Tips for the Table
The Proper Place Setting

When setting a table, only those utensils required by the menu should be placed on the table. And make sure there's a comfortable distance between the center of one person's plate to the center of the adjoining plate. All flatware should be lined up evenly along the bottom edge of the plate in the order of use, from the outside, in towards the plate. The rim of the empty dinner plate (or service plate for a formal meal) should be one inch from the edge of the table. (If you will be serving a salad course to start an informal meal, place the empty salad plate in the center of the dinner plate.) Arrange the napkin to the left of the plate, either under the forks or to the left of them. (Napkins with pretty frills should be folded so the frill is facing out to the left.) At a formal dinner, place the napkin on the serving plate and use a decorative fold or a napkin ring.

Time-tested rules govern the placement of flatware and also instruct guests (without being told) which knife, fork or spoon to use for each course. Most forks go to the left of the plate in the order of use, beginning from the outside. If you are serving a salad course before the entrée, for example, the short-pronged salad fork should go to the far left, but if you plan to serve the salad after dinner, the salad fork goes between the dinner fork and the dinner plate. Most knifes go to the right of the plate with the cutting edge facing the plate. If providing a fish knife or a steak knife, it goes to the right of the dinner knife. And if a salad knife is required, it goes to the far right or far left, depending on the sequence of a salad course. Teaspoons (for coffee or tea) go to the right of the dinner knife and a soup spoon, if using, or a cocktail fork goes to the far right of the knives. Dessert utensils, however, are a different matter altogether. Dessert forks and spoons should be placed (horizontally) above the top rim of the dinner plate with the prongs of the fork pointing to the right and the bowl of the spoon facing left; if using both, the fork goes above the spoon.

Other elements of a place setting include bread and butter plates and butter knives. These go to the upper left of the dinner plate, just over the forks; the butter knife goes across the plate with its handle on the right and its cutting edge facing the forks. If you are supplying individual salt and pepper dispensers for each guest, they go above the forks, to the left of the dessert utensils; if two guests will be sharing these, place them in between them. Glasses should be placed above the knives, with the water goblet above the first knife and the wine glass to its right. If there are several glasses for multiple wines, group them in a semicircle (from left to right) in the order of use or place them in order of height, descending from the water goblet toward the right. (Only remove a wine glass when it's empty, even if a new wine has been poured.) Finally, when a hot beverage will be served with the meal, the cup and saucer should be placed to the upper right of the teaspoon. But if coffee will be served in the living room after the meal, accompany each cup with a teaspoon placed on the saucer.