When we cater for outside events, it is extremely important not only to get the food correct but also to have the event venue looking its best. This goes from setting the cutlery, to laying the linen table cloths and placing the chairs correctly. 

Here we have a few top tips your on helping you set the table this Christmas. 

There are lots of ways to set a dinner table and the setup really depends on how fancy you want to be. So instead of letting your grandmother’s silver — or your own fine wedding china — collect dust, why not bring it out and use it occasionally on the weekends?

1. Getting the flatware right is half the battle

In general, forks go to the left of your dinner plate and knives and spoons go to the right. The knife blades should always face toward the plate. Remember this by imagining that the knives are protecting the spoons from the evil forks to the left. 

2. What do I do with all these glasses?

Water glasses should be placed directly above the dinner knife. The white-wine glass sits directly to the right of the water glass. If you are serving red wine too, the red-wine glass sits above (closer to the center of the table) and in between the water and white-wine glasses, forming a triangle. If you are only using water and one type of wine glass, keep the water glass above the dinner knife and place the other wine glass to the right and slightly above the water glass.

3. Napkins - Keep it simple

Tackling napkins is sometimes not easy - Keep it simple.  Traditionally, cloth napkins are used for formal meals and may be placed on the centre of the dinner plate, underneath the forks, or directly to the left of the forks — the choice is yours. You can fold them into rectangles or experiment with some fancy folds to give them some personality.