Registry and Gift Forum

Which china would you register for?

Hi all!

I found two fine china place settings that I like... both look similar, yet one is substantially more money.

Mikasa Parchment, which is made of PORCELINE
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=17748610&

or Lennox Opal Innocense, which is BONE CHINA
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=12847181&

I like them both, but am more concerned with getting the best quality for the cost. Is the Lennox bone china worth the extra investment? I'm having a small wedding, so I doubt I'd get many sets and would have to buy most of it myself.

Thanks!

Re: Which china would you register for?

  • hoffsehoffse member
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    Yes bone china is worth the cost - it's fired at extremely high temperatures, and even though it's thin it's virtually indestructible.  If you treat it right, you will have it your whole life and it will look brand new.  My mother's china is 30 years old and doesn't have a scratch on it, and she uses it.

    Porcelain is good quality, but it's what I recommend for everyday use (unless you get a bone china pattern that is also dishwasher and microwave safe - like Wedgwood white or Macy's Hotel Collection).  This is because you WILL scratch it over time with knife marks, and it does chip if it's very thin.

    Even though the Lenox is more expensive, Opal Innocence is the most popular china pattern in the last 50 years - pretty soon it will surpass (if it hasn't already) Royal Albert Old Country Roses as the most popular pattern ever sold.  This means that you CAN find sales on it -RuLala had it on sale yesterday.  Also look at Amazon.  A lot of their housewares are buy 3, get one free, and I have bought pieces of my own china pattern from them with great success using that deal.  Finally, ebay always has it, and so does replacements.com for less than retail price.  Macy's also puts their Lenox china on sale a few times a year for really good prices - like spend $150, get 2 free soup bowl deals.  
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  • I'm registered for Opal Innocence, and like PP said, bone china is supposed to be higher quality and more durable.
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  • egm900egm900 member
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    I'm also registered for Opal Innocence, and Macy's has put the place settings on sale for $79.99 twice in the past nine months (their normal sale price is $129.99), and usually you can also find a coupon.  As PP said, Macy's will also do a sale that if you buy 2 place settings, get 2 soup bowls free. I have even seen that while the place setting were on sale for $79.99.
  • edited June 2012
    I'd go bone china.  We did register for bone china, but we actually received zero sets between 2 wedding showers and the wedding itself, weirdly.  As much as I loved the kate spade pattern we picked out, I really couldn't justify dropping $1000 on dishes right now so we settled for Lenox Organics stoneware...which I think I love more now anyways so it worked out!

    Anyways, I'd make sure that if you get zero sets, that you'd be able to afford to buy it all, or at least buy most of the sets if you only receive a couple.
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  • Really it's up to your personal preference and like PP said, how often will you use it? I personally prefer the Opal Innocence, but then again I prefer bone china to porcelain when looking at formal china. Porcelain is more of a bright white, and I like the softer white of bone china better. And Quailty wise, like PP said, bone china is better. 

    Also, keep in mind if you're registering at BBB that you should have a completion event sometime after your wedding where you get 20% off your entire purchase price in the store for one night. We did that with ours and got a bunch of things we still needed and saved a bunch.
  • At one point, I also considered going for one of the Mikasa porcelain patterns (Platinum Crown) rather than bone china. What really clinched it for me was when I actually went to look at them in the store in person, rather than online. The bone china really looks and feels very different from the Mikasa porcelain in person (although they look more similar online), and I found the Mikasa soup bowls oddly small. So I guess my question is, have you compared the dishes in person or just looking at them online?

    If you will end up buying most of the place settings yourself, you can also get a much better deal than the MSRP per place setting. For example, the (bone) china I ended up registering for is MSRP $128 per setting. However, if you buy the set of four it is $399 for 4 settings, with the 20% off BB&B completion event, that  was $319 for 4 place settings, or $80 each. Also, the prices on amazon.com and during various sales at Macy's or other places can be much cheaper than the MSRP.
  • edited June 2012
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_which-china-would-you-register-for?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:34Discussion:a9af33f4-4b38-4830-a76b-cc4471021ad8Post:fa83a7a3-c984-42eb-ac7c-b44039483396">Re: Which china would you register for?</a>:
    [QUOTE]  Also, keep in mind if you're registering at BBB that you should have a completion event sometime after your wedding where you get 20% off your entire purchase price in the store for one night. We did that with ours and got a bunch of things we still needed and saved a bunch.
    Posted by Cackle6[/QUOTE]

    FYI at Macy's their completion events are also 20% BUT  the completion period is 90 days after the wedding and you can shop as many times as you like!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_which-china-would-you-register-for?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:a9af33f4-4b38-4830-a76b-cc4471021ad8Post:518d92a4-98b1-491b-92a8-ebb6e8eb40f0">Re: Which china would you register for?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Which china would you register for? : FYI at Macy's their completion events are also 20% BUT  the completion period is 90 days after the wedding and you can shop as many times as you like!
    Posted by TLC1983[/QUOTE]<div>
    </div><div>Ahhh, good to know. See, not one person in the registry department at Macy's told us that, so I had no idea (although online it does say the completion discount is 10%). 3 different BBB consultants told me about the completion event at BBB. I guess it all depends on the store you go to.</div>
  • I much prefer Opal Innocence
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  • I considered both also, but ultimately went with the Mikasa Parchment set.  It is more cost effective and equally as beautiful as the Lenox set (I think the main difference between the two, patternwise, was that Opal Innocence has raised "pearls" on it).  My parents have had a set of porcelain china for 33 years with absolutely NO problems, despite it not being the bone china.

    Also, Lenox offers a CARVED version of Opal Innocence, which is more for everyday use.  It's really pretty, very similar to the everyday set I recieved (A JCPEnney set I've oggled since I was 16, I was a bit of a loser:-P).  There are really cute accessory pieces that go along with it.  Costwise, it's much cheaper than the original Opal Innocence.  Just a thought.
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