A Dreamy 99 Cents

The moment I saw the spread on this celebration in the Summer 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, I knew I had a new favorite wedding.

The dress! The pink ties and mixed gray suits on the groomsmen! The cake! The engraved stationery! There simply weren’t enough exclamation points to express my glee.

My very favorite detail, however, was the table settings. The guests ate not on rented china, but on patterns from the Mother of the Bride’s own collection, which, as you can see, is quite large. To me, this gives the reception an elegant but relaxed feel – the most you could hope for from a backyard reception.

Ever since I saw this spread, I’ve wanted to do the same thing someday, albeit on a smaller scale. I probably won’t be able to collect or borrow enough full place settings to accommodate my friends and family, but I’m thinking it would be a lovely and personal touch to serve wedding cake on my own china dessert plates. Between EBay, thrift stores, garage sales, etc. (and no wedding planned for the near future!), I feel like this is a manageable task.

And last week I made my first purchase! 10 Pontessa china dessert plates from EBay for – wait for it – 99 cents! That’s right, 99 cents.

What do you think – worth 99 pennies?