Tea parties, which have been around since 1662, had their start with this historical event:
“… the first tea party was hosted in England. In 1662 Catherine of Braganza, the wife of King Charles II, hosted the first ever tea party on record following the marriage of her and the king. Queen Catherine was originally a Portuguese princess, born into the noble house of Braganza by her father, King John IV of Portugal. As a wedding gift to King Charles II and Queen Catherine, the Portuguese royal family gave her a casket full of tea.” Hackberry Tea
That’s fun to know, right? Well, 362 years later, tea parties have become quite the thing here and we have all the niceties to help you, including a tea party essential, tiered stands. Coming up in the next few weeks we have several parties booked and we need lots of them, so we are crafting a few.
We are well on our way – just 3-4 more to fashion. After we coordinate the stand with a teapot, tea cups, small plates, creamer and sugar, and platter, we’ll be ready for our clients’ tea party!
The lovely floral pattern, SLM158 (not a suitable name for this work of art, huh?), has a lot of history. It was produced by the Salem China Company, which was founded in 1898 in Salem, Ohio. The American company manufactured china for over 60 years, ending the production in 1960 and then becoming a distribution, sales and service company until 2003, when the main building was destroyed by fire.
Their patterns followed the trends of the time, with elegant florals, art deco creations, and traditional scenic designs. Also, if you love Christmas china, Salem had an extensive line of this favorite holiday. One particularly popular design from the 1930s, the triangular-shaped Tricorne, is now highly collectible – this explains why we have not come across these! Click to see some of the most popular Salem China designs and advertisements found at Laurel Hollow Brook,
~ Mount Vernon ~
Our quest to learn more about Salem China started with this set of salad plates in the once-popular Mount Vernon pattern. Enamored by its artistry and condition, we learned how to gauge the age of this particular plate. The “52” reveals that it was made in 1952 and the three starts signify the quarter of the year. With this information, we looked through our collection to find more about this American china company.
Mount Vernon, Salem China Company
~ Sovereign ~
Meet Sovereign, a gorgeous gold-rimmed pattern. We’ve actually had these for quite some time but now will certainly appreciate it more. We believe the V in the backstamp might reveal its age but we couldn’t find anything about the letter markings. We do know it had to be produced before 1960.
Sovereign, Salem China Company
~ Sandra ~
This gorgeous, delicate pattern is Sandra. Again, her mark includes a W which tells us nothing about its age. But, that doesn’t diminish how sweet she is. (So is my sister, Sandra!)
Sandra, Salem China Company
~ SLM43 ~
How in the world can a beautiful pattern with a green and gold encrusted rim and sweet lily of the valley have such a name? Certainly, we are perplexed but we do know from the backstamp that it was made in 1956.
SLM43, Salem China Company
~ SLM158 ~
Again, the name does not convey the gorgeousness of this pattern. From her mark, SLM158 belongs to a line called Quaker Girl, as homage to the Quaker residents and founders of Salem, Ohio. Her mark reveals that she was produced in 1952 during the first quarter.
SLM158, Salem China Company
And, on International Women’s Day, we serendipitously found this fascinating tidbit on Salem, Ohio on Wikipedia.
“In April 1850, Salem hosted the first Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio, the third such convention in the United States. (The first was the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848; the second was the Rochester Convention two weeks later.) The Salem Convention was the first of these conventions to be organized on a statewide basis.[17] All of the convention’s officers were women. Men were not allowed to vote, sit on the platform or speak during the convention. The male spectators were supportive, however, and when the convention was over, they created an organization of their own and endorsed the actions of the women’s convention.[18] “
Salem China, we salute you! Your patterns are unique, lovely, and timeless. We love that you were manufactured in the town of Salem, a place known for its progressiveness in the 1800s, whose residents fought against slavery and for women. Hurrah!
Have you been considering using vintage tableware for your wedding or dinner party and wondered how to create the perfect vintage tablescape? We want to show you just how easy and fun it is for you to see firsthand how it’s done at Hillsborough’s Southern Vintage Table’s studio.
Not only do we have all the dishes, glassware, and flatware you can possibly imagine, we have all the fixings’, too – candleholders and candles, fake flowers, vases, tablecloths, doo-dads – and we are here to help you see the many options. Ready to sign up? Read on!
First, we make an appointment for us to meet at the studio. We don’t have regular hours, but we are very flexible and try to meet at your convenience. We can meet after noon on most days – including weekends and early evenings – whatever suits your schedule.
After we chat about basics – date, venue, guest count, etc – the conversation turns to your vintage vision. We tour the studio rooms and highlight pieces that might suit your vision. Following our tour, the round or rectangular table is covered with a tablecloth of your choice, and the fun begins – you start setting that beautiful table that will wow your guests.
To help create the total look, we have an assortment of tablecloths, fake florals and greenery. and candles of almost every color. We want you to be able envision that final look!
The visit concludes with a listing of items you’d like to rent. In the following days, we’ll submit a rental proposal and contract for you to review. After approval, we ask for the signed contract and a fifty percent deposit to hold your pieces for your event date. Don’t worry if things change between signing the contract and the date – we’ll happily adjust the order accordingly.
So, connect with us either by phone, email, or through our contact page, and we’ll make a date. And, as you can see in our photos, you will have fun!
A rustic country venue, beautiful vintage place settings, and an oh-so-in-love couple were the exact recipe for this enchanting wedding. Alisa and Colin were married last August at the Barn at Valhalla and we are thrilled to share these lovely photos by both Emily Michelle Photography and wedding planner, Rachel Berglund.
Top left & bottom photo – Rachel Berglund Top right – Emily Michelle Photography
This incredible cake perched on our vintage cake stand makes a stunning statement. And, to further impress, Colin is the confectionary artist!! Impressive, right?
Photo by Rachel Berglund, Wedding Planner
Congratulations, Alisa and Colin! Best wishes for a life of love, joy, and yummy cakes!
Thank you for asking SVT to help with your wedding day and for sharing these photos with us. We are honored by your trust in our services!
A few new vintage treasures found their way into the studio this week and each of them have their own unique story! Starting with a timeless classic, these two vintage silver-plated cake stands are now part of our inventory. They arrived as a gift to SVT and we can’t wait to see the first cake or fancy dessert on them! (Thank you, Lucy!)
Brass candelabras are golden elegance and we are always looking to add to our collection, With the French blue candles, this funky ornate candelabra looks glorious. This find was in one of our favorite thrifting haunts – so sorry, we can’t share this secret!
Do you know how much we adore vintage scales? We have 4 vintage kitchen scales and 1 postage and what was missing is what we found – a vintage baby scale in the softest shade of yellow. Look at those sweet baby faces – adorable! (Thank you, Mary Beth, for letting this one come to us.)
Now for our last vintage find. When we found this in a Wilmington thrift store, we thought it was nice – and heavy – so we picked it up to add to our growing collection of vintage brass vases. Back at the studio, we were cleaning it before putting it on the shelf, and, voila, we found this secret note inside!
This nice, heavy, vintage brass vase was given by a husband to his wife for their 50th golden anniversary 75 years ago! Oh my goodness! Laura, if you should read this, please contact us – we’d love for you to have this family treasure. In the meantime, we will be sharing this story to everyone who places a bouquet in this vase.
As always, thanks for visiting today. In honor of Presidents’ Day, here’s a funny quote from the wonderful Jimmy Carter.
“My esteem in this country has gone up substantially. It is very nice now that when people wave at me, they use all of their fingers.”
Have we told you how much we enjoy helping vendors with styled shoots? Well, we do and this shoot designed by florist Mikaela Grove of Charlee Mae’s Bouquets at The Parlour at Mann’s Chapel is visual proof – this is so so pretty! This historic venue adorned with these beautiful florals and our vintage tableware is perfection and Emma Branch Photography captured all of this beauty beautifully!
We especially love the Charlee Mae’s Bouquet’s florals in our vintage brass goblets and brass footed compote! Aren’t they lovely?
One other thing to note – the glass peg votives on the candle holders. If your venue doesn’t allow taper candles, consider using these. They’re like votives, except elevated. We have clear and colored peg votives and lots of candle holders to choose from!
Thanks, Makeala, for showcasing some of our vintage details! We adore how you incorporated them in your design!
Forest Hall at Chatham Mills, located in Pittsboro, is a charming, historic venue that’s perfect for weddings and special events. With its brick walls, wood floors, and huge windows, the setting is serene, simple, and wonderful!
We were so pleased to be invited to the first open house of the 2020 season and displayed a variety of our vintage tableware. Our visitors especially enjoyed seeing the vintage goblets and different plate combinations and we totally enjoyed their appreciation for them! We also set the sample reception tables which are adorned with flowers by Colorfields Farm. Kelly’s arrangements are gorgeous!
Enjoy photographer Ellie McKinney‘s awesome photos of our setup and tables. Really digging the dark and moody theme!
Thank you, Aneesa and Harmony Weddings, for a wonderful afternoon at Forest Hall! We thoroughly enjoyed meeting the many couples planning their wedding day as well as the talented folks who represented these amazing businesses! Kudos for a fun and successful event!
Special thanks to Jami, for helping with set up, floral arrangements, and packing up. You are the best! 🙂
This week we received a phone call from Kimberly, our new account manager from Wedding Wire. After congratulating us for receiving the Couples’ Award, she asked if there was anything she could help us with. Turns out she had a great idea for our potential clients so they can see the different options we offer.
Voila! We now have a new downloadable pdf on Wedding Wire that gives clients three ideas for possible table settings. But, of course, we went even further! A new page has been added to our website under the Services & Pricing section – Examples of Vintage Place Settings & Pricing – which illustrates 5 different packages from previous clients. Here’s another example of one package.
Our second big news is that we have added a new china collection for our clients – Vintage White/Cream. Currently there are 80 in our inventory but we’ll be adding more. We also have salad and dessert plates that beautifully coordinate with this collection.
There are also many updates on our site that synchronize with the new theme. Take a look when you have time!
Our 2020 calendar is filling up but we still have available dates. Let us know how we can help you with your next special occasion!
How exciting is this? For us, it’s really, really, exciting!! We are soooo very grateful to our couples who gave us the opportunity to play a part in their wedding day and shared a review on Wedding Wire. Today we are featuring four such reviews that we made us really proud.
Erin – Perfection!
Everything we rented from SVT was beautiful. Dinner plates, dessert plates, flatware, appetizer plates, goblets, and some extra funky vintage decor like an old radio and record player. Everyone commented on how cool and quirky our mix and match items were. Shelly is sooo friendly and sweet. Her shop is amazing, I wanted to buy everything in there!!!
Callie Hall, Photographer
Lisa – Vintage Chic Wedding
If you’re envisioning an elegantly chic vintage ambiance for your wedding, reception, party special event. Southern Vintage Table in Hillsborough, NC has the candelabras flatware. plateware, glassware, vintage accents and seamless service to create the ideal setting. Thank you Shelly!
Negative 21 Collective
Abbie – Shelly will bring your vision to life & make your tables look incredible!
Shelly is amazing! She has so many options for plates, glasses, and everything in between— she is so helpful in making your vision come to life, even if you’re not quite sure what it is you’re looking for. She was incredibly dependable and great to work with, and the table scapes she created for us matched our wedding vibe PERFECTLY. She provided colorful goblets, flower plates, napkins, flatware, mugs, dessert plates, and it all was wonderful! We loved working with her 🙂
Autumn Harrison, Photographer
Alisha – Beautiful choices and so easy to work with!
We loved working with Shelly! First of all, her space is amazing. It was so fun to walk through her inventory, pick out items, and “set” a table to see what we liked. She has so many beautiful choices–we ended up renting gorgeous mismatched plates, colorful glass goblets, dessert stands, vases, and pitchers (all vintage). The rental went perfectly. Also, Shelly was very helpful and flexible when our delivery times had to change. Highly recommend her!!
Thank you all. It was sincerely our pleasure! Looking forward to this new year with its new opportunities!
A dinosaur, Princess Lei, and Spiderman – oh my! We are excited to share photos from Erin and Dave’s whimsical, eclectic, and fun wedding, courtesy of photographer friend Carrie Hall.
A vintage typewriter with a message greeting the guests, a vintage record player as a cake stand, the vintage radio decked out with a dinosaur bride, and green train case all added a quirkiness that made this wedding at the historic Forest Hall at Chatham Mills so memorable for everyone.
The reception tables featured our vintage blue and white plates, clear goblets, and stainless flatware. With the flowing garland down the tables generously dotted with petite bouquets, Forest Hall was set for the celebratory feast.
Cheers to Erin and Dave! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this unique and memorable day! May the force always be with you!
Photographer – Carrie Hall Venue – Forest Hall at Chatham Mills Vintage Tableware and Rentals – Southern Vintage Table