Tableware Rules! (Pun Intended)
Some things you’re meant to know, and some things you aren’t. I’ve checked and there are no rocket scientists at Black Saucers, and if we had to wire a plug, I reckon you’ve got a 50% chance it works afterwards. Tableware though, now that is something we know.
I saw a video on Facebook the other day (cringe) that was talking about tableware etiquette. There were five or six different things that were all minor, but I couldn’t help but think the guy was quite patronising and condescending. One of the ‘rules’ that sticks in my mind was that a cheers with a wine glass or champagne flute should always be done with the middle of the glass rather than the rim. It’s a sensible point to be honest but not one you should lose sleep over before special occasions, those moments should be all about fun! So I thought about the ACTUAL most important rules that should be known before an event…
Today, we are talking tables. You have two main choices, round or rectangular. Let’s start with rectangles first. Standard table sizes are 6ftx3ft. If those rectangles are separated, you can fit 3 people on each side, with one on either end. Remember if those tables get pushed together you lose the space on either end. Also for charger plates, 8 people around a 6x3 can be hard so ideally this is kept to six people. It’s not so much the actual charger plates themselves that don’t fit, but by the time you add in two or three glasses and then three items of cutlery either side, you end up crowding the table.
Image Courtesy of Locate to Create (www.locatetocreate.com)
Round tables are a little more complicated. Rounds come in two common sizes, 5ft and 6ft so make sure you choose the most suited to your day or style of event. Of course, there may be no choice if they are supplied by the venue, which is fine but make sure you know what you’re getting before you decide a seating plan.
For 5ft round tables the max number of people you want to be seating is 8. If you have three courses and are keen to use charger plates you might want to drop that number to 7 to create a bit more room for the cutlery and charger plates combo.
Image Courtesy of The little Wedding Warehouse (thelittleweddingwarehouse.com)
For 6ft tables you can squeeze 12 people on, but ideally this number is 10. That way the three-course cutlery and charger plates will fit a lot easier. Cluttered tableware doesn’t give room for the accents to breathe. I’ve seen it quite a bit at large corporate events where there’s so much going on, the middle becomes a dumping ground for leaflets and orders of service. By the end they’ve either caught light on a candle and caused havoc, or they’re a wet buttery mess.
That’s that.. No science, no geometry. Just what works best in our experience.
Hopefully this has been helpful, we’re planning future posts on the tableware elements so sign up to our newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out.