Snaza
The Snaza Journal

At the table

Set a table, find your bread plate and glasses, hold cutlery and glassware with ease and feel comfortable at a formal dinner.

3 guides

A white plate with folded linen napkin sits between silver cutlery and two stemmed glasses on a white cloth

Table settings follow a simple logic: work from the outside in, bread on the left, drinks on the right. Once you know it, even a formal setting is easy to read.

These guides explain place settings from simple to formal, how to hold cutlery and glassware, and the small courtesies that help everyone feel at ease.

Guides

  1. An overhead formal place setting shows a charger folded napkin arranged silverware bread plate and four glasses on white linen.

    At the table

    Formal table setting: how to set a formal dinner table

    How to set a formal table: cutlery from the outside in, glasses in order of use, the bread plate, dessert cutlery and place cards, following Emily Post.

  2. A hand holds a glass of white wine low on the stem against a softly lit dinner table.

    At the table

    How to hold a wine glass, and other small table habits

    How to hold a wine glass by the stem and why, how to toast, and how to hold a fork and knife in the American and Continental styles, with where to rest them.

  3. A simple place setting with the fork on the left, knife on the right, bread plate above left and water glass above right.

    At the table

    How to set a table: the basic place setting

    How to set a table for everyday meals and for dinner: where the plate, fork, knife, spoon, glass and napkin go, and how to read a setting as a guest.