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How to set a formal table for dinner

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How to set a formal table for dinner

Guides to fomal dinner table settings vary – there is no one way to correctly set a table – but most agree on basic conventions. Cutlery should be laid out in the order of use (first items on the outside), and different beverage glasses should be provided at one setting. Most guides recommend a bread plate and butter knife, and individual salt and pepper shakers. 

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Kerryn Pollock, Eating – Table etiquette, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/38618/how-to-set-a-formal-table-for-dinner (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Kerryn Pollock, published 3 December 2012.