Contents Part 1: Basic furnishings 1. Set the menu for entertaining guests. 2. Choose tableware and dishes. 3. Place the plates. 4. Place tableware. 5. Place the wine glasses. Part 2: Adjust the placement of each dish 1. Set the table and serve the soup. 2. Arrange the fish on the table. 3. Set the main course on the table. 4. Arrange the salad on the table. 5. Set the table for desserts. In today's world of fast food and TV dinner culture, it's easy to forget how to properly set the table for a formal dinner. Although you won't need to use this technique very often, the occasional formal dinner party still requires these techniques. Knowing the basics, you can host (or attend) any formal dinner party with ease.

Part 1: Basic furnishings

1. Set the menu for entertaining guests. The menu you serve your guests determines how you ultimately set the table for your guests; typically a formal dinner is a five- or seven-course meal. Set the menu and remember to serve it in the following order: First course: appetizers, shellfish

Second course: soup

Third course: fish

The fourth course: barbecue

The fifth course: game (a 5-course menu, usually the fourth and fifth courses are combined as the main course).

The sixth course: Salad (yes, the salad is served after the main course)

The seventh course: Dessert

The eighth course: Fruit , cheese and coffee (optional)

Ninth course: nuts and raisins (optional).

2. Choose tableware and dishes. Before setting the table, you need to make sure you have the appropriate cutlery and plates. You will need 1 fork for each meat plate (for seafood appetizers you should use a seafood fork), spoons for soups and desserts, knives for main courses, butter and fish (if provided), Prepare plates with butter and bread, and you also need to choose glasses (water glasses, white wine glasses, red wine glasses and champagne glasses are available). Each dish is brought out of the kitchen on its own plate, so you don’t have to worry about how to arrange it.

Give the table a tablecloth and napkin rings for extra decoration.

3. Place the plates. Placed among the tableware is a dinner plate. This is the large plate that sits at the bottom of the plate used to serve each dish. The dinner plate cannot be removed until the main course is finished, so it should be removed together with the main course plate. Place the dinner plate in the middle. The second plate that should be placed is the butter and bread plate. This should be placed on the upper left side of the dinner plate. When you remove the plates before the main course, keep the dinner plates and take away the other empty plates.

You should offer a variety of breads to your guests, this is the purpose of preparing bread and butter plates.

Your napkin should be placed on top of the dinner plate.

4. Place tableware. Although the scene with 3 forks, 2 knives, and 2 spoons looks scary, their arrangement is actually quite simple. Since you use the cutlery from the outside in. Therefore, you should place the fish fork, salad fork, and main fork in order on the left side of the dinner plate. To the right of the dinner plate, you should place a dinner knife, fish knife, and spoon in order. Directly above the plate level, you should place a dessert spoon or dessert fork. The butter knife should be held diagonally across the butter and bread pan. Remove every piece of cutlery from the table as soon as it is used.

If you are not serving fish, there is no need for fish knives and harpoons on the table.

If you are serving shellfish as an appetizer, the shell fork should be placed to the right of the spoon. This is the only fork placed on the right side of the table. #*The distance between the disks must be equal.

5. Place the wine glasses. Wine glasses vary according to the dinner menu. It is customary to have at least one water glass and one wine glass, but there are exceptions. Place the water glass directly above the table knife and in line with the bread and butter plate. Add the wine glass to the right of the water glass, usually directly above the spoon. If you are adding a third glass (for a different wine), it should be placed directly on top, between the water glass and the first wine glass. Champagne glasses can also be placed optionally and should be placed directly above and to the right of the first glass. Like tableware, wine glasses should also be placed in the order of use.

Generally, water glasses are filled with water, while wine and champagne are filled one after another when the food is served.

If you choose to serve coffee (a nine-course menu), the coffee should be served in a small coffee cup (an espresso cup) at the end, with the fruit and cheese plates removed.

Part 2: Adjust the placement of each dish

1. Set the table and serve the soup. Soup is the first course and can be served in 2 ways: bring the same soup bowl out of the kitchen, or offer water or cream soup and serve it in a new bowl at the table. The last option is to serve the soup (carefully) in clean bowls at the table. To prevent splatter, soup bowls should be served on a plate. When the guests have finished the soup, the spoon should be placed (side of the bowl facing up) to the right of the bowl, on top of the plate. Plates, bowls and spoons should be removed after the first course.

Even if butter is used in the soup, the bread and butter dish should still be left on the table.

2. Arrange the fish on the table. After the soup is removed, the fish should be served on a special fish plate. This dish should be served on a dinner plate and eaten with a fish knife and fish fork (the utensils furthest from the dinner plate). When the fish is finished, the fish knife and fork should be placed diagonally on the plate, likening the plate to a clock, with the handles of the knife and fork facing four o'clock.

3. Set the main course on the table. Entrees should be served on large, preheated plates.

This dish should be served on a dinner plate and eaten with a dinner fork or dinner knife. When all guests have finished their main courses, the plates, dinner plates, dinner knives, and dinner forks can be removed together. Forks and knives are usually placed diagonally on the plate, in the same manner as harpoons and fish knives.

4. Set the salad on the table. Salads are usually served after the main course at a formal dinner. The dinner plate has been removed and the salad plate can be placed in the middle of the original dinner plate. The last remaining fork should be used for this dish. When the salad is finished eating, the salad plate, salad fork, bread and butter plate on which the butter fork is placed, as well as wine glasses and champagne glasses should be removed. Just leave the water glass and dessert spoon (or dessert fork) behind.

5. Set the table for desserts. Unless you're doing a very formal nine-course meal, dessert and coffee are usually the last course of dinner. In any case, desserts should be served on a plate and placed in the center of the tableware. A small coffee or tea cup should be placed to the right of the dessert and below the water glass, with a teaspoon. If necessary, cream and sugar can be placed on the table for coffee or tea. When dessert is finished, all plates should be removed, leaving a clean table.

Tip: Choose low-key decorations. You also don’t want to distract from your guests’ impressions and conversations while they’re dining.

Unless it’s a very formal dinner, don’t be afraid to mix and match if you don’t have enough matching tableware for an average dinner. Mixing and matching is becoming more and more popular.

The most important thing to remember when setting the table is to make sure your guests are comfortable. As dinners become more casual, it becomes extra fun to put your heart and soul into preparing a formal dinner. However, don't neglect your guests' comfort and your own enjoyment (that's often why we entertain). If you don't have formal catering equipment, you can rent it or improvise. Some great-looking dining tables are the result of improvisation using unexpected materials.