Paper and Plastic dinnerware for an outdoor reception?

View Quoted Comment Try "posh party supplies"

Just wanted to add my 2 cents that when you rent plates and flatware the rental company usually doesn't make you wash them when you return them. If the plates have food on them, then you just scrape off excess food and stack them back in the crates they came in. You don't have to wash the flatware.

View Quoted Comment But that’s not how “most people” feel. As you can see, lots of other posters are doing the same as the OP and have given her great advice. Although I am having “real” plates at my wedding, I honestly don’t even remember if any of the weddings I’ve been to had paper or plastic plates because something like that is totally inconsequential to me, and I actually think that’s how most people feel.

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I don't really want to be collecting and scraping off dishes at my wedding. It will be a nice wedding, but I don't have people at the venue that will do all the little things like that and I don't want my parents to have to worry about it.

View Quoted Comment Wood and bamboo are great ideas, I wouldn’t have known about those!

I've seen it done several times (palm leaf plates are a nice alternative as well!). The only thing to worry about is wind!! If you plan to do a buffet, do a place setting at the table with the flatware and napkins and have a stack of plates at the buffet line for them.

The flatware will also blow away, so try to pick a napkin fold that holds the flatware in or wrap the flatware/napkin with something to keep it together. Same thing if you're doing a plated meal, the kitchen would be bringing out the plates with the food on them.

View Quoted Comment Your caterer couldn't do this? I would ask for a quote for at least silverware or look into buying some cheaply. Clearly an UO on this thread but I agree with @MFB, as a guest I would prefer to see real dishes and cutlery at a wedding. If you are using something disposable, I would definitely go with something biodegradable.

We are doing paper plates because it costs an extra $3 a person for our caterer to get nice plastic (they overcharge like crazy) . That's over $300 for us and it just didn't seem worth it to me. You can get very affordable plastic plates online though that are really nice looking. Our wedding is a rather informal crowd who won't turn their noses up at paper plates, so we were cool with it. As long as the foods good, the DJ is playing, and the alcohol is free I don't think the guests will mind. Our buffet will be indoors though so wind doesn't matter. I would definitely look into some cute, heavyweight plastic if I were you and it looks like people gave great suggestions.

Need another reason to consider eco friendly? They can be less expensive than plastic.

100 10" Palm Leaf plates- $30.99= 31 cents each

120 plastic dinner plates-$70.00= 67 cents each

View Quoted Comment This is what we are doing

I used plastic ware and plates at my reception and it was easy. It was outside. Put them in fancy holders so they wouldn't blow away.

I am having faux china sets. They have silver decorative rims. They will be set out on the table with silver chargers. I am also doing buffet style.

We bought plastic tableware that is throw away but looks real, so we get the look without the cleanup hassle. we are doing buffet. we're gonna set the table without the plates, because they'll be with the food. we don't want people to have to juggle silverware and plates of food.

our caterer is smaller and local owned, so they don't have the staff to bus tables for us with a buffet without renting THEIR tableware, and renting their tableware would have more than doubled our catering costs and we really are on a tight budget. the only "bussing" they include is drinks, they'll bring around water and tea and lemonade. we wanted the guest plates and everything to still look nice, so there are plastic alternatives we looked into and decided on, that still look elegant but are simple and throw away. we bought them wholesale online, and they actually could be washed and reused if we wished but we're not going that route.

personally i don't care what kind of plate i'm eating off of if the food is good. i've been to backyard weddings, where they used paper plates and SOLO cups but the food was amazing and the drinks flowed all night, and i've been to weddings where the decor and set up was gorgeous but the food was okay and the bar was cash only. i feel like you could easily get away with this. we went this route because in the end, a plate is a plate... i only remember the food and drinks from weddings, not the tableware.

we got our plastic tableware, mostly the plates, here. we got them on our budget and have done mock set ups with them, and it looks just as nice as some of the receptions i've seen and been to.

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Thank you so much for your advice and for sharing where you got your plates! I also agree that when the food and drinks are good and plentiful nobody cares if they are eating off a "real" plate or not! I've also been to beautiful weddings with a plated meal where the food was awful and they didn't have any booze and that is the most talked about memory of the wedding.

We had a backyard wedding and it was more on the informal side. We had glass mason jars as drinking glasses and our caterer got nice, "fancy" looking plastic plates and the silver looking plastic silverware. It was all perfect for what we needed. Mason jars were set on the table and I put napkins folded on the tables. I believe the plates and silverware were near the buffet for guests to take as they went to get food.

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I agree with MFB about not using paper or plastic for a wedding. I would encourage using a vendor that comes in and handles all of the dishes. OP shouldn't have to worry about washing anything. However the opinions here aren't really that reflective of "most people" since the CG's prevent the ability to disagree. Most weddings are more formal than your normal family event and paper or plastic plates are not formal.

What kind of food are you having at the wedding? Plastic/bamboo knives are very dull and will make it very difficult for people to cut up any sort of meat.

I definitely agree with MFB that you might want to look into renting actual china ware and speaking to your caterer about clean up. Especially if your looking for your wedding to be more formal or elegant in any way. The fancy plastic is fine if you're just planning a backyard BBQ at your own home but if its an actual venue and you're going for any kind of formality it would be worth it to at least consider the option of renting and speaking to vendors about clean up.

ETA: agree with JJ - if you're having anything that needs to be cut almost no bamboo or plastic cutlery is going to work well and I would be upset as a guest if I got food on my dress from trying to cut with plastic forks and knives.

Can you contact your caterer and ask them if they can supply dinnerware and handle the clean up? Most caterer's will provide this service

This is exactly what your caterer does. They are not "little things" at all.

Have you checked with your caterer? You are having a caterer, right?