Kitchen Essential

It has become normal to expect that menu cards and seating plans are purely a matter of etiquette and reserved for official occasions, as they are thought more than a little excessive for a private dinner party. It would be a pity if this idea were to persist, because menu cards for a small dinner party or place cards for a tea party in your home can be a gesture which brings people closer together and, if you do it properly, a sign that you are in command of your role as a hostess. They also make an eye-catching part of the overall table decorations.

Imaginatively designed menu cards lead to anticipation of a delicious meal and afterwards your guests can take them home as an attractive memento.

Menu cards can be real works of art; but for your personal use they don’t have to be, because even a little careful, well-thought-out decoration can lend the cards a very appealing and personal air. Use photographs or silhouettes, satin or cord ribbons, flowers, leaves or other materials which suit the theme.

A few tips to help you with design:

Menu cards should be an honest indication of what your guests can expect. You can be as creative as you like in the choice of dishes, but don’t blow your own trumpet too much, because you will have to deliver the goods. The format of the cards shouldn’t overpower the other decorations, and remember that your guests may want to keep the card by the side of their place during the meal. If you want to use a large sheet of paper, then tie it up with a pretty ribbon; menu “scrolls” are a good alternative to cards.

For big celebrations — for example, wedding breakfasts — a hand-written menu card is often too time consuming. Why not contact a small printer with your menu details and let them print the cards to a design that you like?

If you are celebrating in a restaurant or hotel, then you should use the menu cards provided by their hospitality service. Be prepared to listen to their advice, but do make sure you have some influence on the choice of design.

Both examples shown here give you an idea of how to list on the menu card all the delicacies which you intend to serve your guests.

What are you having to drink? Either list the drinks details after the dessert, or coffee — or if you are using a folded card, they should be written on theinside leaf, on the left. If you are serving a beverage to match every course, the drinks should be listed on the left in the order which matches the courses listed on the right.

It goes without saying that you will be offering mineral water and other refreshing drinks, so these don’t have to be included on the menu.

What about the seating plan?

If you don’t want to leave anything to chance, you can use decorative place cards as a friendly guide to seating, in order to bring together the guests who ought to get to know each other. Every woman should have a suitable man at her side, and couples and possible cliques should be separated for a few hours.

Let your guests find out who’s sitting where by themselves, or make it into a little game so that table partners get to know each other easily before sitting down. The first rule of seating plans is that the men sit on the left of the women. Banqueting specialists observe a whole host of other rules for special occasions which need not concern you for dinner parties at home. If you follow your intuition, you are bound to get most of it right.

Tip:

If you are using both menu cards and place cards, you should avoid using different styles. Both types of paper, colour and decoration should match, providing a uniform picture.

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