By Heidi Bouchard
Head of Style and Design

In the wedding design industry, vintage China has become all the rage. From the bride who wants a “full-fledged vintage look,” complete with vintage glass ware, linen and chairs, to the bridal or baby shower hostess who wants to add just a touch of nostalgia to her party.  More and more customers are asking for us to source vintage pieces for their catered event.

Our collection took shape slowly at first—a few pieces from gatherings at antique shops, some beautiful thrift store finds, one or two pieces discovered on EBay. As we began to build our collection, it was clear we were onto something—each piece of china we added was in high demand with many of our clients. As Head of Style and Design, it became my responsibility to make sure we had enough inventory so that we could tell our salespeople to present vintage china as a viable option to clients.  Although off to a great start, we still needed more and better quality pieces….

Brimfield Here We Come!

Over the course of two days and with the assistance of two “pickers,” I scoured field after field at Brimfield, Massachusetts’ famous outdoor Antique Show and Flea Market last September.  We came home with almost everything we needed, completing the 1^st phase of our project: 125 complete place settings made up of vintage china.

The appeal of these pieces is that every dish, every cup and saucer, has a story.   It’s safe to say that every piece belonged to someone’s Grandmother.  One dealer, whom we purchased a complete service of 8 from, told us he had bought it at an auction in Philadelphia, out of a stately old brick house that had been empty for years.  He broke the original 48 place settings into 6 sets of 8 each.  We imagined the grand parties these plates had witnessed.

Midway through our 2^nd day of foraging, we stopped for lunch to have our traditional Pilgrim Sandwich (Fresh roasted turkey, stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce on a fresh bakery roll). Deciding to divide and conquer I waited in line for lemonade.  I was the last to return to our table.  There were our three Pilgrim Sandwiches served on three late 19^th century green and gold Limoges plates.  The sandwiches were of course delicious, and yes, I think the plate was partly responsible for that. What fun to sit and pause a moment and enjoy the antique china ourselves!