Family celebrations, intimate gatherings with friends, romantic date nights – it’s time to celebrate the art of dining. These days, we’re so used to eating off the lounge room coffee table or our kitchen benchtop that we’ve lost the art of setting the dining table. Setting your dining room table is an art, it changes depending on the event, the time and the company – but let us show you the ropes on how to prepare the perfect setting no matter the occasion. First things first, do you have a table and chairs that fits your needs? If you’re needing some inspiration on how to style the perfect dining room, let us help you out. The perfect dining table & dining chairs dictate the type of entertaining you can do, so find a setting you will love for years to come. Now that you have found the perfect dining room furniture, lets talk about how to set the table. Your table setting – whether it is for Christmas, a wedding, or just a formal family dinner – is often the first reference point your guests get for the feast ahead. So if you really want to impress, read our guide to setting the table for: A basic dinner

An informal dinner

A formal dinner

A wedding

A Christmas dinner

Table Place Setting Etiquette: The Basics There are a few standard rules that apply to any table layout, whether you’re hosting this week’s Sunday roast or charged with designing the place settings for the next wedding in the family. Here are the few stock-standard rules you should know before you launch straight into the Christmas dinner table setting extravaganza. A basic table setting needs, at a minimum: A table

A dinner plate

A fork

A knife

A glass These standard rules apply across any table setting arrangement. To begin, the plate always sits in the centre of the arrangement, about an inch from the table’s edge. Everything else revolves around the plate, with an equal distance between each item. Almost without exception, you’ll find the forks on the left and the knives on the right. The knife blade should turn in towards the plate. If you have more than one course – and so more than one set of cutlery – the “outwards-in” rule applies. That is, keep the cutlery you’ll use for the first course the furthest from the plate. A handy rule to keep in mind is this: Solids on the left, liquids on the right. This means you keep your bread and butter plate on the left, but any drinking glasses on the right. Informal Table Settings

A dinner plate

A napkin

A salad plate

A fork

A salad fork

A bread and butter plate

A butter knife A dinner knife

A teaspoon

A soup spoon

A water glass

A wine glass

A mug An informal dinner is generally considered one that covers two or three courses. That could include a salad or soup, a main course, and a dessert. It’s not a hard slog by any means, but it certainly calls for a bit more fanfare than your regular TV dinner ritual.When you want to add a bit of flair to your table setting, you may want to consider placemats or a tablecloth. Make sure any placemats are spaced evenly apart, an inch or two from the edge of the table. And of course, try to ensure the tablecloth hangs evenly either side of the table. You may notice the table setting looks a little more filled out. (which is where an extendable dining table like these may come in handy). Along with the basic table setting etiquette above, there are a few more things to note for an informal dinner. When you’re serving up an informal dinner, you want to ensure there’s enough cutlery to last the whole meal. You can lay everything out in one go, or you can bring out the mug and saucer or dessert utensils later in the night. If you choose to keep mugs or cups on the table, make sure their handles are tilted to the right. If you choose to supply a plate for the bread and butter, position it just above the forks, to the left of your dinner plate. Place the butter knife parallel to the table with the handle pointing to the right. If you’re serving a salad or a soup entrée, you may include a salad fork or a round soup spoon. Whichever the case, these utensils should remain furthest from your plate, alongside the other cutlery. You shouldn’t have more than one wine glass, although an additional glass or tumbler for water is fine. If you do serve more than one glass or mug, make sure the wine glass sits to the right of the water glass and to the left of the coffee cup. Dessert spoons can sit either to the right of your dinner knife, or you can position it (along with the dessert fork), just above the plate. Finally, don’t serve up any utensils you won’t be needing! A salad fork will only serve to fill space if you’re not actually serving a side of greens.

Formal Table Settings A formal table setting is reserved for those all-out occasions that call for your best china or crystal. It’s usually only an occasion for more than three courses. A typical formal dinner may include a soup followed by a fish course, then the main meal or meat course, a salad, and finally, dessert. If you really want to get it right, you need to make sure your table setting is entirely symmetrical. Everything should be evenly spaced. A tablecloth

A charger or service plate

A napkin

A fork

A salad fork

A bread and butter plate

A butter knife

A dinner knife A dessert spoon

A dessert fork

A soup spoon

An oyster fork

A water glass

A red wine glass

A white wine glass

A champagne flute A formal dinner is different to an informal dinner because every used dish and piece of cutlery is taken away at the end of each course. Each new course is brought out on fresh dishes. There may be a real collection of cutlery, with anything from salad forks to oyster forks on the table. Don’t forget the golden rule to place the fork that will be used first on the outer right edge, and so on. However, there is an exception to this! Make sure your oyster fork sits on the far right, beside your knife or soup spoon. The formal dinner often features a charger or service place. The charger is never actually used to eat food on; it serves as a hotplate for the soup and fish courses. It’s removed before the main course comes out. The napkins can sit either folded on the charger or left of the fork. Alternatively, for an extra flourish, you can place them in a delicate fold in the wineglass. You’ll note that there are more glasses on the table than you may, perhaps, need. There can be as many as four or five glasses on the table. The water glass stays on the table throughout the meal. However, the red and white wine glasses and champagne flutes are generally reserved for just one course each. With the gluttony of cutlery surrounding either side of your plate, you can keep the dessert cutlery separate. Place them instead above your plate, with the dessert fork placed horizontally directly above the charger. The dessert fork will have the handle to the left. The dessert spoon goes above it with the handle to the right. You’ll note an absence of the cups and saucers. These only come out when all the other courses have been finished and the table is cleared for coffee and tea at the end of the meal (and for a well-deserved catering break!).