China - place settings or box set?

beachyone15

Hey Knotties,
My FI and I have different opinions on how to list our china on our registry. I think we should list it by individual place settings and he would rather list the entire set (since it's a better value overall). My line of thinking is that it gives our guests more options to buy 1-2 place settings, rather than an entire set (which is pricey). I'm also thinking that if someone sees the set and wants to spend more money, they can determine that it's a better deal on their own.

What do you ladies think? Should we list by place setting, box set, both????

CMGragain

Place settings are more realistic unless your guests are really wealthy.

beachyone15

That's what I was thinking. I don't want to come off as presumptuous. FI's family is well-off but I would never expect them to buy us anything, much less an entire set of fine china.

annathy03

We did a mix of both.  Our box set was 8 settings, so we registered for that and 4 individual settings to serve 12 total.  We had a very generous family member get us the box set (we thought maybe a few couples would go in on it), but had individual settings so people could get those or a serving dish if they wanted to get us china.

I think it depends on your china too.  We went with a Charter Club pattern at Macy's, so the 8 setting box went on sale for under $200 routinely.  If your pattern is pricey and isn't typically included in sales, I'd stick with individual settings.

Aray82

For formal china...yeah, definitely do place settings. 

Your family might also be Ebay/TJ Maxx ninjas like mine and find your entire set for an even better deal elsewhere

theartistformerlyknownas

We went a step further and did individual pieces rather than place settings, so we had more price points - if one person just wanted to give one $20 dinner plate they could, or a $70 platter, or whatever. (Plus we really super didn't want the tea cups and saucers that came with the place settings/full set.) As it turned out, we had 3 different guests each buy all 12 of an item (dinner plates, side plates, and soup/pasta bowls). 

justcallmesamson

lolo883 said:

We went a step further and did individual pieces rather than place settings, so we had more price points - if one person just wanted to give one $20 dinner plate they could, or a $70 platter, or whatever. (Plus we really super didn't want the tea cups and saucers that came with the place settings/full set.) As it turned out, we had 3 different guests each buy all 12 of an item (dinner plates, side plates, and soup/pasta bowls). 

This is what we are doing as well.  Our China is a little on the pricier side and I didn't think it was realistic to expect people to spend $150ish per set.  People can order as many or as few pieces as they like, and if someone really wants to give a set they can always do that.  

And @lolo883 I agree with you about all the mugs! We picked both formal and every day China and were like, what the heck are we going to do with 24 coffee mugs?  I was glad to be able to leave some of them off.  

photokitty

My family has 6 kids, my parents have been known to purchase the box set as a a gift from the entire family. I think it would be fine to include it both ways. If you don't complete your china you may want to use the completion discount on a box set rather than individual settings. I don't think it is presumptuous, I would assume you had included it as a grip gift option or for a parent/ grandparent to possibly buy. I would see it, keep looking and then purchase you a place setting and have no ill feelings about the box set being on there. GL!

Wegl13

We did the same as annathy- except only for 8 total... Four place settings and one box set of four settings. I figured if three people bought us place settings we could take those three back and get a box set of four (it's the same price) and it's like they each got us an extra plate! Also... Maybe it's just me but buying one place setting just seems odd... I know someone that did this and didn't realize it (you know because "four piece set for $100" doesn't seem like "eating for one") and he felt really embarrassed. He said he felt like he was sending a message of "congratulations on being together but I hope you enjoy dining ALONE." Lol.