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It is very common in European or American countries to have place cards for people to know where they are supposed to sit at a dinner party or a wedding party. However, in countries like India, it could be taken in an absolutely wrong way. While, we in India, do not follow such protocol, there surely exist a basic way of sitting at the dinner table, especially at a formal dinner. These protocols are a must to know when attending a formal dinner party at work or anywhere else.
Art of Sitting Arrangement
Although at a formal corporate dinner parties, there are place cards to guide you your chair, but if there isn’t, the hostess makes sure to guide you to your seat. The chair where the guest of honor is supposed to sit is known as Place of Honor and that is to the right of the host for most people are right handed. If you have a round dinner table, it’s the host who has to guide the guest of honor where to sit and then the rest follow. In case of a rectangle dinner table,
* The host always sits at the head seat i.e. at the end of the table.
* The guest of honor or the main guest of the event occupies the right-hand seat of the host. If there are 2 main guest of the event they take the seats next to the hosts as shown in the image below.
Serving and Clearing Etiquette
Whenever hosting a formal dinner, it is important to guide your helping team about the right serving and cleaning etiquettes. If you are hosting a dinner at a restaurant, the staff already knows the right way, but if it’s a house dinner, guide the server the right way out.
Whenever serving a dish, the right way to do it is from the left. Always present the food from the diner’s left (as shown in the image) and clear the table from the left.
The serving of the food always starts with the guest of honor or the main guest of the evening and then goes in the anti-clockwise direction. The serving staff should always be guided in this manner. Right serving technique creates an unforgettable impression of the host on the mind of the guests. A well prepared home for guest is always appreciated.
Hopefully we can soon return to a time when it would be possible to host physical parties! This was really informative.
Never knew that there are rules for making the sitting arrangements when has guests over lunch / dinner.
The rules appear quite logical and based on practical insights rather than any haphazard theory.
Thanks for sharing.
I have seen similar sitting at my parent’s place. And at my place, we have designated seats for everyone. Hosts seated at both eh ends so that they can have an eye on their guests and can manage one side each.
Yes here in USA , I have observed that kind of rules but I agree not all people are aware of these. Thanks a lot for sharing this useful information with us. I find it really informative. And addition of proper image and graphic has made it easy to understand.
Wow.. As an Image consultant I know this and there are some dinning etiquette which not many people are aware. Your explanation with appropriate images made it easy to understand. Very informative.
Wow this serving etiquette came new to me. I have never heard of read anything on it. After reading this I am happy that I follow all the mannerism of serving in the right way.
This post is very informative. I remember before my marriage I had to set dinner tables for guests. As the guest used to be from the army so I had to prepared everything nicely
This is quite an interesting post even I have noticed that we usually miss out the right way of serving guest. Thanks for sharing.
Sitting and serving etiquette aren’t so popular in India apart from elite or corporate parties. Keeping company with the guests of honour and serving right are indeed important.
Thanks for sharing this piece of information. we do follow some of these rules and it was interesting to read about others and learn something new.
Wonderful tips for anyone planning a sit down dinner. Bookmarking this super helpful post for later.
I have learned this during my 1st career exposure in the Hospitality. As much as I liked the idea of formal sitting dinner etiquette, the Indian set up feels much as ease. I like the way we Indians sit together on the floor or dining table as ‘kutumb’ and eat. But yes, these Etiquettes should be learned as well, for formal set ups and meetings.
These are amazing insights into the etiguette or right seating and also serving. As you have suggested,when we organize a dinner in a restaurant, all this is taken care by the staff, but when we organize at home, these are important points to keep in mind.
It is very important to host house formal parties with utmost care and these are great ways to make the guest comfortable. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.
It makes sense for the host to sit at each end so they can manage guests efficiently. I love reading this one.
Wonderful. Learning table manners and serving-sitting etiquette helps a lot in a formal dining. Hope the days come soon where we can all sit together and enjoy meals in a fine dining soon 🙂
wow I didnt know this rules of hosting a party the right way. I am surely following it for making that perfect impression on my guests.
Wow that is such an interesting post. I always knew there are table manner for eating and serving too but didn’t knew so many details. Loved this post and I am sure gonna use a tip or two next time we have guest at home.
This is very informative post. Table manners and etiquette are lost and not a proper and easy approach is available on the net. This is easy to follow up
I do prefer to host parties for my friend and family, this is such a helpful article. I wasnt aware about few of these etiquette . Thanks for sharing
such an insightful blog on how to serve while guests r at the dinning table. thanks for sharing this
Table manners and serbice ettiqiettes are so important and we need to follow. I am so glad I have come across this post.