or more. Of course, we all want the tables to look beautiful, so symmetry is important. A good rule of thumb is to imagine your charger as the focal point of the setting, placing your flatware, glasses, and butter plate around it.

The plate for the first course should be placed on top of the charger, with the napkin on top of that. Forks should be placed on the left to the charger, while spoons and knives are on the right.

Then, remember to set the tables only with the utensils you will need, and place them in order of when they will be needed. Smaller forks, such as fish forks and salad forks, should be placed on either side of the largest fork, the dinner fork, with the dinner fork in the middle. If the salad fork will be used first, it should be to the left of the dinner fork, while the fish fork would be to the right.

Knives, on the other hand, are arranged directly to the right of the charger, with the dinner knife, the largest, on the outside, with smaller knives and spoons to the left. As a general rule, there should be no more than three utensils on each side of the plate. If the three courses do not include dessert, dessert utensils should be brought in on dessert plates.

Next, the butter plate is placed above the forks, on the left side of the charger, with the butter spreader resting diagonally on the plate. The handle should be facing towards the guest while sitting, with the blade facing away.

Finally, stemware is placed above the knives and spoons, on the right side of the charger, in order of largest to smallest.

That’s it! Your formal table setting is complete.