Sep 15, 2022 | Guest Service, Superyacht Crew Training, Table Settings
How to Set a Table for a 3-Course Dinner
A three-course meal on board a super yacht would be classified as a casual dinner, consisting of an entree’, main meal and dessert. It would often be reserved for just the family or primary charterers onboard.
As a superyacht stewardess is just a part of the job, right? Well, yes and no. It is in the steward/ess job description, but what makes a dining experience just that little bit extra is all the effort you go to. Please let me explain further.
For an informal three-course dinner, you will need to consider the following to create a truly magnificent dining experience:
Table linen.
In this instance, as it is an informal dinner, I would recommend using the evening placemats and serviettes. Depending on the menu, choose colours that will complement the food. If the yacht doesn’t have evening placemats, or you are just purchasing new table linen, then look for delicate fabrics such as fine linen in gold, silver, black and intricate lace weaves for that luxurious feel. If you need a little inspiration on opulence, have a quick look at the CHRISTOFLE website.
The table centrepiece.
The centrepiece or table decorations again would be kept to a minimum. Consider a less is more approach. Use elegant hues such as creams, whites, and gold to bounce the soft candlelight around the room.
Cutlery.
Next to go onto the table is your freshly polished cutlery. As previously mentioned, this will consist of entrée, main and dessert cutlery. Forks on the left and knives on the right, the main cutlery is laid down closest to the plate, and then entrée will sit next to the mains on the outer side. Should soup be on the menu, then the spoon will be placed on the right side of the main fork. The placement of the dessert cutlery has been debated over and over, but as a traditionalist, I would lay the dessert cutlery in two ways. The first would be to like to lay the cutlery directly above the main plate with the spoon below the fork, with the spoon handle facing to the right and the fork to the left, which the service staff will pull down once the mains have been cleared.
Or I would leave it off the table together until the main has been completely cleared, then I would lay the appropriate cutlery just before the service of the dessert. It really depended on how many guests were eating and how formal the guests liked to be served.
Glasses.
Lastly, consider the crystal wear. Do your guests drink wine? What wine will compliment the food. Because it is a three-course dinner, consider just placing a water glass and a wine glass on the table. I know this may upset some people, but nowadays, our guests know what they like, and indeed, the chef knows what wine will compliment the food. Of course, it is not a big deal if you would like to set the table with a water glass, a white wine glass and a red wine glass. But for an elegant dining experience, I would lay the table with minimal glass wear.
Finally, as a superyacht chief stewardess, you would always consider cultural diversity and differentiating service customs when you are briefing your junior crew onboard.
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How to Set a Table for a 3-Course Dinner
- Table Linen
- Table decorations
- Place mats and napkins
- Cutlery: (soup) Entrée, main, and dessert
- Glasses: Water and wine
Soupspoon only if required. Accompanying condiments, salt and pepper, and extra wine glasses to be kept on the waiter’s station to be served if and when needed.
Mar 15, 2015 | Table Settings
How to Be Creative When Setting a Table Aboard a Superyacht
Let me say something that might surprise you: creativity is not a gift. It is a habit. It is not reserved for the moody, paint-splattered artists of the world, and it does not require a design degree or a five-figure décor budget. It is simply the ability to look at what you have and ask: what else could this become?
As a superyacht stewardess, that question will save you — repeatedly, and often under pressure.
The Reality of a Long Charter
Picture this. You are two weeks into a thirty-day charter. You have already delivered what you privately consider your most beautifully creative table setting to date. The guests loved it. The captain noticed. You were quietly very pleased with yourself.
And then the maths hits you.
Thirty days. Three meals a day. That is, roughly speaking:
- Twenty-three breakfast settings still to go
- Twenty-two lunches
- Twenty-two dinners
All of them needing to feel considered, intentional, and — ideally — different from every setting that came before. This is not an exaggeration. This is a long charter, and it happened to me.
The good news? With the right approach, not a single one of those settings needs to be repeated. Here is how.
Step One: Give Yourself Permission
The very first step in creative table setting has nothing to do with napkins or centrepieces. It has to do with mindset.
There is no right or wrong here. There is no test at the end. The only failure is a setting that looks as though nobody thought about it — and that is simply a question of effort, not talent.
If you have ever watched a child build an entire world out of a cardboard box and three cushions, you already understand everything you need to know about creativity. It is not about resources. It is about the willingness to see possibility where others see limitation.
Before you open a single linen cupboard, take five minutes to plan. Know your inventory: your table linens, cloths, placemats, runners, and napkins; your crockery, cutlery, and glassware; your reusable and one-use decorations. Know what you are working with. Then begin.
Step Two: Mix, Layer, and Break the Formula
The quickest route out of a creative rut is to stop treating matching as a rule.
Mix and match your table linens — a patterned runner over a plain cloth, or a cloth in an unexpected colour beneath neutral placemats. Introduce paper napkins in a bold or contrasting colour and fold them differently each time. Replace napkin rings with ribbon, rope, twine, or a simple sprig of greenery. Use what is on board. Use what is in season. Use what is available at the next port.
Do the same with your crockery when the design permits. A deliberately eclectic table, handled with confidence and a clear colour intention, often looks far more considered than a perfectly matched one.
The key word is intention. Whatever you choose, choose it deliberately — and it will look designed rather than accidental.
Step Three: Theme It
This is where the real creative momentum builds. Once you are in the habit of theming your table settings — particularly for lunch and dinner — you will find that ideas begin to come more naturally, and that one good idea often contains the seeds of the next three.
Some themes that work beautifully on board:
Colour Story Choose two colours — black and white, navy and coral, cream and gold — and build the entire table around them. For a black and white setting, print photographs from that day’s excursion in black and white and use them as place cards or conversation pieces. Guests will treasure them as keepsakes.
Daily Quotes Select a quote that suits the mood, the destination, or the occasion. Print it on a card, prop it against a glass, or write it onto a small chalkboard. Van Morrison on a sailing evening. Kate Chopin when you are somewhere beautiful by the sea. Something that makes the guests feel that somebody was paying attention.
Local Mementos If the provisioning budget allows, step into a local shop at the next port and pick up a small selection of postcards, magnets, or trinkets. Placed at each setting, they become both décor and a personal souvenir — a detail that guests remember long after the meal itself is forgotten.
Candlelight Subject always to weather conditions, the vessel’s candle policy, and common sense at sea — a candlelit table is one of the most elegant and effortless settings you can create. The light does most of the work for you.
Costume Night On longer charters with relaxed, sociable guests, a themed costume evening is one of the most genuinely enjoyable events you can host. Costumes need not be elaborate — a simple prompt and a little advance notice is usually enough. The energy in the room will do the rest.
The Thirty-Day Charter That Flew By
When I lived through that thirty-day charter — the one that prompted most of this advice — my team and I did not repeat a single table concept from start to finish. Not one. By the end of it, we were not scrambling for ideas. We were choosing between them.
That is what happens when you build the creative habit rather than waiting for creative inspiration. Inspiration is unreliable. Habit is not.
So: channel your inner child, open your linen cupboard with fresh eyes, and remember that the guest who walks into a dining room that has been thoughtfully set — wherever you are in the world, however long the charter — will always notice.
Safe travels and calm seas. K. x
