Staging a festive feast? Pull it off perfectly with these pointers

It’s that time of year when even the least social of us pulls out the good tableware and invites loved ones over to celebrate the festive season, the warmer weather or the end of another trip around the sun. Whether you’re serving a six-course meal or hosting an informal potluck, here’s how to make your dinner party pop. 

THE GOLDEN RULES OF HOSTING

• Good planning is key, from shopping and prepping well ahead of time, to making sure the dishwasher is empty just before guests arrive so you can stack it on the fly. 

• Having the following never hurts: plenty of ice, a well-stocked bar, a good playlist and fresh flowers. 

• Draft a timeline of the evening to keep things ticking over at a good pace without forcing the next course on anyone too quickly. (You could even plan backwards from whatever time you want to be in bed!) 

• Try to enjoy yourself. A stressed-out host makes for uncomfortable guests. On a related note, avoid spending half the evening in the kitchen – your loved ones came to see you, not the perfect roast or that berry soufflé you saw on MasterChef.

• If at the end of the night you feel some guests are overstaying their welcome, memorise this phrase: ‘Well, that was lovely, everyone.’ This signals that the evening is now in the past, as in it’s finished, and this should hopefully send them home without you having to change into your pyjamas to get the message across.

TOP TABLE

Pull off your best Emily Post impression by adhering to the rules of a simple, formal table setting.

• Cutlery is arranged in order of use from the outside in. That means utensils for the salad or starter courses will be on the outside, with the dinner knife and fork closest to the plate. The cutting edge of the knives should always be facing inwards. Dessert spoons and forks should be laid horizontally above the plate (with the spoon handle to the right and the fork handle to the left), or they can be brought
in just before you serve dessert.

• Napkins (preferably cloth ones for a special occasion, rather than paper serviettes) are placed on the plates or to the left of the forks.

• The water glass goes above the dinner knife, the white-wine glass slightly lower and to its right, and the red-wine glass just above them to form a triangle.

• Bread plates should be positioned above the forks, with the butter knife laid horizontally across the plate.

For a more casual setting, opt for less glassware, no bread plate or butter knife and no dessert cutlery.

IN THE FOLD

Beautifully folded napkins will zhoosh up your table. For the below examples, you’ll need square cloth napkins and napkin rings. To get the crispest results, iron the napkins first and spritz them with starch spray.

The fleur-de-lis
1. Fold the napkin in half horizontally, with the folded edge towards you.
2. Fold the upper corners to the centre of the bottom edge, creating a triangle.
3. Fold the lower two corners up to meet at the top of the triangle, creating a diamond.
4. Fold the top two corners to point outwards.
5. Slip the bottom of the diamond through the napkin ring and adjust where necessary to create a 3D fleur-de-lis effect.

The bow
1. Fold the napkin in half, corner to corner, to create a triangle.
2. Fold the top corner down so that it’s about five centimetre from the bottom edge. It’ll look a little like Table Mountain.
3. Fold the bottom edge up so that it covers the point (it resembles a hat now) and then again, into a long, thin shape.
4. Fold the ends in to cross one another (it’ll look like an awareness ribbon).
5. Bring the entire shape into one line and thread it through the napkin ring.
6. Flip it over, arrange the tails and voila!

For more festive feast tips, page through your December issue of Livingspace.