The key to stress-free entertaining lies in planning ahead and being organized. As soon as the menu is finalized for the meal, it is time to start thinking about the what will be needed for the table setting and what will need to be done before Thanksgiving day to ensure that everything is ready for your guests when they arrive for dinner.

Do the tablecloth and napkins need to be pressed? Does the silver need to be polished? Does the crystal need to be cleaned? Are there enough platters, as well as serving utensils for the platters, for the dishes that will be offered? These are just some of the things that will need to be done ahead of time so that on the actual holiday all you will need to be concerned with is the meal itself–not a small task.

Below are some helpful tips to consider when setting the table:

• The initial sight of the table should be aesthetically pleasing–be it elegant or simple.

• Whether opulent, conservative, or eclectic, the china, linens, flowers, and candles should all
  work together. You can mix and match china, for instance, as long as the patterns complement each other and go with the overall look and color scheme of the table.

• Candles and centerpieces should be about two inches below eye level of your guests. The flowers at the dining table must be low enough so that guests can see one another across the table. White or ivory tapers are appropriate for any table, and of course they should be free of fragrance.

• Candles should be lit only at dusk, or later, or on overcast days when the table might otherwise be gloomy.

• Flowers should not be so overly fragrant that they overpower the food.

• If you use a tablecloth, it should hang no more than 12” from the top of the table—unless it is a floor length tablecloth. And, of course, it should wrinkle and/or crease-free. 

• Space between each place setting: You will need to measure approximately two feet from the center of one place setting to the center of the next place setting. You don’t want guests so far apart that they can’t talk, or too close together that it is difficult for the waiters to serve. For meals during the holidays when we to try to seat more people than the table was meant for, it may not be possible to follow this guideline. 

• Napkins at a formal meal should be all cotton or linen and match the color of the tablecloth (generally white or ivory). Formal dinner napkins are 22 to 26” square.

• If napkin rings are used, guests would place their empty napkin rings above and to the left of the dinner plate during the meal.

• The service plate or charger, which is usually twelve inches in diameter, is on the table when guests sit down. It should be placed one inch from the edge of the table. It is generally removed from the table after the entree course, but can be removed after the soup or salad course as long as another plate is immediately placed on the table before each guest. 

• Plates for each course should be situated as neatly and as uniformly as possible so that the food “faces” each guest the same way. At dessert, for example, wedges of pie and cake should point toward the diner.

• Set the table with all the cutlery that will be necessary for the entire meal.

• The table is set with the cutlery arranged in order of use—from the outside in. Do not expect guests to use the same fork for their entrée that they used for their salad at a formal meal when courses are served, as opposed to buffet style when one fork would be acceptable. 

• For whatever course comes first, you will place the utensil in the extreme right or left of the charger; for the next course the next utensil in, and so on. If it is a formal dinner the server will remove any forks, spoons, or knives that are unnecessary, after each course. Then the correct utensil will be next in line.

• The cutlery should be lined up evenly on either side of the place plate, with the dessert fork and spoon placed diagonally across the top of the plate.  The water glass is placed directly above the dinner knife.

• Do not pick up silverware by the handle, since this will leave fingerprints. Nor should you pick up or touch any part of the silverware that will touch the food. Instead, pick up silverware by the neck. Leave 18” between the inside fork and the inside knife for a la carte; and 12” at a banquet.

• The table setting should be a thumb’s length from the edge of the table.

• Chairs should be pulled out 12” from the table, just brushing the tablecloth.

• At a minimum, crystal at a formal dinner should include stemmed glasses for wine and water.

• Put out separate wineglasses for each different wine you plan to serve during the meal.

• When placing the wine or water glasses on the table, lift the glass by the stem.

• Provide at least one salt and one pepper for every two guests.

SERVING DISHES

• As courses are served, sauces, gravies, and vinaigrettes prepared especially for particular dishes are placed on the table in bowls with serving spoons for each.

• Even if you are having a less formal dinner—unless it is a picnic—all condiments, such as mustard and ketchup, should be decanted into attractive containers accompanied by a spoon or whatever utensil is appropriate for the condiment.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick
November 2019