How to Place Dinner Plates for Table Settings
Arranging tableware neatly can give the dinner table an elegant look and feel, appropriate for semi-formal and formal dinners. Although it can differ slightly, commonly accepted etiquette rules dictate where the dinner plates should be placed. Following these rules will make your table easy to set up, as well as look inviting and sophisticated.
Things you will need:
- Placemat
- Charger plates
- Dinner plates
- Salad plates
- Soup bowls
- Bread plates
- Butter spreader
- Place a placemat your color of choosing squarely in front of each chair. Choose a color that compliments the color scheme of your dining room to help tie it all together.
- Allow at least 24 inches for each setting, and keep the placement about 2 inches away from the edge of the table. This allows guests ample elbow and comfort room.
- Use a charger plate that matches your color scheme. Charger plates are the lightweight, decorative plates on which the dinner plate sits. Charger plates are not generally used in casual dining, but add a beautiful touch to semi-formal and formal settings. Center the charger plate on the placemat.
- Place the dinner plate in the middle of the charger plate. White dinner plates look classy, but any color or design is appropriate as long as it is matching. The dinner plate will be smaller than the charger plate.
- Put a salad plate on top of the dinner plate. The salad plate will be smaller than the dinner plate. It will be moved when it is time to plate the salad.
- Place a soup bowl, if using these, on top of the salad plate. You will now have the charger plate, dinner plate, salad plate and soup bowl stacked, in that order, in one spot on the placemat.
- Put a bread plate to the top left of the dinner plate. The bread plate will hold any rolls or small side items.
- Set a butter spreader across the bread plate, directly on it. If desired, silverware wrapped in napkins can be placed directly on top of the soup bowl, laid flat across.