If you've decided to go vintage for your wedding reception, you've made a really great decision. Planning your wedding means you're going to be making some really big decisions to make sure everything is going to be exactly how you want it to look and be. Deciding on the right vintage hire business to get your crockery can seem daunting, how do you know what china you're going to get, what's the quality of the china going to be like?? Hopefully by the time you get to the end of this article, you'll have a really clear idea what The Vintage Tea Service provides and the level of service you'll get.
Singularly the most important thing about providing the vintage china for your wedding is great communication, transparency and a targeted professional approach. The process is more like being an event planner, rather than just selecting a few plates to have some food!! From the first time you get in touch and book until the days after the wedding we'll be in contact.
The Process
Once you we'll have some initial discussions about general colours and patterns that you have in your mind, from this point I'll produce a mood board and do a first selection of china that I think would meet your ideas. Below is a mood board that I put together for a client, she wanted, informal, relaxed, summer flowers and colours. The wedding is taking place in a village hall next door to the beautiful sandstone church.
The client is going for long tables, which adds to the relaxed feel for the reception.
Here is the first selection of china for the wedding
Once the couple have seen the mood board and approved it, the next stage is to put together all the suggested china and glassware, linens suggested. All of this goes into the Suggested Items document that the couple will then receive, this is where china will be discussed, the amounts of each item and then any changes that need to be made are noted down and eventually the china will be agreed upon. Discussing the china can either be through email, a zoom meeting or a face to face. I love the face to face meetings because its an opportunity to obviously meet the couple, take along examples of the china to show the quality and also how it works together. Seeing china in the flesh, gives you a good understanding of the textures, look and colours and how they work together, you can't get that through a Zoom meeting and definitely not through images being sent via email or Whatsapp.
The next stage is to plan out the china and what's going where, depending on the tables - round or long and how many guests will be on each table, which guest you want to have what teacup, saucer and tea plate. You may have ideas on what you want, we'll discuss this and agree and this will all be noted down. If you want the plan, please request it
The next decision is whether you want the venue to set-up, you do it or me. If you decide on one of the wedding packages which includes the catering, I'll be setting up for you, that's part of the price per head.
The decision making is all made, the plan has come together, the final document you'll get is a little memento of the process - an e-brochure with everything brought together.
Getting the Venue Wedding Ready
All the planning and discussion are about to come into fruition - the setting up of the wedding tables. Once again we'll agree when I can have access to the venue to set-up for the reception. Generally I like to get in the day before, it takes about 3 hours to set up for a wedding of 60 guests. I'm meticulous in the presentation!! If the couple are around, it's great to showcase the tables and discuss any final changes and alterations.
Time to have a wonderful wedding reception and congratulations on your marriage.
Hopefully you've read the reasons why The Vintage Tea Service is the china supplier for your wedding. You'll get:
A warm, friendly, professional service
Great communication
Quality vintage china and accessories
Choice
If you are going to look around for a supplier, here are my top 5 tips.
Top Tips for Choosing a Vintage China Supplier for Your Wedding
Check out their website, it will give you a good indication on their business
Ask to meet up, get a feel for the supplier, you're going to be relying on them to put together a crucial part of your day.
Read reviews on their website, Google and Facebook
If you're booking through Add to Event or another third party site, don't just rely on the information they provide in their quote, research more about them. You'd be surprised at the number of people who don't research or go on to their websites before agreeing to have them supply the china for their weddings and events.
Always view the china that you're having. It's your day, your vision. If something isn't correct or not what you want, ask for it to be changed.
Image: Top image - Felicity Designs