A Daunting Undertaking

You know those times when the most fantastic idea just springs into your mind, fully formed and raring to go? I do.

Then do you know the sinking feeling when you start to put said brilliant plan into action, and realise what you've taken on is actually quite a huge and scary undertaking and you're not entirely sure if you can pull it off, but you've comitted yourself to it now so you'd better try to see it through... I do.

It all started at Bygone Times. Sister company of Botany Bay and based in Chorley, I heard about Bygone Times on one of those unbearably trendy antiques shows where the buyers tell you what "objects d'art" you should be investing in, regardless of whether or not they go with your three piece suite. Bygone Times is three cavernous warehouse spaces, subdivided into small privately rented stalls and selling a huge array of stuff from genuine antiques through Retro to general bric-a-brac. It's an amazing place, with some real bargains to be had. If you decide to go, though, be aware that (if you're anything like me) it will take you at least 4 hours to see it all and long-suffering fiance will get very bored indeed!

*One of the stalls at Bygone Times selling Lava-ware vases and glass pieces*

I'd gone just for a nice day out and to find belated Christmas/Birthday presents for my Uni girls. We meet up once a year (usually around February time) for out annual tea-drinking, biscuit-dunking, present-exchanging catch-up-a-thon and I wanted to find them some nice and different homewares for presents as they're all buying/renting/completely demolishing and redecorating new places at the moment. Looknig around Bygone Times I kept spotting amazing crockery and landed on 4 different and slightly mis-matched sets to present them with. I loved each of the styles myself and enjoyed researching the makes to find out how easy it would be for my friends to add to their sets by buying from eBay for ecample.

*Treking through some unexpected snow on our one and only forray away from the kettle*

Que brilliant idea. My internal conversation went something like this:
What if instead of hiring dull, bog standard white china for the wedding buffet, I instead bought entirely vintage dinner services to both serve the food and eat it from.
Oh oh oh, and we can all drink from vintage cups and saucers!
Yeah, and the colours can all tonally match in with the theme of the wedding!
And then afterwards it can form the basis of the mis-matched dinner service I've always wanted!
It's perfect, you're a genius!

So I do some rough calculations of what it will cost me, based on buying for £1 per item or less (counting a cup and saucer as one item) and figure the total cost is workable, so off I trot on a lovely April day with Eldest Sister in tow (as my nice day out treat for her before she emigrated to NZ, more of which if future posts I'm sure), her little knowing what she was in for.

On that first fateful afternoon we spent over £100 and filled my car boot with booty. Dainty china sets with retro-modernist patterns in blue and green. Gorgeously shapely teal blue Poole pottery cups. An (almost) entire Midwinter china set with loads and loads of plates, we had quite a time. We had to trek back to the cashpoint 4 or 5 times with our precarious baskets and armfulls of breakables, always promising ourselves that we might put some back if it didn't fit with the overall theme once we came to pay.

We didn't put anything back. Not a single piece.

So since that day I've been searching high and low for every scrap of crockery I can find. At first I didn't think Ebay was going to be my friend on this. I took a semi successful trip to Failsworth Mill and got two or three slightly scrappy part sets. I was really starting to worry about the viability of the idea (time for that sinking feeling) but lately I've had the most amazing run of finds, so I thought I'd share some with you:

This Midwinter Stonwear set is gorgeous and in perfect condition. 2 tureens, 6 soup bowls, a gravy jug and stacks and stacks of plates, all for a tenner. Win!

Wood and Sons tea and dinner service. clasically beautiful and £21. Not bad as I was bidding on a smaller set of the same design the week before which went for £47!

One of my favourites so far, this matches a very random part set I found at Failsworth Mill. Pontesa Castillian, a Spanish make, this set consists of teapot, cups, saucers, milk jug, sugar bowl and cake plates for... £8! What a steal!

Royal Doulton's Frost Pine design. A very good make and the teeny tiny espresso cups will be perfect for the kids to drink from. Some damage but still a snip at £10

Gorgeous Wade pink roses design. I had noticed this seller had quite a few listings so when I went to collect this set cheekily I asked her if she had many more as yet unlisted. The amazing lady started pulling china from every nook and cranny of her house! I gave her £65 and went away with 5 or 6 sets of cups, saucers and cake plates, some with milk just and sugar bowls also, as well as a two sets of serving plate and cake plates and a number of random cup, saucer and plate trios.

My garage is currently groaning under the weight of boxes and boxes of crockery. I have it all listed on a wonderful spreadsheet wich auto-calculates what I still need as I add my purchases to it (I admit it, in the most secret parts of my heart I'm a total excell geek!). The quantity left to get is slowly coming down as the purchases stack up and I'm confident I'm actually gonig to pull off this slightly ambitious brainwave! The next step is to get it all thoroughly scrubbed and packed away clean before wondering how on earth I'm going to transport it all the way to the wedding venue! How much bribery do you think would be needed to get lovely, wonderful fiance to do some of the wasking up?