The Infamous Gold Charger
August 24th, 2008 @ 10:24 am by Miss Champagne
There’s one wedding item that has been surprisingly REALLY difficult to find~ a gold charger that doesn’t cost a fortune. Even more difficult to find than the dress! Sounds silly, I know, but it’s true.We’ll be renting our linens and plates from Alpine Party Rentals in Colorado, and their options for gold chargers are in the typical range for rentals.
Acrylic 13″ gold or silver chargers
Glass with gold trim 13″ charger
And the gorgeous Belmont gold bead trim. I love this one!
(All images from Alpine Rental)
Pretty right? Seems simple, but a charger can really change the feel of the reception. So instead of just coughing up the money to rent, I thought we could look at purchasing chargers for around the same (or cheaper) price.
There are these chargers from Macy’s, 4 on sale from $20.00 to $9.99. Sorry about the blurry photo.. general idea here.
Or these plates from Save on Crafts, for a whopping $4.19 a plate or 2.99 each if you order 6.
And the least expensive option is these plates from Crafts, Etc for $1.87 each. Here’s the stock photo:
I decided to order a few of the plates from Crafts, Etc to see the quality. I figured they would be plastic, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. When they came in, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the gold color. I wasn’t so impressed that the color did not extend to the back of the plate. The back was black with some random gold splotches. I’m not sure why that surprised me, but I guess I was expecting the entire plate to be gold.
Here are some pictures of a mock setting… now, we’ll have a tablecloth and not place mats, and there will be a ton of candles as a centerpiece, but I just wanted to get a general idea of what the chargers would look like.
And here are some close up shots of the actual plate.
Anyone else try these plates or did you rent chargers? Were you satisfied with the outcome?
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11 Responses to “The Infamous Gold Charger”
Something that I often suggest to brides considering the purchase of chargers:
Consider offsetting the costs by giving a set of chargers to each bridesmaid as a gift after the wedding…
I think the Crafts, Etc. ones are great. Seriously, who is going to look at the back? You are just using it to dress up the table — which it certainly does — so I truly wouldn’t worry about someone flipping it over!
@The Blissful Bride: Yeah I honestly wasn’t sure if the back would make a difference. I doubt people would pick them up… I hope not!!
I just ordered 150 of the silver leaf ones from Crafts, Etc. (they just had them on sale for $1.49) and there was no tax or shipping. I could not be happier for the price! And if anyone is looking at the back of the plate and judging, it’s their issue for being so critical. 
I found my gold chargers at Big Lots of all places. I think I picked them up for less than $75.00 for about 90 of them.
I think chargers are totally unnecessary. . . lighting does a lot more to create a certain feel and mood, so we allocated funds there instead. That said, I seriously doubt anyone will pick any chargers up and look at the back!
Those look amazing for such a great price. I really like your centerpiece. What kind of container are the flowers in?
I actually saw some this afternoon at Old Time Pottery and Gardenridge, and both were black on the underside. They were $1.99 each.
Miss Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
I wanted red chargers for mine, but like you had a hard time finding something that wouldn’t bust the budget. I finally found mine at Linens N Things. Theirs come in sets of 12 for $19.99, though you can find coupons to knock down the price. I bought 11 boxes of 12 for 20% off, or roughly $1.33 each, which was the best deal I could find.
They had gold as well, but they seem to be sold out on the website; they may still have them in stores (I bought all 11 boxes of mine in store).