To the left of the plate, place the fork on the napkin. On the right of the plate, place the knife closest to the plate and then the spoon. Directly above the knife, place the water glass. To the right and slightly above the water glass, place the wine glass or a glass for another beverage.
The first and basic rule to get you started is: Utensils are placed in the order of use; from the outside in. A second rule, with only a few exceptions, is: Forks go to the left of the plate, and knives and spoons go to the right. (The oyster fork is the only fork placed to the right of the setting if it will be used.)
In general, you use your utensils from the outside in, so the appetizer and soup utensils are on the outside of the setting (furthest away from the plate), and the dinner knife and fork are closer to the plate. So as a meal starts you use the flatware from the outside first, and work your way in as the meal progresses.
Forks go to the left of the plate, and knives and spoons go on the right. Knives should always face inward towards the plate. If you're not serving soup, you don't need a spoon. Always line up the bottoms of the silverware.
If you're using napkins, these should be folded and placed underneath the forks or to the left of them. If you're laying all your cutlery on one side, your napkin should sit underneath your silverware. You can also lay your napkins on top of the dinner plates.
The three types of setting are: Backdrop Setting (vague and simple time and location), Temporal Setting (focus on the time of a setting), and Environmental Setting (focus on the place of a setting).
Glassware. Glassware should be set above and to the right of the dinner plate with a red wine glass, a white wine glass and a water glass.
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined location, like Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
The basic rule is: Utensils are placed in the order of use; that is, from the outside in. A second rule, with only a few exceptions, is: Forks go to the left of the plate, and knives and spoons go to the right. And finally, only set the table with utensils you will use. No soup; no soup spoon.
Top left to right: Side Plate, Water Glass, Juice Glass, Coffee Cup and Saucer. Bottom left to right: Salad Fork, Dinner Fork, Luncheon Plate, Napkin, Dinner Knife, Teaspoon.
Dinner Knife—The dinner knife sits on the right side of the dinner plate with the plate facing in. Soup Spoon—Similar to the salad fork, the soup spoon is typically used before the main course, therefore, should sit on the outside of the dinner knife on the right side of of the plate.
The Basics of Proper Silverware Etiquette
All you need to do is work your way inward: Begin with the soup course (use the soup spoon on the far right) Then the salad (salad fork, far left) Followed by the main course (table and dinner fork, the two innermost pieces).
For an informal dinner, you may place the plate or bowl containing the first course (appetizer, salad, or soup) directly on the dinner plate after the guests are seated. Then remove it, leaving the dinner plate until the entree is ready to serve.
The three most common types of table settings are formal, casual, and basic. Each place setting includes utensils and dinnerware pieces that would normally be used with the corresponding style of dining.
The type of setting that stands out from the pack is one that involves an unusual time period, geographical location, or even conceptual space. As a theoretical example, most books are set in the physical world, but very few are set inside the imagination of a dog.
Where is the napkin supposed to go? If you have enough room between place settings, the napkin should go to the left of the fork(s). If you don't have room, the napkin should be placed on the plate or charger. It should never go in the water glass or tea cup, no matter how pretty it makes the table setting look.
Pre-plated food (considering the exceptions above), beverages, all empty plates, and utensils should be served from the guest's right.
So long as it is a time and a place, it can be a setting; outer space, the ocean, a boat, a moving vehicle, a city, someone's house, a single room, an entire planet. Since just about anywhere can be a setting, what ultimately matters is how does a setting influence a story.
A story's setting refers to where and when the story takes place. Therefore, the two elements that make up a story's setting are time (when) and place (where).