Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC Archives - Page 40 of 55

Southern Vintage Table Event – Vibrant, Vivid, & Vintage Dinner Party

We totally love setting the tables for big family events like weddings and family reunions, but we are also absolutely delighted to help with intimate celebrations. These smaller gatherings allow us the opportunity to showcase some of our speciality china and decor collections. And, this past weekend we were so pleased to set the table for a festive dinner party.

Our client was hosting a wine and dinner party featuring Spanish wines and dishes. Her vision included vivid spring colors of pinks and greens and we knew our lovely hand-painted pieces from Blue Ridge Pottery and Stetson China would be the perfect fit. Paired with our vintage printed tablecloth, these bold, vibrant patterns from the 1940s-1960s set the perfect mood for her guests. Our table creation was vibrant and stunning, ready for a fun evening with delicious food and Spanish wine tastings!

Thinking about hosting a dinner party with a vintage flair? We are ready to help!

Vintage Feature – Our 3 Reasons to Host a Family-Style Reception!

Plated, buffet, family style – how will your guests enjoy that delicious meal at your party or reception? There isn’t a right or wrong answer, of course, but let us share three reasons you should consider family-style!

Reason 1 – Family-style dinners can feel more intimate.

A lovely memory most of us share is sitting down to a family meal. Home-cooked food, presented on platters and in bowls, are passed down the table as everyone fills their plate. Conversation flows and folks feel connected. This sense of communion is the first great reason to consider a family style dinner!

Reason 2 – Family-style dining is casual yet elegant.

With family-style dining, guests are all seated rather than standing in line at the buffet table, and eating at the same time. But, in contrast to a plated dinner, your guests can make their own selections and portions. You might also consider a combination plated/family-style dinner by plating the dinner salad or first course, and then serving the remaining menu items family style. Be sure to consult with your caterer about how the menu fits the type of reception dinner.

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC — Photo by Scott Faber

Reason 3 – Southern Vintage Table has a great inventory of vintage serving dishes!

Presentation is part of the dining experience and our vintage bowls will definitely add flair to any meal. We have more than 120 vintage bowls and platters (china, ceramic, & glass) in our inventory, not including our 12 deviled egg trays and we know how important that is on a southern menu!

Give us a call or send an email – we’re ready to help you plan your family-style dinner!

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.
-Oscar Wilde

Southern Vintage Table Event – A Babies’ Shower!

Delicious food, pretty decorations, fun games, colorfully wrapped gifts, and two beautiful pregnant cousins – yep, it’s a babies’ shower! This past weekend the Heath women and friends all gathered at Tonya’s lovely home to celebrate the upcoming arrival of two babies – Allison & Steven’s baby boy in May and Sarah & Alex’s little girl in June . How wonderful!

With theme colors of teal, pink, and gray, the banners were hung, tulips arranged in vintage white stoneware pitchers, mixed and matched vintage gray & white dishes stacked, and drinks chilled in our sweet pink enameled baby tub. The yummy food and Caroline’s adorable cupcakes were presented on our vintage serving dishes and the party commenced.

In traditional baby shower fashion, we ate, chatted, and laughed – a bunch! We also loved playing Amanda’s party games – Baby Bottle Scratch-Offs, Price is Right Baby Shopping List, and Don’t Say Baby – before ooohing and ahhhing over the darling baby gifts. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Now we wait for the babies to arrive and we are all so excited to meet them.
Congratulations to Sarah & Alex and Allison & Steven!

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.
— Leo J. Burke

Vintage Tip – Collaborate with Us to Create a Wish List!

Pinterest is one of the very best social media tools out there – really. On a personal level, it’s perfect for archiving ideas about any topic, hobby, or interest you might have whether it’s recipes you want to try, movies you love, or DIY tips. For a business, it’s a terrific way to reach potential clients by visually showcasing your inventory, work, and visions.

Now, there is another way Pinterest can help a business directly connect with their clients. We didn’t think about it until we saw a blog post by Old South Vintage Rentals, and it’s brilliant! Consider using Pinterest to create a “wish list” with Southern Vintage Table. Even if you don’t already use Pinterest, it’s very easy to set up. Our suggestion is to create a “secret” board, invite us to be a collaborator, and let us know how we can help you.

There are several places you can peruse and then pin our inventory. Look through our many Pinterest boards, our website, especially our inventory slide shows (which we still have more to add), and our Instagram posts. Once you have finished archiving items on our collaborative board, let us know, share details and numbers, and we can provide a quote.

Easy, peezy! Looking forward to collaborating with you!

Vintage Feature – Making Progress on our Linen Inventories!

We’ve been quite focused on our vintage linen collection and can proudly announce that 5 inventory slide shows are now available under our Vintage Linens tab. Yay!

Vintage Lace & Crocheted Tablecloth Inventory
Vintage Table Topper Inventory
Vintage Napkin Inventory
Vintage Doilies & Runners Inventory
Vintage White/Cream Tablecloth Inventory

An interesting thing happened along the way of our sorting, counting, and measuring – we discovered that we have amassed a very nice collection of vintage table toppers! These are small tablecloths or large doilies usually placed over a base cloth in the center of the table as an accent. Embellished with embroidery, lace, and/or colorful designs, these toppers add a dash of style to your table design!

Most are square but we also have a few round and rectangular ones. As an alternative to our vintage lace overlays, you may want to consider these lovelies as a backdrop for your table’s centerpiece.

Vintage Toppers - Southern Vintage Table — Photo by Katherine Miles Jones

There’s much more to add to our linen inventory – colored tablecloths, printed tablecloths, and placemats – so stay posted. We look forward to sharing these with you soon!

Vintage Feature – 6 Things You Want to Know About Napkins!

Vintage Napkins at Southern Vintage Table — Photos by Katherine Miles Jones

We’ve been sorting, counting, and photographing napkins this week and though we have made progress, we still have more to do. In the meantime, we did a little research about this seemingly ordinary household staple, but like everything, the napkin story is very interesting.

~ Here are 6 things we thought you’d like to know about napkins! ~

1 – The first “napkin” was not made of cloth but were nuggets of bread. The ancient Greeks used soft bread inside the crust to clean their fingers during a meal.

2 – Cloth napkins date back to the 14th century while paper tea napkins were invented by the Chinese in the 2nd century BC.

3 – Scott Paper was the first US company to sell paper napkins and, although they were produced in the 1930s, they didn’t become popular until the 1950s.

4 – Napkins come in different sizes, colors, patterns, and styles. The rule of thumb as far as the size of the napkin is this – the more food being served, the larger the napkin.

5 – Yes, napkin etiquette does exist. If you have good napkin manners you know when to pick up your napkin, how to place it in your nap, and where to put it when you’re finished the meal. You also know what not to do with a napkin.

6 – According to some sources, the expression “to make ends meet” is a reference to the use of a napkin. The origin of this phrase actually has many theories but this is our favorite. In the French court of 1729 men wore shirts that had stiff, ruffled collars. As the story goes, to protect their clothing, napkins were tucked in the neckline and around the neck so as “to make ends meet.”

There’s so much more to share but we’ve got to get back to our napkin task.
Have a nice week!

Sources:
Napkin Folding Guide
Clise Etiquette
Wikipedia – Napkin
Food Reference

Vintage Feature – Lovely Lace & Crocheted Tablecloths

Southern Vintage Table — Photo by Live View Studios

We have long appreciated the romantic beauty of vintage lace and crocheted tablecloths. Our admiration for these delicate table coverings has been renewed this week because we have been working on sorting and photographing these lovelies for our recently published Vintage Lace & Crocheted Tablecloth Inventory page. Hooray!

As we pulled out them out of the bins our first decision was categorizing. We thought about arranging them by color but they are slightly different hues of creams and whites. Then we considered size but few of them have the same measurement. But, we noted three different weights – Crocheted, Medium-Weight, and Light-Weight – and that’s how they are presented to you. When mousing over the image on the Inventory page, the dimensions of each of the cloths are shown underneath. And, to further help, below the slideshow are two table listings by size.

Right to Left: Crocheted, Medium-Weight, Light-Weight

Take a look at our beautiful and unique collection. If you have any questions, please email us!
Now, onto the napkins…

Vintage Feature – A Night at the Museum

What a night! We were invited to take part in the Museum of Life & Science‘s Wedding Expo with our flower farm friend, Carrie of Fernrock Farm. Our evening was filled with meeting lots of sweet couples, along with mothers and friends, and a cadre of terrific vendors who offer individual services to help make a wedding day special and unique.

Here are 4 takeaways from this special evening.

1 – This wedding venue is super cool! Imagine how much fun it would be to host your wedding at a
science museum with all the dinosaurs, exhibits, and animals. Oh, my…

2 – Wedding vendors are friendly, dedicated, and truly enjoy their profession.
We really were impressed with everyone we met.

3 – Meeting two people who have chosen each other as their forever partner
is an incredibly joyful, wonderful experience.

4 – Everything can be made even better when you share it with a friend.
Thank you, Carrie, for being my vendor partner.

Thanks, Lyndsay Putnam and all the folks at the Museum of Life & Science,
for orchestrating a terrific event for all of us.

Vintage Feature – Vintage Postcard Love

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ahhh, the sweet elegance of vintage postcards. Aren’t these just wonderful?

Love is not just a sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
~ Deepak Chopra

Vintage Feature – 1 – 2 – 3 Reasons to Be Grateful this Week

This first week of February has been notable because we have
three reasons to celebrate!

~ ONE ~

We finished ONE inventory slide show under our Vintage Linens Collection!
Take a look at our wonderful collection of vintage doilies and runners.

~ TWO ~

Our Facebook page received TWO new “Likes” this week.
As a small business, every single “Like” is so very much appreciated!
(Update – we received one more yesterday – yippee!)

~ THREE ~

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC We have THREE new clients for upcoming weddings
and our calendar is filling in for the 2016 wedding season!
Now, this really makes us smile!

So, these are 1 – 2 – 3 reasons we are grateful this week!