appartenville

Theory and practice in 6 steps

Serving a festive table is always a sign of attention to the guests, a way to create a festive atmosphere, as well as an indicator of the artistic taste of the hostess.

• In this article, we will look at the rules of informal serving, that is, those that are appropriate for receiving guests at home in everyday life and on holidays.
• Serving at home depends on the occasion, time of day, theme, and menu, but in all cases, the purpose of serving is the same-to arrange the dishes and appliances so that the diners are comfortable and pleasant to eat.

In the search for serving options, it is necessary to consider:

TIME OF DAY

While getting ready for breakfast, utilize light dishes and brilliant materials made of cotton or cloth. At a merry supper, a decorative spread and napkins made of thick textures of honorable shades — burgundy, dim blue, or gold-are proper.

SEASON OF THE YEAR

For the plan of the table in spring or summer, pick light and radiant shades, and in winter or harvest time more immersed tones. As per the season, you can pick blossoms and different adornments for improvement.

For this purpose, the principles of table setting were invented. In a normal everyday existence, you should only notice each of these sacraments at the most serious events, but whenever you have accepted their quintessence, you will really want to prepare the table with your own hands for any event-from a hearty dinner for a family New Year’s holiday. Before you start, study two examples of table installation plans. As it should be obvious, it is much easier to set a homemade fun table for guests than for an authoritative gathering!

• Tablecloth-Plates – Cutlery-Glasses-Napkins-Decor (vase with flowers, candles, themed decorations).
• The service at home depends on the event, the time of year, the subject, and the menu, but in general, the reason for serving is something very similar to the organization of dishes and machines with the goal of making the cafe pleasant and enjoyable to eat.

Things being what they are, how to prepare the table? We have assembled a bit-by-bit direct in a specific grouping, depicting every one of the stages. So, the most advantageous technique is as per the following:

• Decorative liner Plates – Cutlery-Glasses-Napkins-Decor (jar with blossoms, candles, themed beautifications).

Keep in mind that a few days before the event, you need to solve all the organizational issues and prepare:

• Decide on the number of people, make a menu, put the tablecloth in order, check the quantity and quality of napkins, dishes, and appliances, and think about the decor.

On the day of the reception, wipe all the dishes and appliances clean, and then proceed to set the table.

Step 1. First, lay the tablecloth

The primary concern here is to ensure that the shade of the decorative liner is no pretty much more than 20-30 cm. The more limited shade will look appalling, and the more one will be awkward for those finding a spot at the table. Concerning the tone, you can pick either a mutual benefit and customary white decorative liner, or lay any choice you like, add it with ways and Podtarelnikami as demonstrated in the photograph.

First of all, a tablecloth is laid on the table, it would seem that this is already clear, but this case has its own subtleties. The tablecloth must be absolutely clean, and smoothly ironed, otherwise, it will only be an indicator of your untidiness. After you cover the table with it, make sure that it has the same length everywhere, and at the same time does not hang too low, as long edges can cause inconvenience to guests, and they can be accidentally pulled, which will be an unpleasant end to the holiday. Too-long ends can be secured with fabric snaps, which most often have an interesting design.

In addition, the decorative bedspread should not be too short, otherwise, it will look as if the young lady was wearing a dress several sizes larger. Just in case you don’t have a decorative cover or you don’t need to cover the table irregularly, you can use unusually huge napkins for each person. If it is not too difficult for you, please note that these are not the ones that lie on your lap or with which you wipe your mouth, they are much denser in material, and have huge dimensions, since should fit plates, cutlery, and glasses.

Step 2. Layout the plates

This part of the” service ” hypothesis will be the broadest. All things considered, the organization and combination of plates depend on the organized menu, the number of visitors, and the size of the event. According to traditional table-setting standards, several plates can be set for one person:

Wildcard large plate (serving plate) – it is not required for the daily and everyday table, and some serving styles (for example, rustic) allow its absence. The photo below shows examples of serving with and without a wildcard plate.

You may also need a medium (snack), a small (pie or dessert), and a deep soup plate.

According to the table setting standards, the type of thicker style depends on the type of soup. For a thick one, choose a wide one (photo on the left), for a light broth or cream soup-a a bowl with or without handles (photo on the right). However, this is only a standard that can be completely ignored.

As for the position of the plates, at this point put the slices or deep plates for a special occasion, dessert, and/or a portion of mixed greens plates are set on the left, as shown in the picture on the right. In this place, you can also put a tea pair, a pie plate, or, for example, an egg bowl for Easter. The photo below shows alternatives to happy serving and pieces of plates.

• The plates ought to be set a ways off of 1.5-2 cm from the edge of the table and at a similar separation from one another;
• To prevent the snack plate from sliding on the stand, you need to put a paper or textile napkin between them, as shown in the photo below.

Step 3. We serve a festive table

Presently we continue to the format of the gadgets. They are set on the sides as per the number of changes of dishes (inward side to the table):

• To the right of the plates are knives and spoons;
• On the left – forks
• You can put a teaspoon on top

Serving a festive table at home does not require a large number of special knives, forks, and spoons. Most often, one knife, one fork, and a couple of spoons (for soup and dessert) are enough.

But if necessary and desired, you can additionally serve the table with special forks, knives, and spoons as shown in the following photo collection.

Step 4. Put glasses, wine glasses, glasses

Then, behind the plates, marginally to one side, we put the glasses from the bigger to the more modest. Contingent upon the beverages accessible and the inclinations of the visitors, glasses for water, red/white wine, champagne, and additionally a glass for juice, spirits, and shot glasses are shown.

Types of glasses

Serving a festive table: let’s start with everyone knowing what a glass of “flute” is, since traditionally, especially on New Year’s Eve, champagne is poured into it. Although glasses of this shape are also suitable for sparkling wines. The main feature is the elongated upward shape, which allows the foam to rise, and the air bubbles to play inside the liquid.

Red wine glasses are just as easy to imagine for most, they have a thin stem, a rounded bottom, quite voluminous, and tapering to the top. However, the type of glasses varies greatly depending on the type of wine, for example, wine glasses “Burgundy” and “Montrachet” have a much larger volume, more like a ball or pear, with less tapering to the top. However, people at home and even not always in restaurants follow such subtleties quite rarely.

The white wine glass has a more elongated shape, it looks more like an oval. Usually, two types of wine glasses are placed side by side, glass or glass for the selected strong drink is added to them, and other glasses are brought as needed. Otherwise, the entire table will be filled exclusively with glasses of different types.

Step 5. Serving napkins

When serving, three types of napkins are used:

• decorative;
• cloth napkins
• wipes adapted for wiping your hands or mouth.

Napkins, which are made of fabric, can be placed on top of a soup plate and folded beautifully. Thus, a person sitting at the table will immediately understand what it is intended for. On top of it, you can put a small card with the name of the guest or a nice short wish. You can add a miniature flower or a piece of a spruce branch to the card.

Decorative napkins are usually placed under the plates, sometimes additionally and between them. They can be folded into triangles, lozenges, or overlaps so that the colors intertwine with each other. In addition, under the candles or glasses, you can also put small lace napkins.

The most common napkins are usually placed under the cutlery, or behind the plates, but only one at a time. There should be a few more napkin holders in the center so that guests can easily use any amount they may need.

If you are not setting the table for a holiday, but, for example, for dinner, then you can put napkins on the side of the plate under the forks as shown in the photo below.

Step 6. The final touch-table decor

Hooray, almost finished serving a festive table it remains only to decorate the festive table with flowers in a vase and themed decorations. On New Year’s Eve, it can be cones, branches of rosemary and spruce, on March 8 – flower buds, and on Easter-hares and willow branches. The theme of table decor should be given more attention in a separate article, but for now, we offer a look at the photos of beautifully designed tables in different themes and styles.

 

Boho style

The boho style is characterized by brightness and an abundance of various interior items and decor, it is possible to combine dishes of completely different styles, colors, and shapes. The serving looks insanely beautiful when all the wine glasses are made of different materials, some are blue, and some are pink or green. In addition, this style is characterized by an abundance of textiles, that is, under each plate, there can be several napkins also made of different materials, fringe, and tassels are welcome, with which you can complement a monotonous tablecloth.

An important element of the boho style is lighting, around the table or above it you can place several lamps, Plafonds, and garlands, and on the tabletop, it places candles of different shapes with unusual candlesticks or small lamps. Small frames and voluminous vases with flowers will fit into the decor in an interesting way. It is better to make bouquets from a mixture of field and garden flowers so that among the many greenery large heads of roses, lilies, and peonies lookout.

Easter Table

Easter decor is truly one of the cutest because decorating eggs, baking cakes, and creating little bunnies with your own hands is a favorite activity for both children and adults. Easter decor often looks amazing due to baskets with colored eggs, candles, and powder on the tops of cakes. However, this is not all that you can think of to create a beautiful festive interior.

You can make a small basket of recruiting branches, egg boxes, or any other shape. Inside, put napkins, and lace (which is very nicely combined with canvas fabric and coarse craft thread). You can also complement the Easter decor with grass and flowers, both live and artificial. And already on top of the eggs are laid, or parts of their shells, from which toy chicks, hares, or flowers can come out.

The table can be decorated with candles of different diameters and colors, and low, thick candles can be placed in shells or on varnished sections of wood. Napkins, tablecloths, and the color of plates and dishes are best chosen for the overall decor. Below are photos of Easter servings for inspiration.

Setting a festive table in nature

Perhaps one of the most beautiful types of serving is a combination of boho, rustic and natural styles. The rustic style implies maximum proximity to nature, so it mostly uses natural materials, and dishes and decor are chosen in calm natural shades. In such a decor, wedding tables are often decorated, where there are always many bouquets made in delicate color variations, the main elements of which are again wildflowers.

Napkins are selected from canvas fabric and white lace, cutlery can be tied with lace beige ribbons, and with their help of them, you can decorate glasses. The abundance of lighting is also characteristic of all three styles, however, the color variations are not as bright and bold as in “boho”. Often, garlands with white or yellow light bulbs are chosen, which can be hung over the table or spread out on it, as well as they can be hung around on trees or entwined with trunks.

Candles or other lighting devices do not have to be exclusively white, but it is better to turn to a pastel color scheme. It can be beige, light green, lilac, or pale pink-these colors can be used throughout the interior. But again, make sure that they are combined.

Tips for serving dishes

Nevertheless, the main function of the table is to serve a festive table. This is a festive feast that will not be so bright without a variety of dishes and snacks. Large salad bowls and hot dishes are placed in the center. Hot dishes are usually served on one large platter, however, this is not always convenient, so it is acceptable to cook, for example, two birds, and each put on a certain part of the table. The same applies to salad bowls, you should not put everything in one large one, it is better to divide each dish into small beautiful containers, so it will be more convenient for guests.

 

Any hostess will prepare a lot of the most incredible and delicious dishes to impress guests with their cordiality and hospitality. But it should be borne in mind that excessive abundance will then be difficult to arrange in all its splendor on the table, which can lead to unpleasant moments:

• The guest will have nowhere to put his plate.
• There is not enough space for all the food.
• You will not be able to reach certain dishes.
• The table may look cluttered.
• You will not be able to correctly decompose all the devices.

Put the salt and pepper shaker in the very center of the table, leaving a small distance between them. Next, put mustard and all kinds of saucepans. Serve the butter with a special knife, and put the smallest spoon in the mustard.

The bread is brought in on separate plates, which must be placed on different sides of the table so that any guest can reach it. You need to properly arrange cold snacks – they can be fish, meat, and vegetables. If you need to serve the drink in a bottle, then bring an already open container to the table.

If a lot of people are invited to the celebration, then you need to know the correct order of serving dishes. The feast should begin with cold appetizers – delicious salads and small sandwiches. After that, hot food is brought in – it can be soup and a variety of second courses. Sweet dishes are considered the end of the meal – they are served at the end of the holiday. Each dish should have a separate spoon so that your guests can easily transfer the treats to their plates.

You can put the second courses on the table in this order – first fish, after them – meat and already under the “curtain” – vegetable.

If you have prepared fried or stuffed fish, then the meat or poultry on your menu should be stewed or vice versa, and then your guests will be satisfied. Vegetable dishes are those that contain green peas or cabbage.

Before dessert, it is better to remove all unnecessary dishes from the table, with the exception of glasses. On the table are small dessert plates with knives and forks, which are laid out on the same principle as the usual appliances for the main dishes.