מוזגין לו כוס ראשון ומקדש עליו ומברך שהחיינו ואם חל בשבת אומר ויכולו ואם חל במוצאי שבת אומר יקנה"ז ואם שכח להבדיל ולא נזכר עד שהתחיל ההגדה ישלים ההגדה עד גאל ישראל ואחר כך יבדיל: הגה ואין ליטול ידיו כלל קודם קידוש (רבי' ירוחם והרא"ש בתשובה ומרדכי פרק ע"פ) ואם אין ידיו נקיות יטול מעט אבל אין לברך על הנטילה ובעל הבית לא ימזוג בעצמו רק אחר ימזוג לו דרך חירות (מהרי"ב):

Laws of the first cup and the Pesach Seder until the second cup. Containing 7 sections. We pour for him the first cup and make a berakha over it, and make the berakha of Sheheheyanu. And if it falls out on Shabbat, one should say "Vaykhulu," and if it falls on Motzae Shabbat one should say ---. And if he forgot to say Havdala and didn't remember until he started the Hagada, he should finish the Hagada until the berakha of "Gaal Yisrael" and afterwards he should say Havdala. Rema: And one should not wash his hands at all before Kidush. If one's hands aren't clean, he should wash a little, but not make a berakha. And the master of the household should not pour for himself, rather another should pour for him like the way of freedom (Mahariv).

One should drink while reclining and not make a blessing afterwards.

If one wants to drink many cups, he has permission to do so. Nevertheless, it's proper not to drink between the first and second cups, if there's no great need, so that he won't get drunk and be prevented from performing the Seder and the reading of the Hagada.

They bring before the head of the household a plate that contains three matzot, maror, charoset, karpas, (and vinegar or salt water), as well as two cooked dishes—one as a remembrance of the Paschal offering and one as a remembrance of the festival sacrifice. The custom is to use meat and an egg. Rema: The plate should be arranged before him in a way that he does not need to bypass any mitzvahs. That is, the karpas should be placed on top of everything, with the vinegar next to it, closer than the matzah. The matzot should be placed before the maror and the charoset, which in turn should be placed closer to him than the meat and the egg. (Maharil) The custom is for the meat to be from the forearm (zeroa), and it is customary for the meat to be roasted over coals, while the egg should be cooked (or roasted, as is the practice in our city).

These are the vegetables with which one fulfills the obligation: lettuce, endives, field eryngo, Charchavina (meaning types of bitter herbs), and maror. One fulfills the obligation with their leaves and with their stalks, but not with their roots. However, with the leaves, one does not fulfill the obligation unless they are fresh, whereas with the stalks, one fulfills it whether they are fresh or dry. But not if they are pickled, scalded, or cooked. All of them combine to make up an olive's bulk, which is their required measure. The primary mitzvah is with lettuce, and if one does not have lettuce, one should prefer the first over the next according to the order in which they are listed. Rema: If one does not have any of these vegetables, one should take wormwood or another bitter vegetable (Agur). The charoset should be made thick as a remembrance of the mortar, and afterward one puts in it a little vinegar or red wine as a remembrance of the blood (Tur). Charoset is made from fruits to which Israel was compared (Tosafot, Pesachim), such as apples, figs, nuts, pomegranates, and almonds, and one puts on it spices such as cinnamon and ginger, which resemble the straw with which they would mix the mortar (Tur).

Next, they take the middle matzah and break it into two pieces. One half is given to one of the participants to guard for the Afikoman, and it is placed under a cloth. The other half is placed between the two whole matzot. Then, the plate containing the matzot is lifted, and they recite Ha Lachma Anya ("This is the bread of affliction") until Mah Nishtanah ("Why is this night different?"). Gloss: The recitation should be done in a language that the women and children understand, or its meaning should be explained to them. Rabbi Yitzchak of London would recite the entire Haggadah in the vernacular so that the women and children could understand. (Kol Bo and Mahariv). Afterward, one should command that the matzot be removed from the table and placed at the end of the table as if the meal has already been eaten, so that the children will notice and ask questions.

One immediately pours him a second cup so that the children will ask, "Why do we drink a second cup before the meal?" If the son lacks the wisdom to ask, his father teaches him. If he has no son, his wife asks him. If not, he asks himself. Even Torah scholars ask one another, "How is this night different?" etc. (When the son or wife asks, one need not recite Mah Nishtanah but begins directly with Avadim.) (Maharil) When one begins Avadim, that is, l'Pharaoh, he returns the Seder plate with the matzos before him and recites the entire Haggadah. When he reaches "this matzah," he must lift it to show it to those reclining, so that the mitzvah becomes beloved to them. (One should lift the broken matzah, as it is the bread of affliction.) (Mahariv) Similarly, when he reaches "this bitter herb," and when he reaches L'fichach, everyone lifts their cup in hand until the conclusion of Ga'al Yisrael. The custom is to spill a little from the cup with one's finger when reaching "blood, fire, and pillars of smoke," and likewise when mentioning the plagues Detzach, Adash, Be'achav both collectively and individually, altogether 16 times. (Maharil) The bread should be uncovered while reciting the Haggadah until L'fichach, at which point one holds the cup in hand and then covers the bread. (Agur and Beit Yosef)