3. If You Set the Table Correctly:
• You’ll be sure you
have the dishes you
need.
• Your table will look
nice.
• Your family will know
you care about them.
5. As you set a table you are guided by rules. You may be
thinking that the rules were made to torture you, but
actually they were developed to make things easier.
6. The dinner plate should be placed about 1 inch
from the edge of the table. Do the same for
each place setting.
7. Your knife is always used in your right hand so
place it at the right of the plate (make sense?).
The blade should be toward the plate for safety’s
sake.
8. Cutting your meat will likely be the first thing you
do. You do this with your left hand so place the
fork at the left.
9. The spoon is always used in your right hand so place
it at the right (are you catching on?)
10. Sometimes you have more than one of an item. Place the
one that should be used first on the outside.
11. The napkin goes to the left of forks. Do not place it
under the forks as you will need to handle it first. The
first thing you do when you begin to eat is place the
napkin in your lap.
12. The glass is placed directly above the knife tip.
13. The cup and saucer are placed as shown. Note that the
handle of the cup is pointing toward “3:00 o’clock.”
14. There are two acceptable ways to handle a salad plate.
It may be placed on the plate. In this case, the salad is
eaten before the main course. The plate under it is now
called a service plate or charger.
15. If the salad is to be eaten with the meal, you place it
above the fork. This might also be called a bread and
butter plate. The knife is used to butter bread.
16. Once you use a piece of flatware it is never placed
back on the table. It should rest on your plate as
shown.
17. When you finish eating you should position the
flatware as shown. This assumes that the spoon was
not used.
18. You do not need to set pieces that will not be
needed. Do keep everything in it’s assigned spot.
20. You don’t need to own fancy dishes to set a pretty table.
Even paper products can make a good impression!
21. There are two ways to set a table:
Formal is what you just learned.
Informal means you bend some rules but still make
each place setting look nice and each one is
identifcal.
