diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6d4e0f9ba..df3764037 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ CHANGELOG
 -----
 
  * added truncate method to FormatterHelper
+ * added setColumnWidth(s) method to Table 
 
 2.8.3
 -----
diff --git a/Helper/Table.php b/Helper/Table.php
index 1f103ad14..503210366 100644
--- a/Helper/Table.php
+++ b/Helper/Table.php
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Table
      *
      * @var array
      */
-    private $columnWidths = array();
+    private $effectiveColumnWidths = array();
 
     /**
      * Number of columns cache.
@@ -67,6 +67,13 @@ class Table
      */
     private $columnStyles = array();
 
+    /**
+     * User set column widths.
+     *
+     * @var array
+     */
+    private $columnWidths = array();
+
     private static $styles;
 
     public function __construct(OutputInterface $output)
@@ -186,6 +193,38 @@ public function getColumnStyle($columnIndex)
         return $this->getStyle();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the minimum width of a column.
+     *
+     * @param int $columnIndex Column index
+     * @param int $width       Minimum column width in characters
+     *
+     * @return Table
+     */
+    public function setColumnWidth($columnIndex, $width)
+    {
+        $this->columnWidths[intval($columnIndex)] = intval($width);
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the minimum width of all columns.
+     *
+     * @param array $widths
+     *
+     * @return Table
+     */
+    public function setColumnWidths(array $widths)
+    {
+        $this->columnWidths = array();
+        foreach ($widths as $index => $width) {
+            $this->setColumnWidth($index, $width);
+        }
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     public function setHeaders(array $headers)
     {
         $headers = array_values($headers);
@@ -296,7 +335,7 @@ private function renderRowSeparator()
 
         $markup = $this->style->getCrossingChar();
         for ($column = 0; $column < $count; ++$column) {
-            $markup .= str_repeat($this->style->getHorizontalBorderChar(), $this->columnWidths[$column]).$this->style->getCrossingChar();
+            $markup .= str_repeat($this->style->getHorizontalBorderChar(), $this->effectiveColumnWidths[$column]).$this->style->getCrossingChar();
         }
 
         $this->output->writeln(sprintf($this->style->getBorderFormat(), $markup));
@@ -342,11 +381,11 @@ private function renderRow(array $row, $cellFormat)
     private function renderCell(array $row, $column, $cellFormat)
     {
         $cell = isset($row[$column]) ? $row[$column] : '';
-        $width = $this->columnWidths[$column];
+        $width = $this->effectiveColumnWidths[$column];
         if ($cell instanceof TableCell && $cell->getColspan() > 1) {
             // add the width of the following columns(numbers of colspan).
             foreach (range($column + 1, $column + $cell->getColspan() - 1) as $nextColumn) {
-                $width += $this->getColumnSeparatorWidth() + $this->columnWidths[$nextColumn];
+                $width += $this->getColumnSeparatorWidth() + $this->effectiveColumnWidths[$nextColumn];
             }
         }
 
@@ -572,7 +611,7 @@ private function calculateColumnsWidth($rows)
                 $lengths[] = $this->getCellWidth($row, $column);
             }
 
-            $this->columnWidths[$column] = max($lengths) + strlen($this->style->getCellRowContentFormat()) - 2;
+            $this->effectiveColumnWidths[$column] = max($lengths) + strlen($this->style->getCellRowContentFormat()) - 2;
         }
     }
 
@@ -596,6 +635,8 @@ private function getColumnSeparatorWidth()
      */
     private function getCellWidth(array $row, $column)
     {
+        $cellWidth = 0;
+
         if (isset($row[$column])) {
             $cell = $row[$column];
             $cellWidth = Helper::strlenWithoutDecoration($this->output->getFormatter(), $cell);
@@ -603,11 +644,11 @@ private function getCellWidth(array $row, $column)
                 // we assume that cell value will be across more than one column.
                 $cellWidth = $cellWidth / $cell->getColspan();
             }
-
-            return $cellWidth;
         }
 
-        return 0;
+        $columnWidth = isset($this->columnWidths[$column]) ? $this->columnWidths[$column] : 0;
+
+        return max($cellWidth, $columnWidth);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -615,7 +656,7 @@ private function getCellWidth(array $row, $column)
      */
     private function cleanup()
     {
-        $this->columnWidths = array();
+        $this->effectiveColumnWidths = array();
         $this->numberOfColumns = null;
     }
 
diff --git a/Tests/Helper/TableTest.php b/Tests/Helper/TableTest.php
index d917d6959..c8ab0316a 100644
--- a/Tests/Helper/TableTest.php
+++ b/Tests/Helper/TableTest.php
@@ -620,6 +620,69 @@ public function testColumnStyle()
 | 9971-5-0210-0 | A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens | 139.25 |
 +---------------+----------------------+-----------------+--------+
 
+TABLE;
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $this->getOutputContent($output));
+    }
+
+    public function testColumnWith()
+    {
+        $table = new Table($output = $this->getOutputStream());
+        $table
+            ->setHeaders(array('ISBN', 'Title', 'Author', 'Price'))
+            ->setRows(array(
+                array('99921-58-10-7', 'Divine Comedy', 'Dante Alighieri', '9.95'),
+                array('9971-5-0210-0', 'A Tale of Two Cities', 'Charles Dickens', '139.25'),
+            ))
+            ->setColumnWidth(0, 15)
+            ->setColumnWidth(3, 10);
+
+        $style = new TableStyle();
+        $style->setPadType(STR_PAD_LEFT);
+        $table->setColumnStyle(3, $style);
+
+        $table->render();
+
+        $expected =
+            <<<TABLE
++-----------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------+
+| ISBN            | Title                | Author          |      Price |
++-----------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------+
+| 99921-58-10-7   | Divine Comedy        | Dante Alighieri |       9.95 |
+| 9971-5-0210-0   | A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens |     139.25 |
++-----------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------+
+
+TABLE;
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, $this->getOutputContent($output));
+    }
+
+    public function testColumnWiths()
+    {
+        $table = new Table($output = $this->getOutputStream());
+        $table
+            ->setHeaders(array('ISBN', 'Title', 'Author', 'Price'))
+            ->setRows(array(
+                array('99921-58-10-7', 'Divine Comedy', 'Dante Alighieri', '9.95'),
+                array('9971-5-0210-0', 'A Tale of Two Cities', 'Charles Dickens', '139.25'),
+            ))
+            ->setColumnWidths(array(15, 0, -1, 10));
+
+        $style = new TableStyle();
+        $style->setPadType(STR_PAD_LEFT);
+        $table->setColumnStyle(3, $style);
+
+        $table->render();
+
+        $expected =
+            <<<TABLE
++-----------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------+
+| ISBN            | Title                | Author          |      Price |
++-----------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------+
+| 99921-58-10-7   | Divine Comedy        | Dante Alighieri |       9.95 |
+| 9971-5-0210-0   | A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens |     139.25 |
++-----------------+----------------------+-----------------+------------+
+
 TABLE;
 
         $this->assertEquals($expected, $this->getOutputContent($output));