When J & I got married we had no money. I knew nothing about weddings, or gift registries, or what was traditional - I just wanted to be married! I found out years later that most people register for a certain pattern of China and friends and family order pieces for them to make up the sets.
Our cupboards were a literal menagerie of thrifted and hand-me-down items - nothing was specially picked or chosen carefully to suit our tastes.
When C. was two, I received a catalogue from Gorahm with wedding china and I began to dream. I knew that China was one of those things that was taken out on special occasions and passed down from generation to generation if it survived.
I love Christmas, and when I came across the Christmas China section in the catalogue I just knew that was what I would begin to buy. When I placed the first call (we didn't have internet back then) to buy a 4 piece place setting, it was just after the holidays and I was using gift $. The operator told me that the pattern I had chosen was on closeout and was marked down 75%! But that wasn't all. It had already been marked down 10% prior to Christmas, so it was a total markdown of 85%!! It was only the complete 20 piece settings that were marked down though. 5 four piece settings. Normal price was $250. At the markdown I was able to get 2 twenty piece sets for $75! God had totally blown away my hopes and blessed me beyond what I had ever dared dream of!
We have used them every Christmas since. They add another dimension of significance to our celebration. We love pulling them out of the box and setting the table for this one special day. We use them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! Then we lovingly pack them away again in anticipation for the next year.
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