A New Dinner Set?

Setting the Table with your Dinner Set

Proper family meal times appear to be becoming somewhat of a rarity today. Families are often at home at different times of the day and are often in a rush to eat and then get on with work or homework. So whenever you do have the chance to get together for a meal it is nice to sit down all together at the table. It is times like this that having a proper dinner set comes in handy - it means that everybody at the table has their own individual set of plates, cutlery and other items such as glasses so that everyone can enjoy their meal together.

For families that usually eat their meals in front of the TV or on the way out of the door, buying a dinner set can be the first step to making a commitment to share more family time. This can be a completely new experience for some, and so it may be that you just don’t know how you should be setting the table. Although it doesn’t matter too much at first, if you want to later expand the dinner and invite other people it looks far more impressive if the dinner set is laid out properly. Also, it can help to avoid confusion about which item belongs to who if there is consistency in how the dinner set is laid out.

Simple Dinner Set Layout

The simplest way to lay out a table is to place the salt and pepper and other condiments in the centre and work around that to lay the other pieces of the dinner set. Begin with the dinner plates, which should be laid out around an inch from the edge of the table. Any nearer to the edge and they risk being knocked off.

Next lay the cutlery around the plate. The knife should go on the right of the plate, with the blade facing in towards the plate. The fork then simply goes on the other side of the plate. A tablespoon should then also be placed for each person which should be laid next to the knife on the right hand side. If you are planning on having starters or other courses then you should place additional cutlery at the outside of the fork and tablespoon. Forks should be placed on the left always and spoons on the right. These should work from the outside in, so the fork for the starter is placed on the outside of the main dinner fork. If you are planning on having dessert then the fork for this should be placed on the inside of the dinner fork as it is going to be used last.

Every person on the table will need at least one glass although you may want to place two if you are intending on having wine with the meal as well as water. The glass should be placed to the right of each person, and goes directly above the knife and tablespoon.

A nice little touch is to also lay a napkin out with the dinner set for each person. This should be folded into a triangle and may be placed either on the dinner plate or next to the fork.

Posts about Dinner Sets as of March 23, 2009