Party Plates

For every party, you must decide whether you are going to use plates you have on hand (or can borrow), or plastic or paper plates. Some of the paper plates out there are simply beautiful. I’ve been adding paper tableware to the IBY site and keep thinking, “I want that one, and that one, and that one. My grandsons would like this one. This would be cute for a baby shower…”

When my kids were young, getting special party tableware to match the party theme was always fun. Sometimes we did large plates for the meal portion, small plates for the cake and ice cream portion, large & small napkins and cups for both. The few left over supplies we had were always fun reminders of the special occasion until they ran out – though I’ll admit the cake usually ran out first…

For small adult parties, I have glass party sets handed down to me from my mother-in-law. You know, the kind that have a place to set the cup that can either hold a hot or cold drink. (I don’t get them out any other time.) Or I might use my china, or other special plates, with my goblets. But if my party is too big for that, I like buying some pretty paper plates and napkins. For my youngest daughter’s graduation party, we simply used the school colors for solid color plates and napkins.

If at all possible, I prefer not to use plastic-ware for forks, spoons and knives, but when I do, I like buying the sturdy ones that don’t break easily.