Weddingbee Blog

Just like Miss Nachos I’ve turned to thrift stores to help piece together our centerpieces. In order to pull off our milk glass and lantern centerpieces I calculate that I will need 30 tall milk glass bud vases and 30 short vases for the Seattle reception and 45 tall and 60 short for the Midwest reception. Milk glass seems to be plentiful at thrift stores such as St Vincent De Paul, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army. I’ve been able to walk out with various patterns in 9 inch and 6 inch vases for less than $1.50 per vase. But I quickly noticed that there are a couple very common milk glass patterns. These patterns are plentiful and threaten my vision of mismatched vases.

The offending common milk glass patterns

After purchasing 4-6 pieces in each these common patterns I decided to put them on the “banned” list.

This is making my milk glass quest harder so I decided to expand my geography, enlisting MOH Tig and FMIL Pretzel. Armed with photos of my “banned” vases and height requirements they have been stalking thrift stores in Denver CO and Fort Wayne IN.

Success! Both my FMIL and MOH have been finding unique and different vases to add to our growing collection. I love getting e-mails with photos of newly acquired booty.

Adding to our collection was Weddingbee’s very own Mrs Mouse. She recently let me borrow three vases. Woot Woot! Gotta love the Bee!

Not to leave a stone unturned, I also have scoured the internet to see what deals I could find. I have to admit that this is one time when I’ve been disappointed in the internet. I found multiple brides selling their milk glass collections but the prices are higher than what I can get locally. In this case it pays to haul your butt down to the local thrift store every couple of weeks. For the most part, I’ve been able to score most of these vases for less than a dollar. I’m willing to pay up to two dollars for a pattern I haven’t seen before, but most of my buys are less than a dollar.

Mr Pretzel and I talked about what to do with all these vases after the wedding. We agreed that we don’t want to sell the vases. We’ll keep a couple in some of the more interesting patterns and then return to St Vincent De Paul and drop the rest off as a donation. This way another bride can score some milk glass for her day at a great price. Plus it’s like donating twice to charity.

What are you doing with some of your wedding items after the big day? Are you keeping, selling, or donating?