The main principle of table setting is utensils and table attributes complying with the occasion — friend meeting, business lunch, family holiday or others — and menu.
The general table setting order would be the following:
1. Lay the table with an under flannel table-cloth, tying it with ribbons to table legs. Lay main elegant table-cloth over, so as its edges come 7-10 inches down the table edges. In some cases special table-nets could be used.
2. Place the plates right in front of each table back: for breakfast use a single salad plate, for dinner and evening meal use 2 plates (small patty plate and salad plate), placing one upon another while reducing the sizes). The deep and dessert plates appear on the table later. If there are no cold starters in the menu, then place two plates at a time — a salad plate and a deep plate on it, dessert plates appear later on.
The nearest lower plate edge shouldn’t come closer than 1 inch to the table edge.]
3. Place folded napkin in the upper plate. For breakfast use 13x13 inch napkin, for dinenr and evening meal use 20x20 inch napkins.
4. Place flatware: spoons and knifes are to the right from plates, forks are to the left. The sharp knife edges are to be turned towards the plates, the fork tips are to be turned up.
The pattern of table setting is dependent on the type of menu. The most common way of dinner serving is the following : cold starters (they are eaten with fork and knife), soup (it is eaten with a tablespoon), main hot dish (table knife and fork), dessert (dessert knife, fork and spoon).
The set pieces that are used the first are placed farer from the plates, the pieces to be used the last — near the plates.
Note how dessertware should be placed. They are always place over the plate: knife first, then comes fork, next spoon. The handles are turned in the direction of the hand which would take them.
5. 2-6 inches to the left of main plates place personal patty plate. If there is butter in the menu, then put butter knife (or table knife) over the patty plate.
