Informal Place Setting
Setting an informal table can be easy for every night. Start with placemats, whether rectangle or circle. I prefer the look of circle placemats but I also like the extra room the rectangle mats give. I like for all my silverware to be on the placemat and not on the table or tablecloth. Word to the wise, it’s not a good idea to wash and dry your new placemats the day of a dinner party. I ruined a set of 8 - one Saturday morning.
Quickly look down at your hands - make a circle with your thumb & index finger to make a lowercase “d” with your right hand and a lowercase “b” with your left hand. This sets up your place setting. The “b” stands for a bread plate which goes to the left of the plate and the “d” drinking glasses are set to the right of the dinner plate. Another way to remember this is BMW - or “bread, meal, water” and set the table in that order.
Glassware can be as simple or complex as you like - depending on the occasion. Every setting should have a glass for water or tea and usually closest to the plate. I use the water glass to anchor the placemat. This helps your guest know which glass is theirs. Wine glasses can have a stem or be stemless. I use both. Stems look pretty on the table but stemless can be more practical & less likely to get broken. I was at a dinner party once where the hostess didn’t have a single stemmed wine glass left at the end of the night.
If you are enjoying a little bubbly sparkling wine before dinner or celebrating with a toast, flute glasses are nice to use. They can also have stems or be stemless. The flutes aren’t always set with the table. They can be handed to your guest upon arrival or brought to the table for a toast.
Under the glasses on the right side, are the knife and spoon. The knife is placed closest to the plate with the blade pointing inward. The soup spoon is placed on the outside of the knife. If you aren’t serving soup, the spoon can be used for dessert.
The bread plate is set to the left side of the dinner plate. Remember your lowercase “b” fingers? You may use this plate for bread, dessert, or salad depending on your meal. Bread isn’t always served but the extra plate is nice for any discarded items. If the plate is used for salad, it might be stacked on the dinner plate to indicate that salad is the first course. If the plate is used for dessert this can be shown by placing the spoon above the dessert plate. If your table is small, you are welcome to deliver the dessert plate and spoon at that course time.
Below the bread plate are the forks to the left side of the dinner plate. The forks are set in the order of course servings - working from the outside inward. The main course fork is always closest to the dinner plate. The salad fork, which is smaller, is set toward the outside. If you are not serving salad but rather a dessert best eaten with a fork - smaller salad forks can be used and possibly not set with the table. Here’s a winning trivia question for you - the only fork set on the right side of the plate is an oyster fork!
Cloth napkins are a nice touch for any meal. They can be folded in a variety of creative ways but I believe that napkin rings are table jewelry so I like to use them. Napkins should be ironed neatly for a formal table or nice gathering - but a trick is to fold them as soon as you can from the dryer. Fold them crisply and they should keep a nice shape for use on any informal table.
Take a few minutes to set your table for instant polish!
Bye Now.
