Now lets get a little vulgar, every couple will spend thousands of pounds on their big day. They'll spend on the dress (of course, it has to be done!!), they'll spend on flowers and they'll spend on food and the decorations, photographs. What's not considered for most weddings though, (and if you have, my congratulations you've got style), is the crockery and accessories for the meal. It's not a thought for hundreds, if not thousands of couples. They'll just have the bog standard mass produced off white, thick hotel crockery!!
There may be a couple of reasons for this, the first possibly, is that people don't know you can hire vintage china. The second is that the type of meal may be influencing their decision and the third is cost. Let's dispel some myths
Vintage china is available for hire around the UK. It may be considered a little niche because people are unaware that it can be done; I've had many people say to me,
I didn't know you could hire vintage china!!
Vintage china is of course associated with tea and of course the meal at a wedding breakfast is predominantly a 3 course, but the tide is turning, an afternoon tea style wedding is up there and growing in popularity. Not only that an Afternoon Tea going to be cheaper (including the crockery), than a full sit down 3 course meal and without a doubt it's going to be more filling. That may surprise you, but it's true!! How many times have you been out for Afternoon Tea and struggled once you get to the cakes?! I always do!!! And if you book the caterer I use, I can absolutely guarantee your guests will be full!! If not, they can be topped up by waiting on staff. If you look at either of the 3 tier stand images, they're set up for two guests.
If you do want a 3 course meal, there are businesses that specialise in vintage dinnerware china. The Vintage Tea Service is slowly adding dinnerware to the collection. Keep checking www.thevintageteaservice.com
If people don't know about vintage china, what do you need and get for a vintage china wedding breakfast? Here's a few important facts for you to consider. Firstly, you need to consider whether you're having round or long tables and secondly, how many guests do you want sharing a 3 tier cake stand. Once you've answered these questions it's pretty straight forward. Here at The Vintage Tea Service I have designed packages exactly with these questions in mind. These include the cost per head.
And if you want to combine the hiring of your china with the catering, you can do that too.
The standard set up for a guest is a trio (teacup, saucer and tea plate), a cake fork, teaspoon and a knife, either starter sized (silver plate) or a tea knife. Then guests will share a 3 tier cake stand, teapot, clotted cream and jam dishes, along with a sugar bowl and milk jug. The only thing to consider is how many guests to a 3 tier. The caterer I work with prefers two guests. This is a good thing otherwise more crockery will be needed in the form of sandwich/cake plates.
A huge recommendation from me is having an additional plate for each guest. Why? A lot of people would rather have a separate plate for savoury and sweet. I'll be vulgar again, it's only an extra 50p per guest, but aesthetically and practically it's the best 50p you'll ever spend, as you can see below.
A couple of the images, I've layered up further by adding a dinner plate as a charger plate. This just adds emphasis, and makes a real impact. It doesn't have to be for each guest and that's why I've designed the 'top table' package.
The Top Table - The Principal Guests
It might not be an option to go design crazy for all your guests, the logistics, space and to a degree the cost wouldn't make it manageable, but it would be wonderful to treat the eight principal guests to that extra special touch - hence the 'Top Table Package'.
Included in the package is:
Trio
An 8" plate for layering and the savoury food
A beautiful dinner plate to style as a charger plate.
Either a blush pink or white napkin
Vintage glass Champagne saucer
As little extra treat there are dedicated cake fork design(s) and teaspoons, plus
serving spoons for clotted cream.
This package costs £4.75 per top table guest. Or £3.25 if you're already having an 8" plate as part of your china package.
The Dinner Plate
Alternatively these plates are available to be used as a charger plate. The amounts vary, so please check with me.
8" Plate
You get to choose the 8" plates you'd like to have. Click on the link and scroll down to the 8" plates.
The Champagne Saucers
All the Champagne saucers are vintage, so numbers are limited in each design. Use mix n match to get the combination that works with the table set-up and design.
There are 5 of the saucers on the left. 5 in the middle and 6 on the right hand side.
The Napkin
The Cutlery
Serving spoons for clotted cream and jam (if having).
If you'd like to make a non-obligatory enquiry, please do get in contact and we can discuss your ideas and for me to answer questions.
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Contact Details
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Areas Served
Cheshire, Liverpool, Merseyside, Manchester, North Wales, Shropshire.
Additional Areas
South Coast areas: Southampton, Fareham, Portsmouth, Winchester, Eastleigh, Wickham
(Only during the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays).