General Rules
According to The Emily Prost Institute, there are a few rules that apply to all types of table settings:
- Utensils are placed in the order of use, from the outside in.
- Forks go to the left of the plate, and knives and spoons go to the right. One exception is the oyster fork, which is placed to the right of the setting if it will be used.
- Only set the table with utensils you will use.