Dinnerware Sets: How Many Pieces Are in One?

Dinnerware is much more than vessels for serving food—they set the mood for your dining experience, complement your meal, and express your personal style. This is why dinnerware manufacturers create dinnerware collections using all sorts of materials, in various designs and different inclusions in every set.

But with plenty of choices, how do you know what dinnerware set is right for you? How many individual pieces are in one set? What color should you choose? Where do you even start?

If you’re just building your dinner table’s place setting, we’re here to guide you. Below is a breakdown on how to select the right dinnerware set for your household.

What Does a Dinnerware Set Consist Of?

There are multiple types of dinnerware sets, depending on what you’re using them for. Each type has different individual inclusions.

• Formal dinnerware

Formal dinnerware sets are sold as place settings, which means they include all the pieces a person would need at the table. These usually consist of five items, including a dinner plate, a salad or side plate, a bread plate, a cup, and a saucer.

In some formal dinnerware sets, a soup bowl replaces a bread plate or is added to the first five pieces of crockery.

Formal dinnerware sets are elegant and add a touch of sophistication to the table. As such, the pieces are usually made from fine bone china.

• Open stock dinnerware

Open stock dinnerware is sold by piece instead of as place settings. They are ideal for people living alone and don’t need a full set or those who want to mix and match different pieces from a dinnerware collection.

With open stock collections, you have the flexibility to choose only the dishes you use. So if you serve soups more often than salad, you can buy a soup bowl and not a salad plate, saving you money.

• Starter set

Dinnerware starter sets include multiple place settings that take care of the crockery the whole table needs.

Usually, starter sets include four place settings consisting of four to five individual dishes, making them either a 16-piece or 20-piece set. Each place setting includes a dinner plate, salad plate, cup, and saucer, with the addition of a soup bowl for five-piece settings.

How to Choose the Right Dinnerware Set

Most experts recommend having 12 five-piece place settings. This ensures you have enough dishes for general use and entertaining.

However, the actual number of place settings and individual pieces in each setting depends on how big your household is and the frequency with which you entertain guests.

If you often host dinner parties, it’s safe to have up to 12 place settings of formal dinnerware and enough casual place settings for the people in your household for everyday use.

If you rarely entertain, you can get four to five formal place settings on top of your casual dinnerware set.

You may also consider ditching formal dinnerware altogether and invest in simple but quality dinnerware. You can easily dress these up with table napkins, placemats, or charger plates when you do entertain.

Shop for Beautiful Dinnerware Sets

Bzyoo carries a variety of dinnerware sets, perfect for anyone starting their collection. Our sets come in beautiful designs, made from lightweight and sturdy melamine.

Shop from our collection today.