HOW TO SET THE TABLE

Your guide to the perfect place setting

We love a get-together.

For 70 years, we’ve been setting the standard for elegant table settings with exquisite stainless-steel cutlery and tableware designed to make every mealtime memorable.
Whether it’s a relaxed kitchen supper or a formal dinner party, plan your tablescape as thoughtfully as you would your menu with iconic designs crafted to elevate the everyday.

Feeling daunted? Can’t fathom the fish cutlery? Confused about candlesticks?
From setting out the correct cutlery to where to place the glasses, follow our expert guide to laying the table and turn every meal into an occasion.

Hosting a special celebration? Be inspired by our how-to tablescaping guides:

Christmas

Easter

Thanksgiving

“The world was my oyster, but I used the wrong fork.”

Oscar Wilde

Table etiquette can be confusing. Which side should the side plates be? Which way round does the dessert cutlery go? How many glasses should I have?

The general rule with cutlery is to start from the outside and work inwards, from starters to the main course.

Dessert cutlery goes above the plate, the spoon above the fork, tines pointing to the right so they can be effortlessly moved down when the main course is finished.

Side plates – butter knives on top – sit to the left of any forks. Glasses for red wine, white wine and water – depending on how formal the occasion – are arranged in a triangular shape above the knives.

Ensure everything sits neatly on the table and each place setting looks the same with all knife blades pointing inwards.

Ideally, the distance between the table and the edge of the cutlery and the charger should be a thumbnail, or 15mm. Each place setting should be uniform.

Effortless entertaining

“The etiquette of the dinner table should be mastered by all who aspire to the entree of good society. Ease, savoir-faire and good breeding are nowhere more indispensable than at the dinner table, and the absence of them is nowhere more apparent. How to eat soup and what to do with a cherry stone are weighty considerations when taken as the index of social status…”

Dunbar’s Complete Handbook of Etiquette, 1884

While the correct positioning of cutlery is, surely, the cake itself, the rest of the tablescape is both the icing and the cherry. From how to fold napkins to where to position the candelabrum, thoughtful placing of flowers, serveware, condiments and candles introduces height, light and texture and is key to hosting a gathering your guests will remember for all the right reasons.

 

Runners, tablecloths and placemats

If you’re precious about your table, a baize or other heatproof protector underneath a starched, ironed linen tablecloth is the smart choice. A runner will also save the surface from heat damage and can form an elegant backdrop to votives and floral arrangements.

Wine and Champagne

Both red and white wine glasses should be polished and placed on the table when you are laying up – see above.

Champagne flutes can be kept on a tray until needed, unless a toast is proposed, in which case they should sit between the red and white wine glasses.

Drinks are served and cleared from the right.

Keep wine cool in a Drift Double-Walled Wine Cooler or Champagne Bucket. Hosting a party? Kick-start the celebrations and impress your guests with the Drift Champagne / Wine Bucket Grand.

Water

Always offer your guests iced water at the table, from a refillable pitcher. Our Drift Pitchers are both practical and elegant.

Napkins and napkin rings

Napkins are a moveable feast. For an informal kitchen supper, loosely fold an ironed napkin on top of the main course plate and top with sprigs of woody herbs and greenery from the garden tied with ribbon or twine. For more formal occasions, slip napkins into a decorative napkin ring. At Christmas, it’s fun to fold them into a tree shape, or a bow tie.

Candles and candelabrum

Everyone looks at their best in candlelight. Candles add both drama and height to your table, day or night. Note the eyeline of your guests and don’t place candles or candelabrum in the way of conversation, forcing guests to peer around them to talk. Our textured Honeybourne and Palm cutlery collections catch candlelight perfectly.

Flowers

Table flowers don’t always have to be enormous, show-stopping formal arrangements in elaborate vases. Weave seasonal blooms and greenery foraged from the garden around the base of Windrush Candlesticks along the centre of the table. Or place single blooms in odd numbers of Drift Bud Vases along a runner for a contemporary display.

Mills and pinch pots

On a long table, two sets of mills or pinch pots are a must, so you don’t inconvenience your guests with continual requests to pass them. When you are asked to pass either the salt or the pepper, it is good manners to place both by their place setting. And when serving, seasoning should be applied to the side of your plate, not directly on to your food.

Coffee

Never lay coffee cups on the table at the start of a meal. They should be waiting in the wings on a tray for the moment pudding is cleared away, then placed where the wine glasses once were.

Serve in a Drift Coffee Pot – the delicately scrolled handle makes a perfect heart shape when it’s reflected on the lid.

 

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