How to Serve and Remove Dishes

Although manners have become more relaxed over the years, a formal dinner still requires that proper etiquette be followed-both by the hosts and the guests. Before you start preparing for your elegant evening, it is important to brush up on your table manners. How you serve and remove dishes will go a long way in making your event a success. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Set the dinner table in advance of your guests' arrival. Each place setting should have all of the necessary dishes, silverware and glassware for the upcoming meal.

2

Place the silverware beside the plate, with the knives and the soup spoon on the right and the forks on the left. The outermost fork and knife should correspond to the first course of the meal. The only exception to this is the oyster fork, which is always placed to the right of the knives.

3

Consider using a charger if soup is being served. A charger is a small plate which sits below the soup bowl, is aesthetically pleasing and is often used to catch messy drips. It is also a place to rest the soup spoon after the course is complete.

4

Arrange the glassware to the right of the place setting. The water glass should be placed at 12 o'clock, followed on the right by the red and the white wine glasses. If a dessert wine is being served, it should be placed behind the red and white wine glasses to form a triangle.

5

Serve dishes from the left and remove them from the right side of each guest, serving guests of honor first and women before men. Drinks, however, should be served and removed from the right.

6

Remove dishes between courses, but only after every guest has finished eating. Each course should be presented to the guests at the same time and, subsequently, removed at the same time. This helps define each course and promotes a more relaxed dining atmosphere.