Was I wrong?

Question

I was at the home of a family friend..and I'm always one to help with setting the table, cooking, serving, etc. So I went to set the table and the host freaked out because she said I did it all wrong. Is it wrong to place the knife closest to the plate and fork on the outside of the knife on top of a napkin on the right side of the plate? If this is wrong, what is the right way to set a table?

Answer 1

I think it was wrong that she freaked out for how you set the table. Who cares where the fork and knife go. It's not a fine dining restaurant, it's a house.

Answer 2

With an informal dinner, the fork goes on the left side of the dinner plate. Then the knife and spoon go on the right side. The knife blade faces the plate. Napkin placement is discretionary, but many people place it under the knife and spoon.

A formal dinner has more utensils so it is more confusing. But basically remember, forks are on the left; knives and spoons are to the right. Sometimes the dessert fork, spoon, or knife are placed above the plate.

The sites below tell you more information about a formal dinner.
http://housewares.about.com/od/cutleryknives/qt/tablesetting.htm
http://www.wholesale-table-linens.com/setup-tableware.html

Answer 3

I think it was wrong of her to freak out on you. You were just trying to help out. Here is a little trick I used when I used to cater events:
You go from outside in, so whatever food is being served first, that is what utensil goes first. Formal being (left-right)Salad fork, Dinner fork, Plate, Knife (blade facing plate) spoon, soup spoon. Most of the time, the napkin is used as a display on the plate, or a design in the glass, which is placed above the tip of the knife.
Casual: everything on the L-E-F-T (four letters) has 4 letters (fork) everything on the R-I-G-H-T (five letters) has 5 letters (knife, spoon, glass).

Hope this helps for the future!

Answer 4

Traditionally, the napkin is either on the left side of the plate or on top of the plate. The fork(s) go on the left (the one farthest out is the one you use first, so you would put the dinner fork next to the plate and the salad fork on the outside in the U.S., where salads are eaten as a first course). The knife goes on the right-hand side of the plate. A dessert fork would be laid crosswise above the top of the plate.


P.S. Your host was wrong to freak out on you. She should have been polite and kept her mouth shut.

Answer 5

I was taught to set the napkin on the left with the fork on top. Put the knife on the right side with the blade pointing toward the plate, and put the spoon to the right of that.

Answer 6

Fork to the left side of the plate, on top of the napkin. If there are both a salad fork and a dinner fork, both forks to the left with the salad fork to the outside. You'll use the salad fork first, so it has to be to the outside. (You always use the silver on the outside first.)

Knife goes to the right side of the plate with the blade pointed inward, toward the plate. Spoon is on the right of the knife. If there is also a soup spoon, that goes beside the dinner spoon, on the outside. Used first, it is on the outside.

Dessert spoons are sometimes placed at the top of the plate, with the handle to the right.

Answer 7

Depends what part of the country you are in and if you are setting formal or casual.

It used to be fork on the left of the plate, knife on the right of the plate, and spoon across the top.

But now it's more on the napkin to the right of the plate, knife first blade facing the plate, spoon in the middle, fork on the outside.

Answer 8

Not sure I understand you setting.

There are several proper ways to set up a table.
With plate in center, fork on the left, knife on right (with blade-side facing plate) and spoon to right of knife.

Or, when setting all utensils on a napkin in center of plate OR to the left of plate, it goes from left-t-right: fork, knife (with blade-side facing right) and spoon.

Answer 9

The knife goes to the right of the plate, blade facing the plate, the fork goes on the left.

Answer 10

I think it was bad etiquette for her to say anything to you when all you were trying to do was help. I'd let her do it by herself from now on. I usually put the knife in the middle and the spoon by the plate and the fork or the other side. I know one thing, it's nothing to lose any sleep over because it really doesn't matter to me as long as I have utensils to eat with.