Fake Plates!

place settings

Ignore the ugly mock up - we bought the 120 (240 pieces) set from Occassions on Amazon, the silverware is also on amazon but I can't remember which brand. The price for the plates was about $75 and the silverware about $25. The silverware isn't the best but it looks nice and will get the job done. The plates are great and don't look disposable - I don't think my guests will be able to tell until they pick them up because they are very lightweight, but definitely sturdy enough to hold our lasagna, cake, etc.

Go to thrift stores. For the cost of disposable, you can find sets really inexpensively and donate them back if you don't want to keep them afterwards... They may not match, but that could be some of the fun of it, unless you desperately want them to.

We got plastic plates from Costco - we caught them on a sale and I believe paid about $12 for a pack with 25 dinner plates and 25 dessert/app plates. They're white with a silver band near the rim, and although they might not pass for real they're still pretty nice looking.

I would go with nice looking plastic over paper/foam of any kind - it will hold pasta and sauces much better!

I also would recommend looking into PP's suggestion of thrift stores. Mismatched china, or a theme of "all white" even if they are all different would be beautiful and likely a similar price to disposable. You could sell or donate them back after the wedding as well.

We had a buffet and our venue provided china, but this was our table setting since our plates were by the buffet line:

Most people I know opted for disposable plates/cups because of cost, and they just didn't have the items sitting out on the table so nobody really even thought about it/noticed. If we had done disposable, I would have had our tables look as the same as they did (above photo) and just had the silverware on the buffet line for them to grab as they came through along with the plates.

Amazon or a wholesaler like Sams/Costco is where I would get the plates/cups/silverware. Just make sure if you do plastic silverware that it is heavy duty so it isn't breaking when people are using it (this was an issue at a wedding I went to).

You plan to use the vases and then return them...?

We're using this set from Mozaik for our wedding in October. They have entire line, plates, cups, etc.,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071ZR1FWP/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H8RV3KV/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_10?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1