You will be serving fish as the appetizer, the main entry will be a pork tenderloin with a sweet sauce. You have a great Chardonnay to pair with the appetizer and then an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon which will go great with the pork. But, how do you place the glasses on the table?
There are three ways you can arrange the glasses at the table:
- Arranging the glasses according to what the person will drink.
- Arranging the glasses by size.
- Arranging the glasses according to the order in which the drinks will be served (In this case the size of the glasses do not matter).
Proper placement of glasses at the table
Before we place any glasses, we must first know what drinks will be offered throughout the meal. When setting an informal table, we place a water glass and a wine glass. On more special occasions, we go ahead and place more glasses.
In what order do we place the glasses?
Most restaurants will usually place a water glass and a wine glass, and they change them later depending on the drinks or if a specific drink requested. We will place the glasses in the upper right part of our plate. This is how we put our glasses on a more casual and informal manner. The water glass will go directly above the knife, the wine glasses will be placed to the right of the water glass depending on the order they will be used. For example, water glass, red wine glass, white wine glass, and the champagne flute (Can also be placed next to the water glass). A dessert wine can also be served when the dessert is served. As you know, not all white, red or rose wines are the same, when serving different types of wine, it is recommended to change the glass.
On a personal level as a wine lover: there are sooo many different wine glass options for different types of wines, there is a specific type of glass for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Bordeaux… it is said that buying the specific type of glass will improve your wine tasting experience, personally, I don’t believe this. I think what makes a wine good is the wine itself, and what you personally think about it. If you stick to the standard wine glasses, you will be perfectly fine. On the other hand, I don’t like offering the same glass for a different brand of wine, offering a different glass preserves the original taste of that specific wine and it makes the experience more elegant and attentive.
Should I always put ALL different glasses?
A more elaborate display of glasses is usually done on more special occasions like formal restaurants or at formal events. Also, be aware of the number of items you are putting on your table (Utensils, glasses, decorations…) you do not want to overflow the table with too many glasses, so make sure you are putting strictly what will be needed for the meal. When setting the table for a special event, you could start with these four glasses (Water, red wine, white wine, and champagne which can also be placed to the right of the water) They are good enough to make your table look very elegant, without making it look too full. In addition; if offering several types of drinks, don’t overload the table with more glasses, rather arrange the table at the moment of serving the drinks. There is no strict rule when placing the glasses. For instance, you might choose to place them depending on the order they will be used, or you might place them by size. You may place the glasses in a straight row, diagonally to the plate or in a small curve, just make sure you place them towards the right of the plate in order to give space in the front of the plate.
Glasses and elegance
We want the glasses looking clean and uniform, make sure they all have the same style, design, and color. There are options for glassware, just make sure you put the same style at the table to make it look uniform.
During the holiday season, a lot of the celebrations are done at home. We must remember that our goal as a host is to make our guests feel comfortable, so placing the glasses in an arbitrary way is probably not a good idea, too many glasses on the table will not necessarily make it look more elegant, it might make it look too crowded and it might bother your guests. You can find a way to set a table that looks elegant and organized without getting too caught up with the “Protocol and ceremonial”, set the necessary glasses according to their size or the order, and most importantly remember to use basic dining etiquette and always display a positive and respectful attitude.
