Real plates vs Disposable Plates

I was in this same situation in the beginning when I wanted a different venue.

I was leaning towards renting enough real plates with a backup of fake ones.

I hate this question, only because I'm dealing with the same thing. For me, it boiled down to who I was trying to please. My future grandmother in law is a formal lady, she's helping pay a lot for the wedding, she wants to wear a long gown...so I'm going to bite the bullet and do the china. If no one close to you will care, I say go disposable and save the cash. Honestly I doubt anyone will notice what they're eating off of.

We used the glass looking plastic plates for cake and no one complained about them being fake. If it is outside, what would the chances of a plate dropping and breaking be? Would the plates be the glass looking plastic or paper or another style? I would find out what style exactly they would be and if it is the glass looking plastic or something else nice looking, I would totally go with the fake plates. Also, make sure the plates are strong enough. Do they have pictures of the fake plates at a real wedding?

I'm dealing with this too! I personally would eat off of a plastic plate at an outdoor wedding and not think twice. But, I'm worried about people thinking its tacky. My fiance and I's families are so far from "formal" that I don't even know why I'm worried. GO FOR IT! save the cash or stick it somewhere else in your budget to enhance your theme.

If I were a guest, I wouldn't have any issue if there were those clear plastic plates. Or really any plastic plate. It's probably against the rules and I know people don't like the "it's your wedding do what you want" but in the end, there's bigger things to think about than if someone is going to be offended by disposable dinnerware.

ETA: I do prefer real silverware. There's nothing worse than a fork breaking in the middle of dinner or flinging your food across your lap when you're trying to cut something with a plastic knife.

I was thinking along the same lines as Marissa. There are some really nice looking disposable plates and silverware nowadays. Like the clear plastic plates and the plastic silverware that looks like silver. If I was a guest at a wedding or event and they had disposable plastic plates and plastic disposable silverware, I wouldn't care as long as the food was good. But that's just me

Take a look at these threads- A couple of ladies have asked this recently and many have helped a lot with this. This is a question that I, myself, have been asking

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/plastic-catering-supplies/f35cfeab77e5dfbc.html

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/plastic-plates-and-silverware/2105946c3f799c92.html

Hope this helps! Good luck!

I think it depends, but I've always known that I wouldn't use disposables.

Our options we're go with real plates and glasses or be able to pay for hotel for the entire wedding party. Afterwards one of my bridesmaids told me "I don't remember the plates, but I would have remembered if I had had a hotel bill!"

Thank you ladies!!! I been going back and forth with this for a month now!! I can honestly say I still don't know... But the idea of having plastic plates and real silverware might be the route I take.. Especially since I have to rent EVERYTHING!

I just went to a wedding that used disposable plates. They had chicken and tri-tip and it was fine, but the disposable silverware sucked. You couldn't cut the meat and had to eat it whole. If you use disposable, check the quality out first. I would prefer real plates, but if they are heavy duty enough it would work.

I think if everything looks nice, it won't matter. People will not remember what they ate off of at your wedding.

I have just about decided to buy plastic plates and the cheap stainless flatware. I like the square, clear plates sold on Smarty had a party.

I'd say rent the real plates and have the disposable ones as backup. Fake plates don't say wedding to me. More like family reunion or backyard party. But others may differ. I'm a grown up I need real china and silverware. Lol. Just kidding. Its up to you. If you want a nice look use real plates

I def have to reiterate what BUtler and Lobos said. Disposable plates lke the clear plastic kind should be Fine

Disposable silverware, not ok. Now if they have that heavy duty, super thick, plastic type of silverware it could be fine but think about the food you will be serving and how difficult it would be to eat using fake silverware.

I went to a wedding that had clear disposable plates, they worked fine, but like someone else said the silverware sucked. They also had plastic wine cups, I didn't really like that, and I notice no one drank from them, and they didn't even have wine, so I don't know why they had that, maybe so the table wouldn't look so empty.

I like what Maggie said. People remember your day not your plates. I'm using fake china plates. White with silver rim. I think they look great

I'm using fake as well -- at least I think -- caterer hasn't specified actaully. Hmm.. Either way, there is no way I'm paying $500 to rent plates. I really really don't think they'll mind, and we aren't 'fancy' people by any means. I can't tell you what I've eaten off at a single wedding, or honestly if the silverware was real or not.

Our caterer charges an extra $4 per plate for china and silverware so I was just going to use the fake ones they provided. The parents didn't really like the idea and offered to do the extra for china so I found a place that rented it for .50 for each piece. I personally thought it would be just fine to use the fake. I don't pay attention to that at weddings and would never judge anyone for not using china. Chances are I will ending up renting too much and feeling like it was money wasted.