Add Pizzazz With Inexpensive Dinnerware From A Party Supply Store
The best part of having been married for close to twenty years is being able to be completely honest with each other. Such honesty is useful on a holiday such as Valentine’s Day. One of the socially expected norms of the Day of Love is to take your significant other out for dinner.
I told my wife that I didn’t feel like going out to eat only to wait forever for a table, not to mention potentially substandard service and food. It just didn’t sound like a good use of our time or our money.
I suggested that we make a great meal at home and asking some of our closest friends to join us. She agreed.
While making the list of the things needed, my wife gave me a look. I knew it was her turn to unleash some honesty. Our everyday dinnerware looks very ordinary, so she wondered if we could find something with a little more pizzazz for our dinner event.
While I was a getting groceries at Walmart, I looked for some new dinnerware. I found some that looked a bit more formal. Unfortunately the cost was way more than I wanted to spend for some plates, even if we would use them again.
- $8.48 per diner plate x 6 plates = $50.88
- $3.48 per salad plate x 6 plates = $20.88
Total: $71.76
Over $70 for plates that still looked fairly plain, and I didn’t like them that much. No Thanks.
On a whim, I stopped by the Party City nearby just to see what they might have. What I found surprised me. They had plastic dinnerware that would add just the right amount of pop to our event’s dinner table. They had one set with a gold rim, another with a lace border, and another that was square, but ridges that set it apart from the rest. However, the one I selected was a wavy rectangle design that looked a little fancy, but also different enough from the norm to be something that our guests would remember.
- 10 dinner plates : $8.99
- 10 salad plates: $5.99
Total: $14.98
When I got home and showed my wife, she was just as excited about the plates as I. Yes, they were plastic, but they looked fantastic on top of the red and white Valentine’s Day table cloth. Our guests commented on them when they sat at the table, more proof that our inexpensive trip to a party supply store added a little something extra to our Valentine’s Day dinner for ourselves and our guests.
Have you ever thought of getting some funky looking dinnerware at a party supply store to jazz up an event at your home?
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
This is a great idea. Our plateware has been battered over the years and I have been struggling with ways to dress up our table. I honestly never thought about a party supply store. Thanks for the tip!
Smart! We don’t really do a lot of dinners, so I wouldn’t have thought to worry about jazzing up our dinnerware. But there’s nothing quite like getting snazzy-looking stuff cheaply — especially when it even impresses guests!
We picked up some summery plastic plates and cups at 5 Below year before last. They’re some of my favorites.
@Kym – I was surprised by the selection at the Party City I went to……now, it’s not fine China, but it definitely dresses up the table!
@Abigail – The dinnerware is *perfect* for the occasional dinner party – OR even just dressing things up for you and your significant other without dropping a lot of cash on formal dishes!
@Emily – Very cool…..I forgot to mention in the post that there is heavy duty plastic silverware that looks “silver.” Again, nobody is going to mistake it for real forks and knives, but they work!