Renting vs buying dishes

There is another bride on here who did mismatched plates. But she did it for the style and not to safe money, so I'm not sure if it actually saved her money. How many guests are you having?

We are inviting about 150. We have awhile, so I feel like I could easily get them all. I do like the style also!

Depending on your menu, you will need 150 of anywhere from 1-4 types of plates plus platters etc. If you decide to do this, what on earth are you going to do with 300 or more plates at the end of this???

To clarify:

For a plated service - apps, salad, entree, dessert

Family style: 1 platter for each component for each table plus dinner plates, salad, apps, and dessert

Buffet/Stations: platters for every station plus backup to refill plus 2 plates per person (probably) who may want a new plate/seconds. Plus apps or dessert?

You probably don't realize how many plates caterers go through until you do the math.

If you live by an Ikea, you can easily go there and PU some plates and the like. Judging by the amount I see in the As-Is section, DIY plater planners return them wholesale after the event is over and they're been collected.

Estate sales and Thift stores are also very good to get complete pieces for a table. Table 1 is the apple blossom print table, Table 2 is the tiny pink rose print table, Table 3 is the lime green tables, etc. They also have wicked cheap glasses and silverware. If my wedding was smaller, I would totally have done that.

I would at least look at pricing out dinnerware rentals in your area (it is about .75 per piece in NY, which likely more expansive than other locations). Also, what are you planning on doing for flatware and bar glasses?

I set out to do this and discovered that the price I could rent for vs the cost of purchasing was about the same but the amount of time you have to invest in finding everything with the hopes of reselling is not worth any cost that you might save. I purchased 600 pieces of glassware - pint cups, champagne glasses, wine glasses for about .50 cents a piece, which is slightly less than it is to rent them where I live. My catering situation changed after I purchased them and it was awful to try to sell it all. Everyone wants to purchase pieces parts. It took a while to resell the whole lot. Thrift stores were surprisingly expensive. I didn't ever find plates of any kind or glassware for less than $1 a piece. IKEA really is your best shot if you want to take this on.

This sounds like a ton of work for you. I would price both options. Unless you’d save a significant amount of money by buying them yourself, then I would just rent them so you don’t have to deal with the hassle.

My cousin, in KC, rented vintage china for her wedding. It was lovely and she said it was only slightly more expensive than disposables. You might check to see if anyone in your area rents vintage.

This sounds like a lot of work for little return. As a PP pointed out, you need a lot more than just the 150 plates. Plus, then you have to take all the dishes with you at the end of the night, don't forget about that.

What about bamboo or palm leaf disposable dishes? We used these and they were perfect: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/eco-gecko-25068-6-sustainable-square-palm-leaf-plate-100-case/17525068.html

We also had bowls for salad and small appetizer and dessert plates.

I really like your idea to go to thrift stores and buy eclectic dishes, cups and silverware. Very cute! If you are passionate about the idea, you can even fold it in as a part of your decor. Do you have the budget and time to hunt and purchase it all though? Will you keep all those dishes after the wedding?

My advice is to find and ask your venue or caterer if they provide dishes first. Then proceed forward. If it can be handled by the venue (always a blessing!) just accept that and use your creative energy to focus on another detail.

Thank you all! I'm waiting to hear back from one caterer about upgrading to nondisposable. I believe I've seen something about a vintage rental company near our venue, so I'll look into that as well. I guess I didn't take into account all of the different types we would need.

You are in Harrisonburg, VA? That's where we got married. We used Hanks for catering, and we were able to rent all the dishes and glassware from them. It wasn't cheap- but it was a lot easier than having to worry about finding, toting around, and cleaning any dishes we purchased on our own.

Also - if you are still looking for a florist - I have a great recommendation for you! The Flower Fields - Susan Roepke. She is amazing! Grows all of her own flowers and is the sweetest woman ever. She gave us a great price - I cannot recommend her enough!

http://flowerfields.webs.com/

ETA: Susan hasn't updated her website in forever, but here are pictures of our flowers:

@MrsMcCoy Yes! I am looking at Hanks and Early Katering Company. We have a florist from Front Royal that my sister used. She is awesome too!

Great! I will say the the food from Hanks was a big hit with our guests (we did the brisket and chicken). But I have heard good things about Early Katering. Our cake baker, Cakes by Cathy Stewart, actually moved to NC right after our wedding, but she sold her business to Early Katering. She said they have her recipes, so their cakes should be amazing, if they make them like Cathy did!

I was leaning towards the brisket and chicken at Hanks lol. My FH is a big brisket lover, while I am a pulled pork sandwich lover. That is what we were looking at from Early Katering. My aunt is a cake decorator and has made cakes from a lot of my cousins and my sister, so I am going to ask her, but I wonder if there is a way I can taste. I'm a baker, so whatever cake I can get my hands on makes me a happy girl

Thanks for all the recommendations!

They should absolutely let you do tastings! (Our tasting at Hanks was free).

ETA: if they let you taste the cake, we went with the almond flavor and the snickerdoodle flavor with the cream cheese & butter icing. The snickerdoodle was AMAZING. Now I want cake.

Good luck!!

I think that you can find nice disposable dishes online at restaurant stores. Try smartyhadaparty.

Some disposable dishes can look very nice and will most likely be less expensive than mismatched dishes.

View Quoted Comment What did you do to clean them all? I'm not looking to sell but to give away, maybe goodwill, I don't love the rental options and I'd rather just buy new forks and plates and only rent bigger items like platters.

View Quoted Comment

Hi Andrew. This is a 2016 posting so you may not get a reply. But, some couples have found rentals to be of benefit particularly for the cleaning. Here, hired service staff would collect used guest dishes, flatware, and barware and place them in return racks (dirty) for rental agency pick-up at the end of the event. DIY for a larger event may become burdensome when also hosting and enjoying your own wedding. Another option may be disposable and you must coordinate porters for trash removal at the end of the night. Good luck finding an option best for you.