There are many festive occasions to set a table fit for a banquet. We will show you step by step how to set a table for a five course meal.
A beautiful tablecloth is always a special way to dress a table. Make sure the plate settings are exactly opposite each other. The backs of the chairs can act as a guide. Allow 50 to 70cm for each person. Start with a charger plate; this is a decorative base for a plate setting, and is positioned exactly in the middle. It should be about a thumb’s width from the edge of the table; this is called the baseline. After the appetiser course, the charger plate is cleared away with the appetiser plate. If you want the table to look particularly festive, you can delicately place an attractive napkin on the charger plate. Classic napkins made of linen and measuring 50 x 50cm are suitable for this. An individual menu card adds a personal touch to any plate setting.
The cutlery required will of course depend on the food you have chosen to serve. In our example, we will be serving beef tenderloin for the main course. Lay the dinner knife to the right, and the dinner fork to the left of the charger plate, placing them the same distance from the edge of the table. The cutting edge of the knife should always be facing towards the plate. We will also be serving a fish course. Lay the fish cutlery next to the main course cutlery, in the same arrangement. Push the fork up slightly, line up the ends of the prongs on the fish fork with the heights of the tips of the prongs in the dinner fork. If you have opted to serve a different entrance course, replace the fish cutlery with other dinner cutlery of the appropriate type. Lay the fork for the entrance course in the same arrangement. It is the only fork in a setting which is pushed upwards, all the other forks on the side are lined up with the base line.
If a soup will be served as the appetizer, add the soup spoon. Place the soup spoon on the right at the same height as the knives. We have decided to serve a salad as the appetizer. We need additional cutlery for this. Again, this is aligned the baseline then place a side plate for bread to the left of the plate setting. Position the top edge of the plate at about the same height as the prongs on the fork which pushed up. Place a small knife on the plate with the cutting edge pointing to the left. The classic choice here is the spreader knife where the tip is slightly wider. This is particularly good for spreading butter. A dessert knife which is just a little larger is also suitable.
Place the dessert cutlery about the plate, parallel to the edge of the table and along the top line. We will be serving chocolate cake for dessert so we will need a dessert spoon and a dessert fork. Place the spoon at the top pointing to the left. Place the fork below pointing to the right.
Now we will put the glasses in position. The first glass or main glass will be a red wine glass. In this case, go with our main course, place it exactly above the main course knife at the height of the dessert cutlery with a top line and the knife line meet. Select any further glasses needed to go with the dishes and place them right next to the main glass in a line. The second wine glass and water goblet will be placed on the right side.
We hope you will be enjoyed this guide on how to set a table for a five course meal. You guests will love it!