Paper, Plastic, or Real?

I am doing wrapped compostable forks, bamboo plates and nice paper napkins. I am also doing a very casual clambake though...

We're doing nice plastic plates we got a great deal on at Costco, and SimuLinen paper napkins that almkst feel like cloth from their website (shipped within a week, but amazon also sells them). Our caterer recommended using real silverware, amd said that those will make it all feel real enough.

I think you can find some really nice thick weight paper ones if you're on a budget. Though I have seen rented China for cheap.

We’re doing nice and thick plastic plates, cups, and utensils. Our napkins will be nice paper napkins (we have different ones for the cocktail hour, dinner, and cake). These are the dinner plates we got. The salad/dessert plates are exactly the same just smaller. All our utensils will be gold plastic.

You can get heavier paper ones and heavy duty plastic utensils and plates if needed. It depends on how formal your wedding is, too.

I'm having a seated dinner so I'm going real. You can find nice plastic ones

I personally like real but that depends on how formal your event is. I had a beach front wedding at a house as well and use it all real but my event was formal but I also had a buffet. I think that’s up to you in the end.

We are doing all real silverware, cups, and plates. Our venue had it in our contract that they didn’t want any plastic or paper being served.

Real plates if at all possible! If not, look into easily compostable plates. Some guests won’t care, but some people really dislike eating off plastic.

Real plates are nice but pricey so if budget is a constraint I'd try going for the masterpiece collection hard plastic plates and forks/spoons/knives. They look similar to the real china looking plates, and are weighted down just enough to be satisfactory. I would not recommend paper as after a while of wet food sitting on them it might get a little soggy.

I think if you're comfortable having durable plastic plates for the reception there is nothing wrong with that. We're having and indoor reception with a buffet and we're having durable plastic plates that we found.

We are doing paper napkins for our pizza buffet if that helps at all.

My caterer supplied the napkins, forks, knives, spoons, etc. They are the heavy plastic ones. They look real. Tableclothsfactory.com is great for tablecloths, super cheap. and they arrive pretty quickly.