Mismatched China - on the hunt!

Try ebay, check local estate sales, possibly craigslist.

One of my friends did this!! It turned out great. She called around to local thrift stores and antique shops, as well as posting an ISO on FB marketplace. She ended up getting about 50 of her plates from an antique store, 20 something from someone who did the same thing and sold them to her on FB, and the rest came from thrift shops.

I've seen this done at birthday parties, but not weddings, and it turned out very nice especially if you can stick to a theme. If not, no biggie.

I would certainly check Goodwill on 50% days and garage sales. Now that it's summer, many people plan on moving while school is out.

I've never seen it in person, just on Pinterest and wedding sites and it always looks beautiful!

A claw foot tub might be difficult. They are usually cast iron and weigh over 300 pounds. A lot of people are in search of them because the antique ones are well made and can be refurbished. Check craigslist for the dresser, people are constantly putting them out on their curbs.

For the plates, don't be afraid to get sets of 4 or more, you can scatter them around on different tables to still get the unique mismatched look.

I was going to try to buy all this for mine but our local rental place rents out antique mismatched China for .80/pc so I decided to do that instead to save myself the headache. I've seen people sell big lots though of plates like this so you might get lucky

Love this idea! I absolute love eclectic look! I'm not one for cookie cutter!

Check various thrift stores !!

How large is your guest list? Will you want to pack up that many dirty dishes after your reception? And hand wash, dry and pack up that many dishes the day after to be able to resell? We rented vintage tablewear and it totally worth not having to figure out how to get it all to/from venue and on/off reception tables and cleaned up.

Oh I can totally see thrift stores and even garage sales having this

Went to goodwill by my office today at lunch. 12 dinner plates. 19 cake plates.

I don’t mind washing them afterwards. I helped my best friend wash all the dishes from her wedding after. It has its downsides. But I can’t rent mismatched dinnerware at a reasonable price versus buying it.

This is a really cool idea!

Here are some pictures of my finds so far. I have to admit this is turning into a fun adventure. I was worried it would be such a chore. But I never know what beautiful dishes I’m going to find when I go looking.

I love this idea!! I'm so glad I found this thread. I think I'm going to attempt doing this. Any tips or pointers?

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Decide on a general look you are trying to find. I wanted pretty floral, but maybe you will want something different.

Figure out before you start how many plates you are trying to acquire and give yourself an overall budget. Also - do you just want dinner plates? Or are you trying to acquire dinner plates, cake plates, flatware and drinking glasses?

Be patient. You will not find them all quickly or in one place usually.

Explore thrift stores and FB market. Don't be afraid to negotiate price.

Enjoy it!

For me, I am really enjoying searching for the plates. I thought about it the other day and realized that every plate our friends and family use that day will have been hand picked by my fiance and I. It is a really personal touch when you look at it that way.

Good luck and happy hunting!

View Quoted Comment Awesome!! Thanks so much for the tips! I went on my first goodwill run today and found dessert and dinner plates that are soo pretty! I’m definitely going to enjoy searching for plates

I love this idea! You look to be making some great finds, good luck on the rest of you hunt.

I’ve added these to my collection. I found 30 identical wine glasses yesterday at a thrift store for $11!
I am considering swinging by another goodwill this evening on my way home from work.

Are you doing mismatched wine glasses as well?? I think that’s what I’m going to do!! And maybe just a mix of golf and silver utensils.

View Quoted Comment I thought about doing mismatched wine glasses. But I wanted depression glass and that wasn’t going to easy to find. Or cheap. So I decided I would just get the generic wine glasses. I lucked out and found 30 matching wine glasses at a thrift store this week for $11.
I bought my flatware yesterday from kitchen restock dot com. I went with winco elegance so it still has that vintage feel. I had considered trying to buy mismatched flatware but I didn’t want to risk getting a rusty piece and I also had a hard time finding good deals on it at local thrift stores. You might have better luck!