Holiday table setting: beautiful ideas for home

A home holiday always promises pleasant chores. Inviting guests, compiling a festive menu and diligently preparing planned dishes are an incomplete list of what household members are busy with. A real hostess will never lose sight of such a detail as a festive table setting. Pay attention to every detail, and then your guests will be delighted with what they see.

The setting of the festive table may differ from the format of the holiday itself. So, you can plan a celebration for lunch (with soup) or for dinner (without soup). Table decoration for celebrating a birthday is more often done according to the second option. The buffet table involves exclusively cold appetizers that guests will eat with forks. Put the snacks on large and beautiful plates, and pour the drinks into decanters.

Individual dishes should be in one part of the table. Guests themselves take their favorite dishes and eat standing up. At home holidays, there is also the so-called cold table. It can be diner, Swedish or buffet style. The table itself is placed against the wall and covered with a tablecloth that hangs down to the floor.Place treats in the center of the table, and individual dishes at the edges. For guests, you can put comfortable chairs, sofas, or you can offer to eat while standing.

The tea (coffee) table can be laid after the main feast, less often on its own. It is customary to cover the coffee table from 17 to 19 hours, and the tea table - until 20 hours. There are treats on the table, more often desserts. You can put fruits, berries, nuts. Serving involves the presence of dessert priors and plates, tea or coffee utensils.

The table for a children's holiday has its own specifics. Tablecloths and napkins are in bright colors, often with interesting prints. On the plates or near them are cards with the names of the children. The place of the birthday boy is decorated in a special way - they decorate a fork, spoon or plate with a ribbon. Children's dishes must be beautifully decorated.

Before serving, you need to go through several preparatory stages. For a home holiday, you need to choose sophisticated and attractive dishes. White plates without additional decorative elements are considered classics. All utensils and utensils must be washed and rubbed to a shine. Pay special attention to the choice of tablecloths. This element is able to create a special atmosphere of celebration.

Pay attention to materials such as satin and taffeta. A plain tablecloth is a classic solution for decorating a home holiday table.A tablecloth with a lace print will be appropriate for a children's party or a big celebration.

The product must be washed well and ironed thoroughly. The presence of creases and wrinkled edges will spoil the overall impression. The size of the tablecloth also matters. The canvas should hang from the countertop by 20-30 cm on each side. If the droop is less, then the impression of untidiness will be created, and more droop will interfere with the guests.

A festive table is not complete without napkins. Without this simple element, all the charm and chic of the celebration is lost. You can fold the napkin in the form of a rose, a swan, or in any other way. If there is no time for this in vain, then special napkin rings will help you out.

Most often, a home celebration is scheduled for dinner. Organizing a holiday is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Setting the table with your own hands is interesting and pleasant. You can create a special atmosphere with simple tricks. Serving utensils on the table should not consist of elements from different sets. Immediately think over the menu and take care of a successful combination of serving and tableware.

One guest should have 80 cm of table space. Sets of dishes for each guest should look the same and be located at an identical distance from each other.

Do not pile up a large number of different dishes. From appetizers, it can be chopped herring, tartlets with salad, canapes and cuts. Remember, everything should be not only tasty, but also beautiful. An overabundance of dishes creates the impression of chaos.Moreover, with such a design, it will be difficult to preserve the personal space of each guest. Bread boxes are never placed in the center of the table.

Arrange several plates in different directions so that each guest can reach them. Place the main dishes around the perimeter. In the center of the table, you can place only the signature masterpiece of the hostess. Be sure to place the spices on the center line of the table. There should be a small distance between the salt shaker and the pepper shaker. Mustard should be put together with a small spoon. Serve the sauces in the vessels provided for this purpose. Serve butter in a butter dish along with a knife.

Name days, anniversaries and any other home celebration are a good occasion to elegantly decorate the table. Individual napkins for guests can become a real work of art. Each napkin can be folded into an envelope, and flowers can be put inside. Napkins for men can be folded in the form of a bow tie, and for women - in the form of a heart. Details matter a lot. Stylish decoration will set the guests in a solemn mood.

Keep in mind that decorations should not interfere with dishes on the table. The best solution is to decorate the table with fresh flowers. Prefer neat bouquets in low vases and place them in the center of the table.

If you decide to set a themed table, then choose the same decorations. On the New Year's table, you can lay out napkins in the form of Christmas trees or holiday hats. Place holiday figurines in the center of the table. Decorate the perimeter of the table with rain.

There are stable rules for arranging dishes on the festive table. First of all, they put products made of porcelain and faience. The next step is the instruments. Then you need to arrange glass and crystal: glasses, glasses, glasses, wine glasses. Luxurious serving consists of the following elements.

Place serving plates on the table first. Of these, they do not eat, they serve as a kind of coasters. There should be a distance of 2 cm or more from the plate to the edge of the table. Place an appetizer or soup bowl on top. By the way, if you are serving bisque soup, put a soup bowl, for broth and light soup - a bouillon maker. A plate for bread and butter is placed above and to the left of the guest's main dishes. And between them it is worth maintaining a distance of 8 cm.

Place the forks on the left side and the knives on the right side of the serving plate. The sharp ends of the fork should look at the ceiling, and turn the tip of the knife towards the plate. Closer to the plate are cutlery, behind them - fish, and along the edges - snack bars. Remember that cutlery should not lie under the edge of the decorative plate. The location of the soup spoon directly depends on the presence or absence of dessert on the menu. No dessert - put the spoon at the top of the serving plate, there is dessert - to the right of the knives. Place dessert and fruit cutlery horizontally under a serving plate.

The number of devices for each guest depends solely on the drinks that will be on your table. For each type of drink, its own dishes are selected. For light wine, place small glasses. For champagne - narrow and high. For all non-alcoholic drinks, beautiful glasses can be used.Place the drinkware in the upper right corner of the serving plate. From the tip of the knife to the glass for water (juice) should be 1.5 cm. Dishes for vodka and wine are placed at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the edge of the table.

There is a certain order of serving dishes to the table.

1. Snacks.
2. Soups.
3. Hot second courses.
4. Desserts.
5. Beverages.

The correct arrangement of cold appetizers involves alternating fish, meat and vegetable dishes. Soup is served in a special tureen, but not in a saucepan. For hot, use dishes. Transfer salads to special salad bowls, do not use bowls. For each dish, put a common device with which the guest can put food on a plate. Bottled water is arranged so that each guest has access to it.

Only open bottles before calling everyone to the table. Serve soft drinks in pitchers. Pour strong drinks into a carafe before serving. Expensive alcoholic drinks are usually served in a bottle. Desserts are served closer to the end. Before serving sweets, remove everything superfluous from the table - spices, sauces, dirty napkins and unnecessary dishes. Fruit must be displayed in vases. Put portioned desserts behind glasses.

Among the important information, it is worth highlighting the rules for using different devices and the behavior at the table during the holiday. Both topics are quite important and deserve attention.

• Devices are not just located on different sides of the plate.This is a kind of hint for you about which hand to take the item.
• With devices for desserts, too, there are no particular difficulties. If the handle is directed to the right, then the device should be taken with the right hand. If the handle is directed to the left - with the left hand.
• While using the knife, its handle should be directed towards your palm. Bend unused fingers.
• When serving, the tip of the fork looks at the ceiling, but you need to hold it while eating the other way around.
• There is only one reason to break the rule written above - when eating side dishes, turn the fork over and use it as a makeshift spoon.
• Take the spoon so that its end lies on the base of the index finger.

• Remove the individual napkin from the plate while serving the dish and place it on your lap. After the end of the meal, this napkin should be placed to the left of the decorative plate.
• Do not make small talk with guests while you are eating.
• Do not bite off many large pieces of food at once, it looks ridiculous.
• At the festive table, do not blow on the dishes in order to cool them.
• Take bread products with your hands, not with utensils.
• Cut the meat into small pieces that are easy to eat.
• Fish dishes are always served with a slice of lemon. After eating food, put it on your lips to neutralize the smell.
• Soft dishes (cheesecakes, casseroles, aspic) are not cut with a knife, but separated with a fork.
• From a common dish, you need to take the piece that is closer to you.
• If you come across bones from berries in a compote or dessert, then you can’t spit them out in a saucer. Correctly bring a spoon to your mouth, silently move the bone into it and then put it in a saucer.
• Do not reach for food across the entire table. Ask other guests to serve you a meal.
• After finishing your meal, put your utensils on your plate.

If you want a solemn tea ceremony, get a samovar. Arrange the tea utensils around it, but make sure that the cups do not get in the way. Properly arrange the tea set - put a saucer, put a napkin on top and only then put a cup. On different sides of the table, arrange containers with sugar and spoons for them. The festive table for children has the specifics of serving and decoration. Simple recommendations will help to avoid incidents.

• Do not place glassware on the table. If something breaks, children can be seriously injured.
• Fewer cutlery is placed on the children's table than on the adult table. Do not put knives, limit yourself to forks. If the children are small, then lay out the spoons altogether.
• It is not recommended to lay out cloth napkins. Better provide plenty of paper products.
• There is no need to put spices on the table. Most of these products are not recommended for children at all.
• Flowers on the children's holiday table - a surplus. Better decorate it with ribbons or balls.

The festive table is served in a special way if the reason for the celebration is a wedding. The basic serving rules remain unchanged, you can only add a couple of nuances.

1. Flowers are not put on the table. For a wedding celebration, it is better to allocate a separate place for them in the room.
2. The main color of the serving is important. For a wedding, it is preferable to choose white. This rule is not strict. The overall color scheme of the serving should be in harmony with the bride's dress.

The selection of colors is an important task before serving. Incorrectly chosen colors will spoil the impression not only about serving, but also about the celebration as a whole. Not confident in your design skills - give preference to the classics.

The combination of white and red will never become bad manners. This table looks elegant and neat. So you can arrange a table for any occasion - from birthday to winter holidays.

In pink, you can set the table in honor of the birthday of the little princess. Dishes made of unbreakable materials guarantee the safety of restless children.

The buffet table is a popular solution not only for children's parties, many adults will appreciate this technique. The decoration in classic black and white colors is perfectly complemented by red live roses.

How to fold napkins for table setting, see the following video.