Here's How To Set Your Dinner Party Table Like A Total Pro

While it's fun to invite a group of friends, family members, or coworkers over for a casual get-together that might involve beers on the back porch and the kind of barbecue that means serving yourself hot dogs and hamburgers on paper plates, sometimes it's also nice to put together a formal dinner party. That might be the case if it's a special occasion or just an ordinary weekday where everyone wants an excuse to get a little classy, and if it's your first time, it can be a little intimidating. It doesn't have to be!

Daily Meal spoke with Ms. Nikesha Tannehill Tyson, Esteemed Swann School partner and Etiquette Expert, to learn how to easily set the table for a dinner party in a way that would make the professionals proud. She gave us some tips on how to make your dinner party table not just elegant but comfortable — and it isn't just about getting plates and utensils in the proper places; it's also about seating your guests in a thoughtful manner.

"Hosts can seat couples together or apart," she told us. "Consider seating guests with varying interests and personalities or more talkative guests with quieter guests together to encourage engaging conversations and help guests get to know each other."

After all, the conversations had and the friendships made are the highlight of a good dinner party, and a properly set table will facilitate both of those things. Focusing on seating will make you a total dinner-party pro.

It might seem like there's a lot to balance when setting a proper table for a dinner party, but Ms. Nikesha Tannehill Tyson says that the most important thing to keep in mind is the comfort of your guests. That doesn't only apply to who's sitting next to who, but she notes, "Decorations and place setting should be practical for dining. There should be enough space for place settings so the guests avoid feeling crowded at the table. Be sure the centerpieces are not so high as to obstruct the view of guests sitting across the table."

Tyson also says that personal touches at each place can be a great way to make everyone feel welcome. She suggests party favors or handwritten menus, which can be a great way to create an intimate setting.

There are plenty of tips and tricks that will make hosting a dinner party easier, and while some of our favorites are the ones that make life easier for the host, we also love ideas that help guests get over any potential awkwardness in the party's early stages. Tyson suggests putting name cards at the place settings, either above plates, on folded napkins, or to the left of the forks (in a more formal setting). "Name cards can add a personal touch and spark conversation as people ask about their seating arrangements," she says, and once the conversations start, they're likely to keep going.

Dinner parties might conjure up images of the extravagant, with dozens of dishes, plenty of plates, and more silverware than most people know what to do with. But it doesn't have to be that way; historically, it shouldn't. Ancient Greek and Roman art and literature describe dinner party etiquette, and according to the Roman "Satyricon," it was a major faux pas to go overboard with the table settings. If you're worried about keeping things simple, keep that in mind!

Tyson told us it can be pretty straightforward: "The dinner plate is placed at the center, the salad plate on top. Position forks to the left, knives and spoons to the right. Drinking glasses are placed above and to the right of the dinner plate, just above the knives and spoons."

See, that doesn't sound so bad, does it? There are a few benefits to keeping things simple, elegant, and straightforward, and at the top of that list is that it's going to put guests at ease. After all, no one wants to sit at a table and second-guess whether or not they're using the right fork with the right dish. The other good news? As the host, you'll be able to devote more time to selecting the perfect finger foods for your dinner party to facilitate those oh-so-crucial meet-and-greet moments. Your guests will think you're a dinner party pro — even if you're not.