A Bridal Party @ Crate & Barrel

Did I mention somewhere that our daughter is getting married next summer? Plans are well underway, and I know that what seems so far away right now will be here and gone in an instant! To date, we have secured the venue, the band, the photographer, the florist, 2 wedding dresses (yes, 2, at least for now) and an international guest list which should make for a very exciting event!  Now that our daughter and her fiancé have started their online planning journey on weddingwire.com, they have begun receiving invites from various local vendors who wish to offer their services for the newlyweds-to-be. This past Sunday, I got the call-up to attend a Crate & Barrel Wedding Registry

private party with my daughter, as her fiancé was traveling on business and was unable to attend. At 9am sharp, 2 hours before the store opened to the general public, the doors opened and we were greeted by some very knowledgeable folks-meet Bill, everyone-

who took us through the ins and outs of proper wedding registry protocols and the how-to’s of utilizing the registry app. Of course, since I was not registering…

although I wanted to…

I have grown pretty weary of my 25-year-old Corelle dinnerware-that stuff just won’t break…

I stood in the background to follow the bridal goings-on, but was repeatedly distracted by the festive holiday displays scattered throughout the entire store. So many gorgeous holiday decorations and potential DIY projects!! These twigs are actually something (not sure if they were real twigs or wire or what, but I’m certain the store would have frowned upon me unwrapping them to figure it out…) wrapped in birch-log look paper. Gotta get my hands on some birch paper!

Did you know that birch logs are a thing this year? I have three and I feel as if I am in possession of some coveted treasure. Loving these sweet log cabin holiday pillows.

How many of you have the luxury of using holiday throw pillows in place of your regular ones? I know I would love a whole bunch of them scattered around my house, but what would I do with them after the holidays?? I have enough troubles storing all of those dishes!

When we ventured over to the cooking section, while Kate chatted with the All-Clad rep about the virtues of stainless steel vs. non-stick cookware, I spotted these yummy (faux) cupcakes

and these adorable red striped mixing bowls

and these holiday aprons and towels-I’ll take one of each, please!

In the Tree Lot, there were Christmas tree candles and soaring pines and spindly sparkly trees,

resplendent in glittery ornaments

and twinkling lights for the upcoming holidays.

Holiday dinnerware displays.

I have a confession to make…I’m a plate addict. Is there such a thing as Dinnerware Anonymous? I already have 6 sets of dishes, but every time I see new festive ones, I want to add them to my collection! I know, I mentioned that set of old Corelle that just won’t break-which is why we use them every single day. All of the other sets are “The Good Dishes“-preserved for holidays and special occasions. But I digress..I’m supposed to be helping pick out stuff for the bride-to-be to show her groom! But she only chose a few things, because she was waiting for him to return to the store with her to choose their items together. Sigh…young love.

Loving this dinnerware in all shades of chalky pastels. Wouldn’t these look amazing displayed in a chalk-painted antique cupboard?? Hmmm…

The two hours flew by, as I know the next 10 months will, and we turned in the registry “gun” and headed out, but not before purchasing a couple of items for me to use for the upcoming holidays. You didn’t think I was going to get out of there without at least one new plate, did you?? I hope your Thursday is an eventful one, everyone! Susan