When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Mary Hollis Huddleston Setting a perfectly laid table is an essential part of hosting.

Though British and American table settings play by their own set of rules, many of them overlap; forks on the left, knives and spoons on the right; glassware above the knives. Make sure the knife ...

Like many details we tend to brush off in our hurried daily lives, the art of proper table setting seems to be getting lost in the ether. While it's true that we've become a casual society, there are ...

In today's Miss Manners column, advice columnist Judith Martin responds to whether traditional place setting rules have ...

Have you ever wondered how to set a table? The holidays are here, and with it, dinner parties as well as formal family meals that finally put grandma’s silver to use. Laying them out, however, can be ...

t wasn't so long ago that meals meant scores of specialized utensils, plates, glasses, wine glasses and flower arrangements, the latter giving a thicket a run for its money. Even though today's formal ...

To ensure an attractive and well-received holiday feast, you need to properly set the table — both figuratively and literally. After all, this four-legged rectangle will serve as the handsome canvas ...

It wasn’t a reader letter about formal place settings. It was a real, live person, sitting at a table in front of me. But I wasn’t dining with him. I was his server. Earlier this month, I had the ...