Silverware and china are no longer just for formal gatherings.
If the Beautiful Table Settings Bash proves anything, it's that the interest in “Grandma’s china and silver” has grown tremendously. Since 2019 Wetumpka’s May Eason has developed a cult following on Facebook through Beautiful Table Settings. The page now has nearly 250,000 followers and nearly 500 were in Wetumpka for the third annual BTS Bash.
PHOTOS: Beautiful Table Settings Bash returns to Wetumpka
A look through the parking lot at the Wetumpka Civic Center finds license plates from as far as Texas, New Mexico and North Carolina. It’s where attendees get to meet their online friends and discuss china and silverware patterns and how to place mismatched china. Eason couldn’t be more proud.
“I get a high from it. I get excited,” Eason said. “Everyone is saying the vendors are better.”
The vendors come from far away too. One unique vendor this year was Liberty Tabletop’s Greg Owens in New York. He is the only manufacturer of stainless steel flatware in the United States, according to Eason.
Most of Liberty’s sales are online, but Owens is confident bringing silverware, dinnerware and drinkware to Wetumpka will be fruitful.
“This is a large group, especially online and we have now introduced our brand to the group,” Owens said. “I would anticipate overtime people will remember us and go online.”
Just a day and half into the four-day event Owens has helped people sign up for his company’s email newsletter and Facebook page.
The vendors are just part of the BTS Bash. The presenters are people behind some of the favorite posts on the page. They speak of how they set arrangements, to the history of pieces of silverware to using flowers. There are tables for salad plate swaps and china for the taking.
It’s the third bash in Wetumpka.
Eason is still looking to the future with BTS and Wetumpka.
“It’s great. I’m not tired of it,” Eason said. “I just go day to day. I just plan and get it done.”
