Fine China?!
Fine China?
I am trying to get a jump start on my finace and my wedding registry and am stuck on what to register for, for china. I know that I need the basics but do I really need charger plates and accent plates? What are these and if we don't have them for formal parties are people going to turn up their noses? haha sorry if this question seems rediculous. thanks for any input!
Additional Details9 months ago
My soon to be husband and I could potentially be entertaining quite a bit. He is a doctor and is in a small practice where the partners and other doctors and wives get together for dinner parties quite frequently always switching off as to who hosts. They are always rather formal with lavish food, this is my only concern.
Answers:
9 months ago
My soon to be husband and I could potentially be entertaining quite a bit. He is a doctor and is in a small practice where the partners and other doctors and wives get together for dinner parties quite frequently always switching off as to who hosts. They are always rather formal with lavish food, this is my only concern.
Go with what you like. Charger plates really take the place of place mats nowadays. Accent plates? I'm not sure what those are. Are you talking about dessert plates or platters? This is my question - are you sure you want to go with formal china - if you are not formal kind of people? You might rather go with some nice pottery and get all the fun accessories that go with that. Just a thought.........by the way - congrats on getting married.
This is a great question!
I know it can be really hard trying to figure out fine china, especially if you don't plan on enteratining too much.
Charger plates are the much larger plates often placed underneath the other plates. My mom had some, and when she used them she used them simply as decoration. I believe they are made just to keep food from falling on the tabelclothe.
Accent plates are very similiar to chargers, just smaller. I love accent plates to put food on, it makes the food much more beautiful. You don't have to get extremely plain and elegant accent plates, you can get fun ones like those at this website http://fossilflyimports.stores.yahoo.net...
People won't turn their noses up at you, those plates are beautiful! However, when you use fine china the mood always does seem to be a little more uptight because everyone has to be on their best behavior. It's still fun though to sometimes have a fancy dinner!
Hope that helped you hun :)
I would suggest for each place setting a large plate, a medium plate and a side plate, a soup bowl and a desert bowl.
This should cover almost all three or four course meals.
Congrats on your upcoming wedding!
When I registered for my china, I simply thought of what I would need to put on a nice Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner - and that is what helped me figure out how many plates I needed. I didn't get the charger or accent plates, but got enough serving sets for 12 people, and large platters for the turkey and vegetables, a couple of larger bowls for salad and side dishes. I wanted a gravy boat, but I didn't get one of those. I also got the dessert plates and saucers and cups for after-dinner coffee or tea. Best wishes :). Also one of the wedding websites or the registry website itself (like Dillard's or Macy's) might have suggestions, too. I used the Knot and Dillard's for my wedding stuff.
Just start with the basics, a very simple base pattern like Lenox Eternal that goes with anything. And just start with your basic five-piece settings - dinner plate, salad plate, dessert plate, cup and saucer. Go for quality and elegance, not quantity and glitz.
As you get older your tastes will definitely change. This way you can buy charger and accent pieces in different patterns that blend with your base china over time, some for your 5th anniversary, 10th anniversary, etc. If you buy a lot of heavily patterned charger and accent pieces now, I will guarantee that you will look at them when you are 30 or 40 and say "where the **** was my head!"
I entertain and dine at society functions a lot, and a true lady or gentleman will be delighted with whatever you offer if you serve it with charm and sincere good intentions, especially if they know you are newlyweds just starting out (it's cute!). Anyone who is insecure, crass, or mean-spirited enough to put on airs or gossip because of your china pattern (or for any other reason) is not worthy of an invitation to your home.
Get bernardaud and dont consider anything else.
go to bernardaud.fr and you can look through there collections, I personally own the fusion line and it is very amazing and very shiny plain white, but they are known for there patterns as well