You need special serving for festive dinners and suppers. In festive situations a table is covered with a white or light table-cloth or a table-cloth of the same kind. Other colours and shades are also beautiful, for example, light-red, dark-red, green, blue, especially for the tea table. The principal is that the table-cloth's colour has to be in harmony with setting, napkins and decorations.
The table-cloth must have a special size: its rims must hang from the each side of table on 20-30 cm. Under the the table cloth you should put a soft, thick cloth for saving your table from the hot crockery and spots; this cloth also soften knock of plates and setting. Napkins are necessary element of table serving.
And what about flowers for celebratory table?

Bear in mind that each person feel himself confident and his neighbor's elbows or table's foot don't squeeze him. Remember that distance between plates of two neighbors is not less then 60-70 cm. Forget the proverb: "Used when a place is more than crowed but nobody minds that." Don't worry, if there are a lot of guests, but you have't got the same setting and crockery for all people. But each person must have the same kind of setting and crockery. For example, on the one end of the table you may put a setting of the one colour, on the other end - of another colour. Table serving for one person consisting of two plates (one - for hors d'oeuvre, another - for fancy cakes), a fork, a knife, a drinking cup for beverages is called envelope. The whole envelope is a serving for one person consisting of all table things, which are necessary for the serve of dishes from the menu.

It's good if you have a dinner service. A dinner service is a set if crockery and plates which have the same side, form and picture. You should put a crockery in the definite order, each thing (e.g. plate, fork, knife)of serving should have its place.

When you lay the table for festive table with giving of hot dishes at first you should put small table plates( on the distance 1-2 cm from the table).The plates are placed on the same distance each from other and on the opposite side of the table they are placed in front of other plates.
At the left of small table plates at the distance approximatly 8-10 cm (this distance allow you to put forks) you should put a fancy cake plate for bread, fancy cake and tart. On the edge of a fancy cake plate you put a knife for butter (it may be a knife). A plate for appetizers put on a small table plate. Quantity and the kind of setting depends on the menu, but you need not more than tree. The sequence of their location on the table must tally with the sequence of dishes 'giving', it means, that for the first course a person should take an extreme knife and fork, for the second next etc.

Settings are put symmetrical to opposite settings. The distance from a setting to the edge of the table is 1-2 cm. Table with settings which 'dance', put guests off.

If the table is laid only with plates for hors d'oevre, you should put them at the distance 2-3cm from a table's edge. In such situations you need less sitting. Choosing settings you may be managed by the character of dishes and appetizers. If you have prepared one of the appetizers in drinking cup individually for each person (cocktail), you should put on the table only the pair for hors d'oevre. Such cocktail is put on the fancy cake plate with paper, linen napkin and teaspoon. Cocktail should be put in front of each person, on the plate, which is placed in front of a person.

Forks are placed from the left of the central plate, knives and spoons are put from the right (knife's blade 'looks'at the plate). For beverages you should put a wine glass or drinking cup behind of the table opposite of the plate's middle or near the knife (which is the nearest to the plate).
Dessert setting(spoons, forks, knives) are parallel to the edge of the table. But also you may put them, when you offer the dessert, because by this time used setting will have already been taken away and dessert will occupy the place of main settings (they are parallel to dessert plates).

The last stroke of arrangement is a linen napkin. Bread (brown and white) as thin slices you should put on the plate which is spread out with a napkin or on a bread basket. It'll be good to put two bread baskets on different edges of the table. There should be also salt and paper at 2-3 places. Butter as blocks, balls. bars (their form) are served on small plates or beautiful butter saucer.
Table serving depends on your potential and financial resources. But the main aim is comfort, neatness and good-looking of your table.