You've seen them in the movies, and maybe thought of holding one yourself, a formal dinner. But there is more to this endeavor than just a gourmet meal. Long before the first portion of food is prepared, you need to make sure you have the right dining tables and settings.
First, consider where you are going to hold your dinner. If you have an old, worn dining table, this may not be the best choice for a formal venue. Although many old dining tables have been dressed up with a tablecloth, napkins and other accents to look the part.
Hutches For Desks
Also think about the number of people you are planning to invite to your formal dinner. Are you only having a small group of people over? Or are you thinking of inviting a large number of family and friends? If you have a bigger number you may need to have multiple dining tables set up for the occasion.
Next, you need to know you will have the right kind and number of settings at your dining tables for the formal meal. You should know what would fit into the cover of your table. A cover is the amount of space that each member of the dinner party is given. Generally, 20-24 inches of space will be given to each person at dining tables. In this space will have to fit all the things they are to use in the meal, such as a service plate, silverware, glasses, napkin and bread plate.
When it comes to the arrangement of these items remember the service plate is the center of attention for all food items until the main course is served. Soup bowls and salad plates will be set on top of this plate. Next, you need to consider the silverware. If you are serving a number of courses, make sure the appropriate silverware is in the right place on the table. For example, if you are serving salad first, the salad fork should be on the far outside on the left side of the plate with the dinner fork (or next course fork) the next closest to the plate, and so on. Knives and spoons are to be put on the right side of the plate with the cutting side facing the plate. Spoons are on the outside of the knives.
The water glass should be placed at the tip of the knife and the napkin set beside the forks (to the left).
While this may be a lot to think about before you begin planning a dinner menu, knowing what type of items need to be on the table and how many of each you need may save you a lot of stress in the long run of not being able to put all the items you need on the table or running out. Once you have made your tally of the items you have and will need to appropriately set each place setting, you can change your menu to suit your needs (or know what you need to buy more of).