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"When you think about your registry, think about how you get dressed," suggests the vice president of brand development at Lenox Brands. "Everybody has a black dress and a pair of black shoes. Then you add accessories for color, and other elements to bring out a sense of who you are."

"Chantilly Stemware"	"Eternal Shapes"

The same concept applies to your table. "We talk about ‘dressing the table’ versus setting the table. When you ‘dress your table’ you think in terms of your personality. Are you a sophisticated, elegant person, or are you someone who wants to make a statement?"

The president of Lenox Brands advises you to think in broad terms about how your house is going to look. "Would ivory or white-bodied ware look better? Do you like platinum or gold? The basic foundation is the body color and the band color. Then half the process is over, because you’ve eliminated half your selections. That's how you take it to flatware and stemware."

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Elegant to Eclectic | Go For The Platinum | Casual Too | Contact

From Elegant To Eclectic
"If you have an interest in coordinating everything in your home, Lenox offers crystal, flatware and china under the same pattern name so they can be easily coordinated.

"Illuminations"	"White Linen"

"On the other hand, if you want to mix and match and be eclectic, we also have the largest collection of dinnerware, crystal and flatware. Now we’ve made it even easier to become eclectic in presenting your personal style, because we have introduced the idea of mix and match within the actual pattern. Mixing and matching is a style of dressing your table your way. It throws out the rules and gives you the personal freedom to entertain your way."

Lenox recently introduced a new concept for the table: accent plates and coffee mugs.They also came out with a new grouping, which features three different types of ivory fine china that are either pierced or carved.

Couples can also register for monogrammed dinner plates which they can interchange with what they already have. "You can set one place setting with an ivory body and a platinum band, and give the next person your monogrammed pattern with a platinum band, for a coordinating but altogether different look.

"The two match very well together. Every other place setting around your table is either one or the other design, and that is a beautiful statement to be able to make."

Simple Dinner Plates, Bold Accent Accessories
"In the 80’s there was conspicuous consumption. Everybody bought to impress others. In the 90’s it was conscientious consumption. Everybody bought to impress themselves. Today people have strong opinions of who they are and who they want to be. People feel free to entertain the way they please. It is all about dressing your table in a way that makes you feel good."

In creating new lines Lenox has been guided by their customers. "We discovered brides were intimidated by china. They felt you couldn’t put it in the dishwasher, and you could only use it twice a year. Brides simply didn’t want to invest in china.

"First we had to introduce a design that was more sophisticated." They found that when a bride sets her table within the home, she wants her dinner plate to serve as a canvas. "People don’t want overly busy dinner plates. So we designed patterns that permit you to add pieces, layer them and bring more design interest to the surface.

"The dinner plate and the salad plate are simple, but our accent plate is really bold in design."

The settings provide great versatility. "If you’re having people over for dessert or hors d’oeuvres you have wonderful accent plates. If you're going to the theater and coming back to serve coffee you have dessert plates and mugs that can also be used at a formal dinner party. The table is no longer just formal, but fun as well."

You can consider those three the basic building blocks. "Almost any gold ivory-patterned china will go with Eternal and any of our ivory platinum china will go with Solitaire. Hancock platinum or Hancock gold will also mix and match. The basic differences between these lines are the type and width of metal used, and the fact that each has different accent plates."

Lenox also offers patterns that feature both gold and platinum in the same pattern. "The beauty is that both the bride who is new to entertaining, and the bride who may be a very sophisticated entertainer can use one of these as a base."

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Casual Too
The Lenox Butler’s Pantry line features white earthenware with a bit of cream. It has casual serving pieces, sugar bowls, creamers, baking pieces, platters and bowls and offers a complete informal dinnerware service.

"The ivory and white make it universal and attractive from a design perspective. The serving pieces are so versatile that you may use them everyday or in any formal setting."

When it comes to friends and family who will be purchasing wedding and shower gifts, Peter asks, "How many times do you see guests come to the wedding with an envelope? We think that’s very impersonal." It’s preferable to give the bride and groom a gift as opposed to a check, and ideally from their registry.

"This is a wedding," he adds, speaking from the couple’s point of view. "It’s not my 14th birthday when you can’t figure out which video game I want. This is a special right of passage. I’ve decided this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and these are items we would really appreciate to signify that bond. Why not buy me something that I will enjoy, I’ll remember you for, and when you come to my house perhaps we can enjoy that item together."

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