Our Wedding China

Hi everyone!  I have been absent from blogging for about a week and a half.  Not only have I not posted, but I haven't had time to visit anyone else's blog either.  I always feel like I'm out of the loop when that happens.  We've had family things going on and the puppy is still keeping us very busy.

This week I'm participating in Cuisine Kathleen's "Let's Dish" party.  Her challenge this month is for us to set a table with wedding china.  It can be our wedding china, or the wedding china of a mother or grandmother, etc.  I just realized that the challenge was actually to use formal wedding china in an informal arrangement so, Oops, I guess I didn't get that memo.  The story of my life these days.  :)  Anyway, I was glad for the opportunity to set a table with our wedding dishes.  Those of you who are regular readers of my blog have seen this china before, but here it is again.

This is the pattern we picked out for our wedding, and we were fortunate enough to receive all twelve place settings, and some serving pieces as well.

This china is called "Juliet" and is made by Royal Doulton.  I wonder if Hyacinth would approve.  ;)

My sweet mother-in-law gifted me with these place mats and matching napkins the year I started blogging,

and she gifted us with the sterling three years ago.  We didn't register for sterling flatware when we got married, and I'm so very grateful to have some now.  The pattern is "Grande Regency" by International Sterling.

We'll be married 27 years next week, and I still love this china as much as I did when I picked it out.  I feel the same way about my husband, by the way.  :)  Actually, I love him a whole lot more.

I took some of these pictures in the morning and Mr. Forest Manor took some in the evening, so the color of the dishes looks different at different times of day and in different lighting.

As wedding gifts, we received the meat platter and the oval vegetable bowl.

I swapped some extra plates for the bud vase above and a sugar bowl.

We also received this sandwich platter as a wedding gift.

My sister gave me the pretty sweet meat dish for my birthday one year.  I love the shape of it.

My mother-in-law brought us these fruit/cereal bowls from London early in our marriage.

I first set the table using our etched sherbet glasses, and then decided to use the bowls instead.

I'm so glad our David Austin roses bloomed late this year, because I was able to use them for this tablescape.

I love, love these roses!!  We planted this rosebush about four years ago in honor of our anniversary then.  It's a David Austin rose called "Gertrude Jekyll."  This is a climbing rose, and it grows against the front of our house.  I love the rich shade of pink, the shape, and the amazing fragrance of these roses.  It's described in my David Austin book as "an Old Rose perfume, the quintessential rose fragrance."
 

I found these napkins at a local antique mall.  I love the embroidery and the fact that the design is the same shade of blue as the pattern in my china.

Our wedding picture...

We looked so young then; I don't know how the years have gone by so quickly.

Salt and pepper shakers were another wedding gift.

Crystal is Gorham "French Cathedral."

I've updated this post by adding some candlelight shots.  The husband took these this evening, and I think he did a great job.  :-D

My husband also took these macro shots.

 So tell me -- do you still like your wedding china?  If so, do you ever use it?  We never use ours, and I'm going to have to change that.  It's a shame to leave it in the china cabinet all the time.

Thanks so much for visiting me!  I will be catching up with my visits, as well; I can't wait to see what you've been doing.

I'm linking this post to:
"Let's Dish," hosted by Cuisine Kathleen
Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at BNOTP
Home Sweet Home, hosted by Sherry

Have a terrific day!

Denise