Just last year I upgraded my dishes. I received off-white Corelle dishes when I went to college in 2006. Over time my parents and I added to them, but I was tired of off white as I couldn’t get the color anymore. Not that I needed more, but it was a pain. I took my time doing my research and ended up with Pillivuyt, French porcelain dishes. My parents got my the serving pieces for my birthday and Christmas last year. They can go in the dishwasher, and they are amazing. Not too heavy, but a wonderful upgrade!
Our first place was a 600sq ft apartment outside DC so it’s funny to me what we registered for as we had so little space. But we were 22 and clueless. I was pressured to register for china because I was living and working in the south at the time. We only got 2 sets and haven’t used them in like 18 years.
1. This should be required listening for anyone who thinks tariffs are a good idea right now. So much insight on the larger effects.
2. Beth - do the Crate & Barrel catering sets. You won't regret it. One of the things we still have from our registry is about 1/2 of our original everyday dinnerware. But we were getting low on pieces and they stopped making it. And it was an earthenware cream and green and I wanted plain white. So I bought bowls and plates from C&B and I LOVE THEM. Been 5+ years and they look like new. We've only broken one plate.
3. We still have so many things from our registry 23 years later! Our French Bull toaster from Target that I will absolutely mourn when it does finally go. Two beautiful matching cutting boards. A Chicago knife set. A nice wool rug. I bought myself my Kitchen-aid mixer. And I didn't register for china as I knew I would get the set my dad brought back from Japan when my mom downsized. But I am a Beth who would have plate settings for everything under the sun. We currently have the above mentioned every day stuff, Fiestaware (that lives in a glass front cabinet because I love it), a basket weave edged white setting for 24 people I picked up on black Friday one year because we started hosting the family dinners and we have a huge extended family, (Dinner plates, salad plates, pasta bowls, appetizer plates, coffee mugs, gravy boats, sugar bowls, the whole kit and caboodle. It takes up an entire cabinet but in 20+ years we haven't broken a single piece despite using it at least once a month.) I have Christmas plates. I have birthday plates. You name it, I will take it and I will use it. And this whole conversation reminded me of this: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGXCv1jMFfm/ It's probably going to be me and my kids in 40 years...
I just got married in November. The wedding was beautiful, but there ended up being a norovirus outbreak at our reception. I ended up in the ER about 26 hours after our wedding. And then over 50 guests also got sick. 😵💫
I researched SO MUCH for our registry. We went with dishes from Fiestaware. We chose the bistro-style, which have more rounded edges. We love them, but they don’t fit in our dishwasher the regular way. 😠
We went with Rubbermaid Brilliance for our food storage containers. We could get glass, plastic, and canister style. And they all use the SAME lids. There are 3 sizes of lids and it amazing.
My husband and I love building Lego together and we put two Christmas sets on our registry.
Sarah, just came here to say that I also have Emeril copper bottomed pots and I LOVE them! Going on 14 years, and I have no desire or need to replace them. ❤️
I loved the reflection on dishes as artifacts that last. I was married at 21, and didn't really start using my china until recently. I wrote myself this reflection when I started using my plates-at the same time I started to be the age where I was the main host of large family dinners:
"Dear 21 year old Katie: You are so very young. And in your bare, quiet moments you know you are just pretending at this whole "being an adult business". And, despite the feelings of pretending, you are getting married. That life altering, soul defining covenant. And again, when you are honest with yourself, you know that this is probably foolish and terribly ill advised and yet, it is the only thing that seems real and necessary and inevitable in your whole world. All of this is true and yet all of it does not necessitate that you have to cover for your insecurity by registering for that expensive, silver rimmed china you saw at the store-the set that seemed to ooze sophistication and adult-ness. So many of your wedding guests will spend $100 for a place setting. And then all those decadent plates will sit in your cupboard for years, untouched, while you experience all of the sorrow and heartache and disappointment that will actually usher you into adulthood. Fancy plates be damned. All this time you will eat the meals that mark the years on your plain old, everyday plates. They are sufficient. You were sufficient. There was always only one you, charading though you felt, inching imperceptibly toward maturity. And the real you never did, and never will, go in for fancy, fussy plates. Now you know. And maybe now, that the questions about whether you are old enough, whether your marriage is ill advised and your life choices reckless, are finally settled, you can finally dust off your tired stacks of china and find a way to enjoy those silly plates."
I can say-moving inteo midlife, I am cherishing my special meals on my china with my aging parents and almost grown kids. Life is cyclical and suprising, and I love ya'll conversations that get at those contours.
On the wedding registry items we still use, we registered at REI for our wedding ( in addition to more traditional Macy’s) and the items we got from there are things we still use the most! (Aside from our panini press- cuisinart griddler-which we actually use about every week and we’ve been married for almost 13 years 😂). But from REI, the best thing we got was a nice tent for camping- it’s still my favorite tent we have (and we have accumulated about 5 tents by now 🏕️) and our two person camp couch- think camp chair but for 2 people.
My favorite wedding gift has to be my set of fine china gifted to me by my mom. It was owned by my great grandma Henrietta, and inherited by my grandma, to my mom, and then to me. All of them have now passed, so the set means a lot to me thinking how many times they enjoyed a meal, washed the dish, or carefully dried and packed it away safely. My mother also gifted me a set of Dirilyte gold flatware which I also treasure as she had a set of her own.
Our top items from our registry (outside of china, dish-ware, and utensils) are the specialty cookware. We always say a thank you to heaven when we use our double boiler that is from my husbands Oma, and I think of my aunts and uncles when I use my large roast pan and glassware. These pieces are timeless and it’s nice to have items often used gifted by those close to us. Being married when we were 23 and 22 I’m grateful for the foresight I had at prioritizing these high quality items, after being married for almost 7 years we use them weekly if not daily! We also took the money we received and put it towards our dishes and Oneida utensils, so each time I use them it makes me think of all those who came to celebrate and gather on that special day. ☺️
Enjoyed the discussion on both weddings/gifts and tariffs. For myself my spouse and we have been married 35 years and this was our second wedding. We uninvited everyone and only had a few friends who chose to crash our celebration lunch at a restaurant. It was perfect - we didn't register because no one was invited...but we did have parties when we visited family..spontaneous and beautiful. One of those parties my sister gave me a set of cooking pans- still use them. Peace y'all
I got married in 2013 and almost no one was asking for fine china at that time. We ended up registering for a very simple white Bernardaud porcelain setting (which apparently is just the preferred term for “china” in Europe). We use it as our daily dinnerware and wash it in the dishwasher. Twelve years and three house moves later, we’ve only broken one plate. My mother-in-law washes her Baccarat glasses in the dishwasher because her theory is that you tend to avoid using dishes or glassware if you feel like you have to hand wash them and these items are meant to be loved and used as part of our daily lives. I’ve always really liked that attitude and using our nice plates always adds a bit more delight to a beautifully plated meal.
I gotta comment on the wedding gift section!! Loved it. The convo about china was lovely- and I had to share inspo for every day plates. A few years ago we invested in a small set from East Fork Pottery. They are on the heavy side, but they are beautiful and earthy and extremely durable. The company also is super transparent about paying the potters a fair wage and partners with different community orgs every quarter. I fall more in love with my dishes and the company every year! You can check them out at www.easkforkpottery.com
My mom said she wanted to get rid of her china and silver and my sister and I both declared we want it! It’s so lovely and beautiful today. I also want her huge yellow Tupperware bowl that had held all manner of substances in its 45 years of use and still looks perfect. Sadly my kitchen aid mixer I loved so much is now very dead and I haven’t be able to bring myself to buy another when the quality seems so poor now.
Had to come on here in defense of my Fiestaware dishes! They were the first purchase I made on my own after I got divorced and I got them solely because they made me happy. That was 12 years ago and they are holding up wonderfully (I mixed and matched 4 colors...blue, yellow, orange and green). They still make me smile every time I open my cabinets and I feel very confident that they will be with me for quite a while. My classic set of white Corning Ware casserole dishes I got for my wedding still get plenty of use (going on 34 years now!) and is my go to wedding present.
And I have to admit that I got rid of 2 sets of china that had been passed down to me when I downsized a couple of years ago. I didn't mind storing them when I had room but never had a desire to use them. We luckily had only gotten 2 place settings of our china when we got married...we did use those occasionally to celebrate special occasions with the two of us, but over time I ended up not really liking the pattern I had picked out.
When my grandmother passed away, I did choose to keep a couple of pieces of her china which was a pattern that incorporated a really pretty robin's egg blue. I use the sugar dish on my desk to hold things and have a couple of additional pieces out and about. I just truly did not need 12 place settings.
Where I have been lucky when it comes to hand me downs is furniture. I have two of my grandparents' original midcentury modern end tables, a cabinet my grandfather made, some wonderfully solid bookcases that have come with me in every house since college, an old fashioned school desk I use in my entry, two of my childhood dressers (which my parents picked up at flea markets in upstate NY) and a wonderfully sold wood dresser that had been my brother's. And I even have my ex's grandfather's collection of antique irons (because I love them and he & his parents were fine with me keeping them until my kids want them, if they do.)
I will also defend Fiestaware! :D I got one vintage place setting from her collection when my grandmother passed. I picked up a few other vintage pieces from a family friend when she decided to downsize. My mom bought be about 16 more place settings when one of her friends downsized. A mix of vintage and newer. The fiestaware isn't our daily use plates (more on that later) but they get used often as I am a Beth and would use a different set of dishes for every occasion. But the fiestaware all look amazing and I've put them all in the dishwasher with no issue, both vintage and new. They bring me such joy when I mix up all the colors on the table in a multi-plate situation. (Dinner plate, salad plate, salad bowl, side bowl... the more the merrier!)
We had fiesta ware that lasted us 20 years before we gave it to a friend’s kid who was starting off with an apartment and needed it. They were great and easy to move with, which was important.
I agree with wedding china. Still love it 30 years later. But my favorite is the cake stand with cover. My thoughts display themselves on my face and the gift giver saw my hesitation, but she was right. It’s so useful for keeping the cake in good shape for nearly a week, which is the longest it stays around when you have three children. 🤪
Wedding registry - largest size 1995 Rival Crockpot still going strong! The control knob is gone, the plastic lid just recently gave up no matter how many times I glued it back together. Luckily I have another cooking pot lid that fits it perfectly. It is also in the awfullest shades of peach, pink and blue but it does the job! Aside from a crystal vase inscribed with our wedding date I don’t think we have one other thing remaining from our registry.
I still have our wooden rolling pin and our Winnie the Pooh colander from our registry from 29 years ago. But my favorite things are the blown glass and dishes from my grandmother. Thankfully my daughter loves it as much as me so I will be able to keep passing it down. It’s those generational things that mean so much more than the dollar value
Just last year I upgraded my dishes. I received off-white Corelle dishes when I went to college in 2006. Over time my parents and I added to them, but I was tired of off white as I couldn’t get the color anymore. Not that I needed more, but it was a pain. I took my time doing my research and ended up with Pillivuyt, French porcelain dishes. My parents got my the serving pieces for my birthday and Christmas last year. They can go in the dishwasher, and they are amazing. Not too heavy, but a wonderful upgrade!
Our first place was a 600sq ft apartment outside DC so it’s funny to me what we registered for as we had so little space. But we were 22 and clueless. I was pressured to register for china because I was living and working in the south at the time. We only got 2 sets and haven’t used them in like 18 years.
Late to the party but...
1. This should be required listening for anyone who thinks tariffs are a good idea right now. So much insight on the larger effects.
2. Beth - do the Crate & Barrel catering sets. You won't regret it. One of the things we still have from our registry is about 1/2 of our original everyday dinnerware. But we were getting low on pieces and they stopped making it. And it was an earthenware cream and green and I wanted plain white. So I bought bowls and plates from C&B and I LOVE THEM. Been 5+ years and they look like new. We've only broken one plate.
3. We still have so many things from our registry 23 years later! Our French Bull toaster from Target that I will absolutely mourn when it does finally go. Two beautiful matching cutting boards. A Chicago knife set. A nice wool rug. I bought myself my Kitchen-aid mixer. And I didn't register for china as I knew I would get the set my dad brought back from Japan when my mom downsized. But I am a Beth who would have plate settings for everything under the sun. We currently have the above mentioned every day stuff, Fiestaware (that lives in a glass front cabinet because I love it), a basket weave edged white setting for 24 people I picked up on black Friday one year because we started hosting the family dinners and we have a huge extended family, (Dinner plates, salad plates, pasta bowls, appetizer plates, coffee mugs, gravy boats, sugar bowls, the whole kit and caboodle. It takes up an entire cabinet but in 20+ years we haven't broken a single piece despite using it at least once a month.) I have Christmas plates. I have birthday plates. You name it, I will take it and I will use it. And this whole conversation reminded me of this: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGXCv1jMFfm/ It's probably going to be me and my kids in 40 years...
I just got married in November. The wedding was beautiful, but there ended up being a norovirus outbreak at our reception. I ended up in the ER about 26 hours after our wedding. And then over 50 guests also got sick. 😵💫
I researched SO MUCH for our registry. We went with dishes from Fiestaware. We chose the bistro-style, which have more rounded edges. We love them, but they don’t fit in our dishwasher the regular way. 😠
We went with Rubbermaid Brilliance for our food storage containers. We could get glass, plastic, and canister style. And they all use the SAME lids. There are 3 sizes of lids and it amazing.
My husband and I love building Lego together and we put two Christmas sets on our registry.
We built Lego on on of our first dates and it had become our valentines tradition to eat pizza and build lego ☺️
First, congratulations on your wedding!
Second, love the Lego idea! They are super fun!!!!!
Third, norovirus is THE WORST! I’m so sorry that happened!!!!!
Sarah, just came here to say that I also have Emeril copper bottomed pots and I LOVE them! Going on 14 years, and I have no desire or need to replace them. ❤️
I loved the reflection on dishes as artifacts that last. I was married at 21, and didn't really start using my china until recently. I wrote myself this reflection when I started using my plates-at the same time I started to be the age where I was the main host of large family dinners:
"Dear 21 year old Katie: You are so very young. And in your bare, quiet moments you know you are just pretending at this whole "being an adult business". And, despite the feelings of pretending, you are getting married. That life altering, soul defining covenant. And again, when you are honest with yourself, you know that this is probably foolish and terribly ill advised and yet, it is the only thing that seems real and necessary and inevitable in your whole world. All of this is true and yet all of it does not necessitate that you have to cover for your insecurity by registering for that expensive, silver rimmed china you saw at the store-the set that seemed to ooze sophistication and adult-ness. So many of your wedding guests will spend $100 for a place setting. And then all those decadent plates will sit in your cupboard for years, untouched, while you experience all of the sorrow and heartache and disappointment that will actually usher you into adulthood. Fancy plates be damned. All this time you will eat the meals that mark the years on your plain old, everyday plates. They are sufficient. You were sufficient. There was always only one you, charading though you felt, inching imperceptibly toward maturity. And the real you never did, and never will, go in for fancy, fussy plates. Now you know. And maybe now, that the questions about whether you are old enough, whether your marriage is ill advised and your life choices reckless, are finally settled, you can finally dust off your tired stacks of china and find a way to enjoy those silly plates."
I can say-moving inteo midlife, I am cherishing my special meals on my china with my aging parents and almost grown kids. Life is cyclical and suprising, and I love ya'll conversations that get at those contours.
🥹🥹🥹🥹
What a beautiful letter to yourself ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
On the wedding registry items we still use, we registered at REI for our wedding ( in addition to more traditional Macy’s) and the items we got from there are things we still use the most! (Aside from our panini press- cuisinart griddler-which we actually use about every week and we’ve been married for almost 13 years 😂). But from REI, the best thing we got was a nice tent for camping- it’s still my favorite tent we have (and we have accumulated about 5 tents by now 🏕️) and our two person camp couch- think camp chair but for 2 people.
My favorite wedding gift has to be my set of fine china gifted to me by my mom. It was owned by my great grandma Henrietta, and inherited by my grandma, to my mom, and then to me. All of them have now passed, so the set means a lot to me thinking how many times they enjoyed a meal, washed the dish, or carefully dried and packed it away safely. My mother also gifted me a set of Dirilyte gold flatware which I also treasure as she had a set of her own.
Our top items from our registry (outside of china, dish-ware, and utensils) are the specialty cookware. We always say a thank you to heaven when we use our double boiler that is from my husbands Oma, and I think of my aunts and uncles when I use my large roast pan and glassware. These pieces are timeless and it’s nice to have items often used gifted by those close to us. Being married when we were 23 and 22 I’m grateful for the foresight I had at prioritizing these high quality items, after being married for almost 7 years we use them weekly if not daily! We also took the money we received and put it towards our dishes and Oneida utensils, so each time I use them it makes me think of all those who came to celebrate and gather on that special day. ☺️
Enjoyed the discussion on both weddings/gifts and tariffs. For myself my spouse and we have been married 35 years and this was our second wedding. We uninvited everyone and only had a few friends who chose to crash our celebration lunch at a restaurant. It was perfect - we didn't register because no one was invited...but we did have parties when we visited family..spontaneous and beautiful. One of those parties my sister gave me a set of cooking pans- still use them. Peace y'all
I got married in 2013 and almost no one was asking for fine china at that time. We ended up registering for a very simple white Bernardaud porcelain setting (which apparently is just the preferred term for “china” in Europe). We use it as our daily dinnerware and wash it in the dishwasher. Twelve years and three house moves later, we’ve only broken one plate. My mother-in-law washes her Baccarat glasses in the dishwasher because her theory is that you tend to avoid using dishes or glassware if you feel like you have to hand wash them and these items are meant to be loved and used as part of our daily lives. I’ve always really liked that attitude and using our nice plates always adds a bit more delight to a beautifully plated meal.
I gotta comment on the wedding gift section!! Loved it. The convo about china was lovely- and I had to share inspo for every day plates. A few years ago we invested in a small set from East Fork Pottery. They are on the heavy side, but they are beautiful and earthy and extremely durable. The company also is super transparent about paying the potters a fair wage and partners with different community orgs every quarter. I fall more in love with my dishes and the company every year! You can check them out at www.easkforkpottery.com
My mom said she wanted to get rid of her china and silver and my sister and I both declared we want it! It’s so lovely and beautiful today. I also want her huge yellow Tupperware bowl that had held all manner of substances in its 45 years of use and still looks perfect. Sadly my kitchen aid mixer I loved so much is now very dead and I haven’t be able to bring myself to buy another when the quality seems so poor now.
Had to come on here in defense of my Fiestaware dishes! They were the first purchase I made on my own after I got divorced and I got them solely because they made me happy. That was 12 years ago and they are holding up wonderfully (I mixed and matched 4 colors...blue, yellow, orange and green). They still make me smile every time I open my cabinets and I feel very confident that they will be with me for quite a while. My classic set of white Corning Ware casserole dishes I got for my wedding still get plenty of use (going on 34 years now!) and is my go to wedding present.
And I have to admit that I got rid of 2 sets of china that had been passed down to me when I downsized a couple of years ago. I didn't mind storing them when I had room but never had a desire to use them. We luckily had only gotten 2 place settings of our china when we got married...we did use those occasionally to celebrate special occasions with the two of us, but over time I ended up not really liking the pattern I had picked out.
When my grandmother passed away, I did choose to keep a couple of pieces of her china which was a pattern that incorporated a really pretty robin's egg blue. I use the sugar dish on my desk to hold things and have a couple of additional pieces out and about. I just truly did not need 12 place settings.
Where I have been lucky when it comes to hand me downs is furniture. I have two of my grandparents' original midcentury modern end tables, a cabinet my grandfather made, some wonderfully solid bookcases that have come with me in every house since college, an old fashioned school desk I use in my entry, two of my childhood dressers (which my parents picked up at flea markets in upstate NY) and a wonderfully sold wood dresser that had been my brother's. And I even have my ex's grandfather's collection of antique irons (because I love them and he & his parents were fine with me keeping them until my kids want them, if they do.)
I will also defend Fiestaware! :D I got one vintage place setting from her collection when my grandmother passed. I picked up a few other vintage pieces from a family friend when she decided to downsize. My mom bought be about 16 more place settings when one of her friends downsized. A mix of vintage and newer. The fiestaware isn't our daily use plates (more on that later) but they get used often as I am a Beth and would use a different set of dishes for every occasion. But the fiestaware all look amazing and I've put them all in the dishwasher with no issue, both vintage and new. They bring me such joy when I mix up all the colors on the table in a multi-plate situation. (Dinner plate, salad plate, salad bowl, side bowl... the more the merrier!)
We had fiesta ware that lasted us 20 years before we gave it to a friend’s kid who was starting off with an apartment and needed it. They were great and easy to move with, which was important.
I agree with wedding china. Still love it 30 years later. But my favorite is the cake stand with cover. My thoughts display themselves on my face and the gift giver saw my hesitation, but she was right. It’s so useful for keeping the cake in good shape for nearly a week, which is the longest it stays around when you have three children. 🤪
Wedding registry - largest size 1995 Rival Crockpot still going strong! The control knob is gone, the plastic lid just recently gave up no matter how many times I glued it back together. Luckily I have another cooking pot lid that fits it perfectly. It is also in the awfullest shades of peach, pink and blue but it does the job! Aside from a crystal vase inscribed with our wedding date I don’t think we have one other thing remaining from our registry.
I still have our wooden rolling pin and our Winnie the Pooh colander from our registry from 29 years ago. But my favorite things are the blown glass and dishes from my grandmother. Thankfully my daughter loves it as much as me so I will be able to keep passing it down. It’s those generational things that mean so much more than the dollar value