Elegant tablescapes enhance event

Main Plate: The main plate should be the first thing you set down. It is the centerpiece that indicates where to place the other components of the place setting. It should be placed in the center, directly in front of the dining chair. 

Appetizer Plate: Generally speaking, the appetizer plate is put directly on top of the main plate to save space. Once you conclude eating your appetizer, the plate is taken away so you are left with the main dinner plate.

Soup: The soup bowl and spoon are only needed if soup is a part of the courses in the meal. If it is, place the soup bowl on top of the appetizer plate and the soup spoon adjacent to the normal spoon.

Silverware: Silverware is placed in the order that it is used. The fork is placed to the left of the plate, the knife, cutting edge in, on the right and the spoon is to the right of the knife. Additionally, as the meal becomes a more elegant affair, the amount of silverware utensils used will increase. For example, if there is a formal appetizer, place an appetizer fork and a spoon on the outside, adjacent to the regular fork and spoon.

Glasses: The placement of glasses is fairly simple. They should be placed directly above the knife. When wine glasses, however, are added to the setting, they should be placed directly to the right of the water glass. Although, generally speaking, they can be placed based simply on personal preference.

Dessert: After reading a few articles about tablescapes for dessert, I have come to the conclusion that not everyone chooses to display the dessert plates and utensils in the table setting. Some prefer to just wait until dessert is served to refrain from the table looking cluttered. Others prefer a much more traditional route where both the fork and spoon are placed above the main plate. Here the spoon handle faces the  to right and the fork handle faces to the left.