Most of us are experts at setting the day to day lunch, dinner and breakfast table; after all we do it every day. But when it comes to hosting a formal lunch or dinner, then even the best of us can be seen looking for inspiration at one place or the other. A good friend I know visits one of the most posh and costliest restaurants in town before throwing her formal wedding anniversary party every year so that she knows how to set the table for her formal dinner. You however, can save a lot of money and trouble simply by following the step by step guide given here for setting the dinner table for a formal meal.

1. Cover the table with a plain white or pastel colored, clean and starched table cloth. If you do not have an absolutely plain one, use one with self prints or a small border.
2. Lay out the plates at the center of each place setting, making sure that all the plates and cutlery are equidistant from the table edge to give a uniform look. Place the napkins, either neatly folded or in a ring at the center of the plate.
3. Start from the top of the dinner plate. Keep the dessert spoon here.
4. Keep the knives at the right of the dinner plate, placing the one that is to be used first the furthest from the plate and the one that will be used last nearest. Do not use more than three, for the first, second and the salad course. In most cases, only a single knife will suffice for the whole meal, unless you are serving steaks or something else that will require a specialized knife for eating. The knife blades should be facing the plate.
5. Place the melon spoon (if required) to the right of the knives with the soupspoon farthest right, since the soup will be consumed first.
6. Coming to the left of the plate, set out the forks on this side in the order- first course furthest left, then the main course and then the salad fork.
7. You might want to keep a bread plate to the left of the fork setting if you want.
8. Place the glasses above the knife and bread plate arrangement with the water glass at the extreme left followed by the red wine, the white wine, the cordial and the champagne glass.
9. Do not forget to put in an attractive centerpiece on your dinner table. Flower arrangements, low vases, floating candles in a bowl or plain candle clusters add class and elegance to a formal dinner table setting.
10. Finally, put handwritten or printed place cards for your guests at the table.