Elegant Table Decorating Ideas

Elegant Tables – The Perfect Setting

The key to setting a table that is elegant AND incorporates your personal style ideas is to make sure the basics are in place and work around them. There are standard ways for a table to be set, and if you get all of your silverware and dishes in the right place, the rest will fall into place naturally. According to Mary Mitchell, author of The Complete Idiots’s Guide to Etiquette, the perfect table settings include five piece sets of flatware and place settings.

Five piece flatware settings include:

• soup spoon
• tea spoon
• salad fork
• dinner fork
• knife

The corresponding five piece place setting includes:

• cup
• saucer
• bread plate
• salad plate/bowl
• dinner plate

If you don’t own a complete setting, don’t fret. These are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. You can still set a beautiful table even if you only have fork, knife and dinner plate. However, if you do own china and a special set of flatware, now is the time to use them. Your best crystal will also give your table setting a touch of class.

There are also guidelines about where these things should be placed on your table. Some table setting rules can be ridiculously complicated, and there’s no need to set a table that is so complex that your guests are intimidated. These basics should serve you well:

• Put glasses to the right of each place setting
• Put the bread plate to the left of each setting (upper corner works best) – the butter knife can be laid across the plate
• The silverware should be set so that the guest works their way from the outside in – salad fork on the outside, then dinner fork. If you have knifes for each course, follow that same pattern. Forks go on the left, knives on the right. If you have a simple one fork/one knife setting, then you can choose between putting one on each side or putting them both on the left, side by side.
• Salad plates can be placed on top of the dinner plate, or you can have the salad plate at the center of the setting and remove it after the salad course, replacing it with the dinner plate.
• If you have a dessert set of flatware, the spoon/fork should go at the top center of the setting.

Elegant Table Decorating Ideas

With your basic place settings in place, you can start to experiment with the actual decoration of your table. This is the fun part, where your imagination can be your guide. The one rule to keep in mind is that you want to set a table that will make your meal a comfortable experience for your guests. For instance, if you plan on serving food that will need to be passed around the table, then using lots of candles on your table may make passing that food difficult for your guests. Likewise, make sure your centerpiece decorations don’t obstruct the field of vision of your guests – you want them to be able to chat freely across the table.

After your table settings, the single most important part of elegant table decorating is choosing your tablecloth. A simple white table cloth is the most classic and the easiest to dress up and down. Of course, you can also use color, especially if your china is white. Steer clear of checkerboard tablecloths and tablecloths with loud designs – these are best used during your more casual meals. If you decide to go with a white tablecloth, a table runner can be added to brighten things up a bit.

The style of accessories you use is a matter of taste, but for the most elegant table, think in terms of either sleek, simple and classic or ornate and Old World traditional. These accessories will look great with all of your elegant table decorating ideas:

• Cloth napkins/napkin rings
• Place cards for each guest
• Fresh seasonal flowers
• Floating candles
• The perfect centerpiece – this depends on the size of your table, but can include wreaths, candles, vases of flowers, bowls filled with baubles – the list is endless. Instead of thinking of small and tall centerpieces, consider going short and long – this means you can decorate the length of your table without obstructing the view of your guests.