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I recently saw a photo of a wedding that used mismatched china and totally fell in love with the idea. It would be just perfect for our romantic-rustic wedding. Do any of you bees have experinece with this? Any ideas of where I can get lots (I need 150) for cheap? I am hoping I can get them for $4 or less.
Ideas? Help? Do you have mismatched china?
Thanks Bees!
I absolutely love this idea!! What time frame do you have to get your collection? If I were you, I'd try ebay and craigslist.. maybe talk to some of your friends and family to see if they have any spare china that could use a great home. :)
Best of luck!
Thanks for the advice, blossom. I have looked online, but most of the sellers don't want to break up the sets, and I just can't afford to buy 150 sets of china (dinner, salad, tea cups, serving pieces). I have 5 monts to try and pull this together, so I will keep looking!
have you looked in antique stores? Each one i've gone into has had at the very least a china cabinet full of tea pots and tea cups single or missing pieces some for like $1 a cup and saucer. I recently went to a tea party bridal shower that was amazing cause the mismatched china was a part of 4 different families each with different stories accompanying them. After you use your china, you will have a wonderful story to accompany them in future tea parties!
goodluck!
This is a wonderful idea! Definitely something we're condsidering ourselves.
I suggest that you check out thrift shops -- I love browsing Goodwills and Salvation Armys for china, and they usually have a wide selection and no qualms about breaking up sets. Moreover, many pieces are between $0.50 and $1.00 each -- total steals! Thrift shops are usually *much* cheaper than antique stores.
Something else you might consider is scouting deep discount retailers like Big Lots (if there are any in your area) or even dollar stores. You can usually pick up solid color dishes at these stores for $1.00 or less each, and this might help "fill in" if you aren't able to find enough patterned pieces.
Good luck! You'll have to let us know how it goes. 
OH, so shabby chic!!!! I was originally looking at having our "very simple" brunch reception at a tea house, but the guest list grew beyond the 50 seat capacity that they have there. They had all mismatched china and I thought it looked charming!
We're doing this for our wedding of about 70 people. First, I have some hand-me-down china that was my grandma's, so that will cover about 20 pieces. Next, it took a little leg work, but we scoured thrift stores for china.
It seems to me like you can get it cheaper if you don't go for the entire set- thrift stores seem to mark that up because it's matching. Instead, we had to go through 3-4 bad thrift stores until we found one that has a really big dishes section. We found a few pieces at Goodwill, some at Saver's (although pieces were $2-3 each- no thanks!), and finally found some at this obscure YMCA-run thrift store, where stuff is actually priced around $1-1.50 each. We found about 15 good pieces in one day, and plan to go back once or twice a month until June to fill in our collection.
I also recommend flea markets and thrift stores over antique shops. I think persistence is key- you have to be willing to gather over the course of time.
Could you buy a bunch of entire sets but just put one or two place settings at each table?
Creates the same effect?
Also...I agree about the close friends and family thing. It could be a "china potluck!" :)
There's a store called "Tuesday Morning" in my region that has great stuff like that, but no idea how many there are. I've seen them in TN and AL for sure.
Auctions and estate sales. If you're not looking for fine china or depression glass they practically give the stuff away.
So how did it turn out?? Post photos so we can see the results of the mismatched china!! I love the idea!
@miss duck: I know your wedding has come and gone, but for the other bees out there... I started collecting mis-matched china and was doing quite well, but have kind of exhausted my local haunts. So far, I have almost 70 dinner plates and 100 each bread plates and salad plates. E-bay and craigslist haven't really panned out either. Does anyone have any mis-matched china for sale? Do you just fill in with plain china if you can't get enough? Also, what did you all do for your tables? I'd love to see pictures! Thanks!
i would just get it from second-hand shops, cheap shops, etc.
Never seen it at a wedding but i like the idea. I eat at a cafe that has mismatched everything!
I did this for my wedding on November 6! I spent 6 months in every flea market, antique store, and Goodwill I could find. Believe it or not, Goodwill ended up being a great resource. I ended up with over 100 plates and I LOVE them! I didn't even register for formal china because I'm keeping a lot of my plates. But I am going to resell the ones I don't want. I wish I had pictures, but I haven't gotten any back yet. I even found some of DH's grandmothers set that she was able to keep to complete missing/broken ones. She was so excited. My wedding was outside with a shabby chic/rustic theme and I was so happy with the way it turned out and everyone loved the plates! Once I get settled if anyone is interested I will sell some of them and take pictures so you can see what I have. I ended up not setting the tables with them after my decorator thought it would be confusing to the guests because we had a buffet. But they looked great on the buffet table and we ended up using my small plates in the centerpieces and it turned out to be so pretty.
What a gorgeous idea ! And there's a blog about it right here on Wedding Bee
http://www.weddingbee.com/2010/11/15/mismatched-china/
12.jpg (122.8 KB, 174 downloads) 1 year old
The mismatched plates are beautiful! Just make sure that you speak with your caterer about the size of the plates. If they are serving hot food on them, they will likely need plate cover to fit your plates (for when the waiters are bringing the main course to the tables on their trays).
Good luck!
Megan
[Link Removed]
Hi! I am in the midst of collecting my plates. I have about 100 and I think I need about 170. Goodwill has been a great source, esp the time I found a store doing 50% of the plates. I had to bend my idea of what I wanted a little, but I think it's going to look great.
@thelovecats:I would love to see pictures!!! I'm obsessing about centerpieces that won't cost an arm and a leg and I'd love to see yours!!!
We are collecting mismatched china for my daughter's wedding too. We have had success at thrift stores, antique stores and estate sales. Ebay is good but you are competing with a national audience so the competition is pretty fierce.
So far we have about 35 plates (need 200) and we've been at it for 2 weeks with 16 months to go.
The hard part for us is the flatware. My daughter doesn't want to use new, shiny silverware with the antique plates so we are looking for antique silverware too. That has been a BIG challenge.
Whenever possible, I want to buy full sets because we will need plates for the dessert table and keeping with the theme, cups/saucers for the hot drink table. We are doing outdoor rustic buffet.
We did this for our wedding last September! Here are some photos of our plates! I was so thrilled at how this turned out. :)
@thelovecats: Hey! I was wondering if you still have your plates? Are you willing to rent them out or sell them? I live in VA and am getting married on 9/24/11.
Thanks!
Erin
Hi! when is your wedding? mine is July 30 and I am using mismatched sets of china that i have been collecting myself. i am also just about to 150 and would be willing to sell them afterwards. let me know if you're interested.
oh- saw that you are getting married on 9/24. maybe we could work something out!
I'm doing mismatched china for my June 18th wedding (13 days!) and we just picked ours up from a lady who does mosiac artwork so she has a TON of china and rents it out. She doesn't care if it breaks because she smashes it for artwork anyway! If you know of anyone who does that kind of artwork, it's worth a try asking them if they would rent it out to you. The lady also used it for her daughters wedding and said it was a hit with the female guests, they all thought it was just the cutest idea ever! Some people were a little confused but then it kind of clicked that it was suppose to be that way and they thought it was a really neat idea.
Looking for mismatched china for your wedding? Email me! I have soooo many extra pieces from my own! Email me at clst.onge@yahoo.com
hi, if any of these sets of plates are still available, i'd love love love to buy them. i live in CT. please email me at eleanorgbradley@gmail.com
thanks!
I have 40 dinner plates, several desert/salad plates, teacups and saucers. I collected them for my wedding.
Email me: REdiscovervintagegoods@gmail.com if you're interested.
Hello all-
My mother and I are doing this for my upcoming wedding in Savannah, GA. We are going to start a rental business afterwards for anyone interested! Please contact me for more info! Will send pictures, etc. as they become available!
I live in OC too and want to do this for my rehearsal dinner and maybe even wedding. Where did you find most of your China? It's soooo beautiful!!!
I thought about doing it for roughly 30 seconds. And then I realized I didn't want to put that much effort into what people would be eating off of. :) It wasn't important enough to me to put that much time into it. I still think it is a really awesome idea though!
BAH! I had a friend do this recently. It was so chic and awesome. I loved it. She used her family's china.
@miss duck: Hi!! My wedding is Oct.8 and from going to over 30 thrift stores we have come up with about a 100 vintage plates, very shabby chic. I'd be willing to sell to you!! Let me know if you're interested and good luck :) thesarahstage@gmail.com
This is exactly what I want to do! What are the prices that most people are finding out there to buy them, even from a bride after her wedding? Are they pretty inexpensive??
I have 40 dinner plates left and several platters -- $2.75 per plate, $5 for the platters.
Can email photos -- email me if interested REdiscovervintage@gmail.com
If anyone is still selling a large amount of china plates, I would love to buy them from you ASAP! My email is Christy.Smethers@gmail.com. Thank you!
@thelovecats: Hey! Are you still selling those plates? I would love to see a few picks if you are! I want to do the same thing at our wedding. I fell in love with the rustic shabby/chic look.
Thanks!
I am planning my wedding for May 2013 and need about 120-150 pieces. Please email me. If you want to sell I want to buy!!
Hello everyone! Like everybody else, I want to do this for my wedding. I am looking to buy if possible. Please let me know if anyone has any to sale or knows someone/somewhere I could buy them from! :)
Have you checked in the classifieds section? If you don't find a recent post you can start your own, I think most of these bees have gotten married. Good luck!
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