TABLESCAPE THURSDAY: WEDDING CHINA (SORT OF)

It is Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch. Visit Susan to see her pretty tablescape this week and then visit all the other gals participating. We all love your comments!

I call this my wedding china, sort of, because The Husband and I did not have a real traditional wedding. As he had been widowed, we decided on having a small wedding at an elegant hotel in Chicago with about sixty guests. I had a small wedding shower with family and friends, and another with all the girls from work, but I did not have a registry. And I didn't care!! I was blissfully in love!

About two years into our marriage, The Husband was out and about on errands when he called me and asked me if I would like a set of china. I was a tad confused and he then explained that he had stopped at an estate sale and there was a beautiful set of china there and he described it over the phone. He said, "It really looks like something you would like, Jane." So I said yes. And so this is what I call my wedding china. I could not have picked out anything more perfect myself. The sweetest thing was, he told me about the chat he had with the girl at the sale. It was her mothers house and the mother was going into a nursing home. The daughter had no need for the dishes herself, but remembered so many holidays and special occasions when the china was used and how her mother took such pride in the set. She said her mother would be so pleased that it was going to become a part of another family's lives. And it has! I cherish it. I have place settings for twelve, assorted serving platters and bowls, a gravy boat, sugar and creamer. The Husband paid $100.00!!!

Today I decorated the table in a pink, tiny floral mode. I have bleeding hearts growing like crazy in a small wooded garden in my yard and I snipped a few of those. When my girls were young they used to delight in these little flowers, wanting me to make them into little necklaces!

I also cut these little white flowers that grow in low mounds and re~bloom a couple of times over the summer. I can't remember their name. I have them in the creamer of my antique tea service. In the background you can see these little pots with grass and rosebuds in them. I fell in love with them at the grocery store this week and they were only $2.99. The hardest part was choosing the ones I liked best!

I have pillar candles in the berry bowls. But before you gasp, I lined the bottoms of the bowls with a round of parchment paper to protect them. They really are the perfect size for a pillar candle and I have yet to use them for berries!!

My place mats and napkins are from Carson Pirie Scot, which I believe is quite like Belk's in the South. I have a beautiful tablecloth I like to use with these dishes but my cleaning ladies might have mixed it up with pillows or sheets and I was in a hurry!! I think the ivory looks nice, but maybe not with the rustic look of my table. Oh well...

A close up of the pattern. I am using the vintage flatware again, but different patterns this time.

I really love the flowers against the creamy background.

And here is the marking on the back.

A pretty view with Blondie teetering on a chair overhead! :-D

You can see the little rosebud pots better from this angle.

It looks like I took this last picture in the evening but actually a big thunderstorm swept in and the sky turned ominous. I was too busy having fun to listen for tornado warnings!

I hope you enjoyed my wedding china!! Isn't that husband of mine quite a shopper? Maybe next week I will show you something I bought myself!!

xoxo

Jane