Place settings...

verna25

We NEED dinnerware but are on a tight budget because of a) wedding planning b) saving for house renovations. I am very hesitant to adding place settings to my registry and ask for 8 of them, as some of my friends received only 1 or 2. You can't expect one person to buy them all, nor can I expect everyone to want to gift "a" place setting. I have been looking for dinnerware sets online because most store don't sell sets. My concern with this, is that I don't know what I am ordering; I can't see it, feel it, etc...

1)Anyone else have similar thoughts? If so, have you come up with any ideas?

2)Anyone who is already married- did you receive all place settings ordered? How did you overcome this?

Thank you ladies!

itzMS

verna25 said:

We NEED dinnerware but are on a tight budget because of a) wedding planning b) saving for house renovations. I am very hesitant to adding place settings to my registry and ask for 8 of them, as some of my friends received only 1 or 2. You can't expect one person to buy them all, nor can I expect everyone to want to gift "a" place setting. I have been looking for dinnerware sets online because most store don't sell sets. My concern with this, is that I don't know what I am ordering; I can't see it, feel it, etc...

1)Anyone else have similar thoughts? If so, have you come up with any ideas?

2)Anyone who is already married- did you receive all place settings ordered? How did you overcome this?

Thank you ladies!

No, we did not receive all of our placesettings. Gifting placesettings just isn't popular in my circle.

After the wedding, we opted to not buy the remaineder of the placesettings we registered for and returned the few we got. Instead, we picked out a set at Target that will do for now.

emmyg65

We registered for three sets of place settings; each set had 4 settings in it, so 12 total. It's very nice but less expensive everyday china and I think each set was like $80? Anyway, we did get all of them.

NYCMercedes

My kid registered for eight Lenox place settings and got all eight from eight different families.

audubonbride2013

We registered for 12 place settings of Fiesta for our everyday dishes ($29.99 per place setting) and received 8 of them.  Honestly that was the 2nd thing to go off our registry.  My SIL bought and returned various colors so it looked like all 12 were purchased or someone else would have probably bought the remaining 4 place settings.  We plan on finishing out the last 4 settings when we see great sales.  We also had people buy all the matching serving pieces.

We also registered for 12 place settings of Kate Spade (Lenox) china and we received 8 of them.  We opted to buy 2 more during a sale so we could feed our family on it.  Since then we've had another place setting purchased.  A lot of our relatives told us they are still using our registry for birthday and Christmas presents since Macy's keeps the registry active for a year after the last purchase.

AprilH81

Take a look at Crate & Barrell.  Their open stock (porcelin) are inexpensive but still a good quality from what I've read.  That is what I registered for ($4.95 per plate range).

fre3doms

We registered for 12 place settings at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Hopefully we'll be getting most of them. My friend who got married last year got all her sets I believe and she registered for 12 I think. Most of them were gifted at her shower if I remember correctly.

hoffse

Yeah... ended up with 14 place settings of our china and 16 place settings of our everyday.  People in my circle love buying dinnerware and serving pieces.

Go ahead and register for what you need.  If people get you the deep fryer and margarita maker instead of all your place settings, you can return those for store credit and finish buying the place settings you need.  I was all angsty about registering for stuff we needed versus extra stuff we wanted, and when all was said and done I think H and I spent less than $100 finishing off our registries to get those last few items we needed.  We did make a few returns which helped, but for the most part people clued in to what we needed. Remember, you're likely to get a lot of gift cards also.

Oh and gifting "a" place setting?  Actually a lot of people do this.  We had some gift individual plates of our china, actually.  I ended up with an extra salad plate that way.  When people are buying dinnerware, they will have a budget.  They will then buy as many or as few pieces of your dinnerware as it takes to get to that budget.  Frankly I've only ever heard a few people say that buying "a" place setting just doesn't happen... that's been from maybe 3 people on the knot over the last two and a half years, and I just don't think it's correct.  Your friends who received 1 or 2 place settings got them from people who didn't feel the need to buy the lot. 

Dinnerware isn't as popular in some circles as in others - I'm southern and most the women I know have 4 or 5 different sets of dishes/china, etc. - so it didn't surprise me to get as much as we did.  But it did all come piecemeal and from guests all over the country, and no one family bought more than two place settings at a time of any of it.

photokitty

I posted a lot of this in the older thread, thinking I was in this one...

I LOVE to gift a place setting of fine china. It is my go to gift if they register. I actually will spend more on china bc I know it will last and I remember the people for gave me my china and think of them when I use it -- maybe I'm alone on this tho :-p

I registered for 16 fine china place settings - I have a huge immediate family. I received 12 of them and bought the rest through completion discounts.

I also registered for 16 place setting of everyday dishes - 4 place setting boxed sets of Corel - love that practically indestructible stuff!

IMHO on fine china - I think it is good to register for them bc most couples wouldn't go out and buy a full set themselves later. I chose a classic design that have been around for a long time - to ensure I don't outgrow it and it is more likely to stay in production. Choose a pattern that goes on sale - Macy's has 50% off my Lennox pattern at least twice a year. This is why I think I received more of my place setting than my brother did - he selected a Waterford pattern that rarely is more than 20% off. I chose plain white with a platinum band and accent plates. I can always buy different accent plates to change the style or holiday or seasonal ones. 

*Disclaimer -- I love china - I have mine, my grandma's and a set of Christmas china. Hubs won't let me buy anymore :-p

muenginerd

Everyone I know who registered for dinnerware recieved almost all their place settings by the shower/before the wedding.  It was a very popular gift.  However, Fine China is not really popular amongst my friends.  Most couples pick a nice everyday plate that can be dressed up for special occasions.  The basic Crate and Barrel plates are popular, and seem to be around forever so replacements are easy.

Are there any department stores you can go to just to see a sample of plates from the same company?  May not be the right color but atleast you can get an idea of size, quality, feel, etc.  Look for the manufacturer and not necessarily the label.  For example, I know Lenox does Kate Spade dinnerware.  Worst case, if you really needed to see what a place setting looks like you can always order it online and return it later.  Might cost you shipping.  Most department stores can order and ship to the store free of charge.

Also, if you need dinnerware on a budget.  Look into IKEA.  We use them for our everyday dinnerware and love them.  They are dirt cheap, like a few dollars a plate.  A setting under $10.  They are also pretty stylish.  FI doesn't understand why I want to register for dinnerware since he loves our IKEA plates so much.  Having them for 1.5 years we only broke one plate, when it was dropped on the garge floor.

verna25

Thank you everyone!

Xstatic3333

I registered for the WS Brasserie set of upscale -everyday dinnerware which is currently online-only. It was important to me that the line has been made for over ten years and is very well-reviewed for durability. We love it too; it looks so nice and feels quite sturdy.

Unfortunately, it turns out dinnerware was not a popular gift in our circle. We got two sets at the shower, and that was it until after the wedding, even though my mom told everyone who asked her that it was what we most wanted. Later, my MOH gave me two more sets (she also knew it was what we most wanted), which got us close enough to complete the set ourselves. I've sworn to myself that I'm making place settings my new go-to gift from here on out!

Mitch617

What do people think is a reasonable price per place setting for china? I'm looking for some "casual china" rather than registering for both formal and casual, but some of the prices make me feel greedy! What do you think is the expected range for a 4 or 5 piece place setting from Macy's or BBB?

Mkincaid2014

@Mitch617: When we registered for our china at BBB, we fell in love with a $200 per place setting set and a $90 per place setting set (both Lenox).  In the end, we went with the cheaper one due to the price (and it was a more simple pattern that goes with everything).  $200 would have been out of the question for a wedding gift for many of our guests.  The china is important to me, so I'm hoping we get them.     

Personally, china/glassware is my go-to gift for a wedding - it lasts forever, long after the blender dies.  I have no problem paying up to $100 per place setting for fine china. If you're registering for an everyday set that is nice enough to use for formal occasions too, $50-$75 per place setting is reasonable, I'd say.  I'd probably get a $50 place setting and maybe a serving bowl or some of your glassware to go with it.  Hope that helps!      

theartistformerlyknownas

We kind of did a combination of all. We registered for individual pieces rather than sets for fine china so that people had more flexibility on how much they were spending... i.e. maybe they couldn't afford an entire $72 4-piece place setting (Mikasa Antique White Platinum at Macy's, LOVE), but would buy a $25 dinner plate and $19 salad plate. Our casual dinnerware is sold as sets of 4 (4 dinner plates or 4 cereal bowls, etc, of which we registered for 3 of each) which are still at a reasonable price point for people to buy one or two sets. For silverware though we went with one full set as one of our higher price point items. 

In my shower-going experience, my circle seems to like buying place settings and glassware!

tesgirl123

My mom bought me my china pattern(Waterford Padova) because Waterford has warehouse sales in my area and she was able to get the china for $45 a place setting. I will be receiving my china as birthday/Christmas/any other occasion gifts for the next 5 years.  

I registered for everyday from Pottery Barn(Emma) which I fell in love with and received from my FMIL and FBIL's wife as engagement gifts.   The 4 piece "sets" came to about $35 each.

I personally love to give china and crystal as wedding gifts.  I would probably not give them as shower gifts because they tend to be a bit high for a shower(shower gifts are about $50-$75 for my group of friends and $150-$350 for a wedding gift).    Sorry to drop numbers like that, I realize it can come across as rude, but I really did mean it to be helpful for you to get ball park ideas.

Also, go to a store like Macys or somewhere else to look at the china, even if you don't register there, you should see it in person before registering for it.   Its expensive and really heavy to return if you get it and realize you don't like it.   If you cannot find it in a store, contact the manufacturer and ask where it is sold in person so you can see it.

themuffinman16

I registered for 12 place settings, and my immediate family has all ready bought 8 of them and my shower is still three weeks away.  Between that and the wedding, I know my place settings will be completed.  And even if they don't.  Lenox has a buy one get one free sale a lot, and then they offer rebates, and an extra percentage off.  I will only need to buy two to get the remaining four that I need. All I need are place settings and towels... everything else on my registry is fluff. I am sure people will complete your place settings on your registry, or come really close.

erinlin25

I registered for 10 place settings and we actually got 12 + most of the pasta bowls and all 10 champagne glasses. I was going to return 2 settings but my mom convinced me to hold on to them just in case something breaks. It is a traditional gift in our circle. No harm in registering for them. If you get them great, if not you can buy them yourself. I think I had 5 bowls after the wedding and every month I would buy one with my 20% off at BBB to make the set whole. You say you cannot feel them--are there no stores in your area where you can go look and get a feel for what they will look like? Even places like Target and Kohls have nice dinnerware sets. If not go off of the reviews by other buyers, but I recommend making time to go and see them in person--ones i liked online I hated in person.