Made in China

I've spent a large amount of time over the past ten months collecting dishes. You might remember the wedding room post, where a small, respectable stash was displayed. It has since taken on a life of its own and morphed into a tabletop, piles on the floor, and boxes in the basement. My mother has been an unwavering help and resource in this pursuit. Her volunteer position at a thrift shop in North Carolina has provided us with many choice items for the wedding, and dishes are no exception. Between the two of us we have located some rare vintage finds as well as regular old cups n' saucers. The plan is this: each of our eight tables will have a unique set of tableware, with the unifying theme of orange and white. I've collected vintage china from the thirties through the sixties, including a pile of rare and quite expensive Salem Tricorn china that I scavenged off of a flatbed truck destined for the landfill. This will be mixed with contemporary pieces that have a vintage design. In short, it's a lot of dishes!

Such a display required some heavily coordinated shuffling around. Most brides are pulling their hair out over seating charts, trying to ensure that those cousins who feuded back in '75 and haven't spoken to each other since don't end up sitting together. I declared open seating early on, avoiding that whole potential kerfuffle. But to make up for it, I've been pulling my hair out over the place settings. Like, the actual dishes. Is there an equal distribution of orange at each table? Does that cup and saucer go with that plate? What on earth matches orange Salem Tricorn China? After much wrangling and rearranging, I think I've figured out the magic combination. So in order to ensure that it actually materializes on the big day, I have a plastic tub for each table, with the appropriate set of dishes as well as a card indicating which cups, saucers and plates go where. I call it "The method to my madness".

It makes perfect sense to me, but as I might not be the person setting up the tables, I can only hope that my crazy system can be translated into tabletop triumph. We'll find out. Now, on to the music!