Hello Friends!

In today’s post I’m going to show you how to manage and set up the table and the service for an important dinner or a formal event.

The event could be one of several types: a formal dinner with friends, a Christmas dinner, an engagement party, a baptism party and more. In all of these cases, if you don’t want to pay someone for managing all the details, one of the most important things to consider is how perfectly prepare the table and the service as well.

How to choose the right size for the tables and the number of guests

For square or rectangle shape tables, it will be easy to know how many people can sit there (usually I consider that one person takes almost 60/65 cm), in case of round table it is a bit more complicate to choose how many covers arrange. The following data are helpful to establish how many guests per round tables given the diameter of the table itself:

•  80 cm = 2 or 3 guests maximum;
•  100 cm = 4 guests;
• 120 cm = 5 guests;
• 140 cm = 6 – 8 guests;
•  160 cm = 8 – 9 guests;
• 180 cm = 10 – 11 guests;
• 200 cm = 12 guests.

How set perfectly the table

Tablecloth and napkins should be perfectly ironed. The tablecloth should have the iron folding in the direction of the honor guest. For round tables the iron folding is the starting point for set up all the places at the table: you should set the first two along the iron folding and then all the other around the first two symmetrically. For square or rectangular tables, the napkins should be set one in front of the other.

Here an example for a perfect furnished table for a complete dinner (appetizer, first and main course, side dish and dessert).

Chose the right service

The main options for the service are:

• Russian Service: it is the most complicated. The food is on a cart, called “gueridon”, and the waiter prepare the dishes in front of the guests. This kind of service is really formal and it is used in luxury restaurants and hotels.
• English Service: It is perfect for dinners in which the dishes are the same for all the guests. The waiter stays on the left side of each guest and serves them the food.
• Direct French Service: the waiter stays on the left side of each guest with the tray and the guest himself take the food from the tray.
• Indirect French Service: the food’s tray is posed in the center of the table. In this case the main guest or the master of the house serves all guests at the same table.
• Italian Service: the dishes are set prepared in the kitchen and after that they are carry to the guests. This service is really quick and cheaper than the previous services.
• Buffet: it is not a real service, in this kind of service the dishes are placed on a specific table and the guests take the food by themselves.

How to manage perfectly a buffet table

The most important choice is to decide the right size for the table: it should be big enough for placing all dishes in proper way. The dishes should stay not too close to each other and, at the same time they should stay not too far each other. For choosing the proper size for the table the good ratio is 1:10 1 meter of table per 10 guests.

Choosing the size, the next step is how to set up it. There are two principal way for doing that:

• To create islands based on the food category: one for each course (appetizer, first dish, main course, side dish and dessert).
• To set up a single table with all the courses divided in categories.

I think it is all you should know for perfectly managing an event and setting up properly the table.

I hope this post could be useful also the engaged couples that are going to prepare their wedding day, and for being prepared to talk with the catering services.

I hope you enjoy this post! Let me know if you already know these “rules” and if you have other suggestions to add on this list.

e’ll see soon with new topics!

Stay Tuned

Tricks in this post:
1. How to properly set up the table;
2. Several kind of services;
3. How manage a buffet.