How to Set a Formal Table

by Holly Bertone | Pink Fortitude

It’s that time of year where we venture into the dining room and stare at an empty table, trying to remember how to set a formal table for holiday guests. Are the forks on the right or left? This step-by-step tutorial will walk you through the basics. You know me, even when it’s “fancy,” I keep it real and practical.

how to set a formal table, how to, painted furniture

Ever wonder where everything is supposed to go? There are actually quite a few variations out there on how to set a formal table. This is the normal person’s version on how to properly set a table for a nice or formal dinner.

Start with a place mat and entree plate.

You can put the napkin to the left of the forks, but I like placing the napkin in between the entree plate and the salad plate. Depending on the size of your napkin, how many times you need to fold it to fit comfortably.

The salad plate will fit comfortable on top.

Next are the utensils. Forks on the left, knife and spoons on the right. The dessert spoon and fork are placed to the top. I’ve seen the spoons reversed, but I like the symmetry of the bigger to smaller. Don’t forget to polish your silver! (have you seen my tutorial?)

Your glasses will either be on a diagonal or form a triangle to the top right of the place setting. The water glass is always the closest one to you. The red wine glass is set at the top, with the white wine glass in the middle.

The bread plate is placed to the top left. The butter knife can be placed at either the top, middle, or bottom of the bread plate. We don’t have any smaller butter knives, so I used a regular knife just for reference.

Want to see the entire tutorial? Click on the link below and head over to the blog post. I would love for you to stop by and say hello and let me know what you think!