When Hosting A Dinner Buffet, Arrange Silverware So It's Easier To Pick Up

Hosting a dinner buffet is the perfect way to serve your guests an array of delicious foods in a less formal setting — plus, who doesn't love a good buffet? Figuring out the dishes you will serve — then cooking them — is certainly the hardest part. But, once that's out of the way, there are still a few details you'll need to figure out before you're ready to greet your guests.

One of those details is making your silverware easy to pick up and take to the table. Essentially, you don't want your guests to have to separately grab a fork, a spoon, and a knife while they are also carrying a plate full of food. Not only is it harder for them but it can also lead to an unwanted mess that you'll need to clean up. So, the solution is to find a way to arrange the silverware so that it's simple to pick up.

One way would be to put the essential silverware pieces in individual jars and place them near the food so that guests can grab a jar after serving themselves. Or, instead of a jar, you could wrap the silverware in twine or ribbon so that all three silverware pieces are bound together and easy to pick up. Another option is to have the silverware already situated at the table, either at each placemat or in a jar in the middle of the table for guests to reach for once already seated. 

When deciding how you want to set up the silverware — namely, deciding between having it on the table or having it be picked up by each guest — you'll also want to think about the drink situation.

For example, if you plan to have each guest pick up a drink after getting their food, then it makes the most sense to have the silverware already on the table. Otherwise, the guest would have three things to pick up, making it harder to juggle everything. Again, you don't want to make way for potential spills!

However, if you plan on serving the drinks at the table — maybe you plan on placing the wine bottles directly on the table for each guest to have easy access to refills — then it opens up the option of having the silverware in jars or bound together in ribbon for the guest to pick up alongside the food.

The key here is to streamline the process of picking up silverware and balance it with the aesthetic of your dinner party. With a little ingenuity and these tips, you'll be able to pull off a party people will talk about for years.