For those of you whose parents did not make you attend weekend charm school, need not worry; there is always time to learn proper etiquette. One of the biggest lessons I learned from actually having to attend charm school was the importance of being a good host.
Personally, I love to host my family and friends for dinner parties. After all, who doesn’t love a good party? I enjoy having everyone under my roof, in the comfort of my own home. Usually, the parties I throw or attend at people’s homes feel a lot more intimate than ones thrown at outside venues.
The hosting tip I want to share with you today is how to set a proper table. Presentation is everything, and it’s so easy to accomplish once you have it down pat. Below is a simple guide to setting a proper table.
- The bread and butter plate should be placed on the left-hand side, above your napkin.
- The napkin should be folded neatly underneath your forks or on the plate.
- The salad fork goes to the left of your dinner fork.
- The dinner fork is on the right side.
- The dessert fork and spoon are placed horizontally, above your dinner plate. If your dessert does not require one utensil or the other, simply leave it out of your table setting.
- The salad plate should be placed atop your dinner plate.
- The dinner plate goes on the bottom. In some cases you may have a decorative charger below that.
- The water glass goes on the left of the wine glass, on the right-hand side.
- The wine glass goes on the far upper right. If you will be serving both red and white, set the glasses for each from left to right in the order in which they will be used.
- The coffee cup and saucer go to the upper right of the silverware or are brought out following dinner.
- The steak or dinner knife is closest to the plate on the right side. The knife blades always face the plate.
- The teaspoon goes directly to the left of the knife.
- The soupspoon goes on the far right.