More Brides Choosing Heirloom China

More Brides Choosing Heirloom China

(ARA) - Ever since Amanda Davis was a little girl, her grandmother dreamed of giving her a wedding gift close to both their hearts. Bettie Gullion planned to pass along the cherished china she received for her own wedding back in the early 1940s. She managed to keep most of her precious collection through the decades, but somewhere along the way the cups and saucers disappeared. Guillion's daughter, Linda Bohannon, thought it would be impossible to replace the missing pieces for her niece, Amanda.

"My mother picked her china out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog more than 60 years ago, so we knew there was just no way we'd ever find it," says Linda Bohannon. "The only thing she could remember about her china was that it was made by Homer Laughlin. That didn't seem like much to go on, so at that point I just hoped we could find some nice cream colored pieces Amanda could use with the set."

Around the same time, Bohannon came across an advertisement for Greensboro, N.C. based Replacements, Ltd., the world's largest supplier of discontinued and hard to find china, crystal, silver and collectibles. She visited the company's Web site, easily singled out a list of all china made by Homer Laughlin, and noticed the company had images of most patterns. She started conveniently clicking away, and was almost speechless when she came across something that looked very familiar.

"I called my mother up and asked her, does your china have little pink and yellow roses on it, and could the pattern name be 'Countess'?" Bohannon remembers. "That was it; that was her china! I was completely flabbergasted. It never entered my mind we would be able to find the exact pattern. My mother and niece were absolutely thrilled!"

Amanda isn't alone in registering for family heirloom treasures. Rather than choosing brand new china, crystal and flatware, more brides want to complete collections lovingly handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter (sometimes even longer). Unfortunately, if the patterns are especially old there is a good chance that the manufacturer no longer produces the pieces, making it nearly impossible to track down at most department stores.

That's exactly what happened to how-to guru and eHow.com founder Courtney Rosen. In an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Rosen recalled how her husband's grandmother passed along the family china to them as a wedding gift, but she needed more settings. Rosen wasn't sure where to start, because she didn't know the pattern name or even the company that made it. Like Bohannon, she turned to the experts at Replacements, Ltd.

"We photocopied both sides of the china and faxed it over to them, and they were able to tell us which pattern it was," Rosen said. "They were able for us to register for our wedding for these pieces and we received all of them. It was our absolute favorite wedding present!"

With more than 11 million pieces of inventory from over 250,000 patterns of china, crystal and silver, Replacements has a research team dedicated to helping customers track down unidentified pieces. In fact, most department store chains refer folks searching for both discontinued and hard to find patterns to Replacements. As Rosen mentioned, the company offers a bridal registry, ready to ship worldwide.

"One great bonus is the fact we're a single location, so the bride only has to register one time as opposed to having to set up at multiple stores," says Donna Braswell-Bray, who oversees Replacements' bridal program. "This makes it really convenient for brides to track their gifts and eliminates the chance of getting more pieces than they want of, say, a dinner plate. The bride can switch gifts in the system without the hassle of going through exchanges."

Bridal registry customers can make purchases at Replacements' 12,000 square foot showroom, or shop by phone.

"Specialized customer service in our telephone sales area is another big advantage for us," adds Braswell-Bray. "We've put together a group of associates to specifically handle all registry requests. Because these folks are really familiar with our bridal customers, we can offer more personalized attention. It's almost like having your own personal shopper!"

Even though Amanda is now married, her aunt plans to use Replacements again. "I hope to go back and buy more pieces in the years ahead to help Amanda add to her collection," adds Bohannon. "There's just no other place I could have found these pieces, I can't thank Replacements enough for the service they provide."

Replacements, Ltd. is open daily to the public. For more information, visit www.replacements.com or call 1-800-REPLACE (1-800-737-5223) between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. EST.

Courtesy of ARA Content