Two weeks from now, designer Maggie Carey plans to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to watch the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29. “Maybe it’s my British background,” she told us, “but I just can’t miss it.” She woke up early to see the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981, too.
In addition to sharing her passion for royal weddings, she also showed us tea towel commemorating the marriage of William and Kate. Designed by Emma Bridgewater, a well-known English potter, who has produced a line of earthenware products to celebrate the occasion, too, the towel and pottery are highly collectible—and would make wonderful gifts for your own royal-wedding loving friends. Emma Bridgewater’s pottery is made in the small Victorian English town of Stoke on Trent. Each unique piece is not only hand painted and hand finished but is also is dishwasher and microwave safe. You can order the products in Britain online through Bridgewater’s Web site. Or you can purchase them in America through Joanne Hudson or Annmarie’s. A box of 1-pint mugs costs about $73.
Maggie, who’s a talented designer and collector as well as a finance whiz, also shared with me her secret silversmith, who recently polished a friend’s many tarnished silver squash trophies. The place is called Jean’s Silversmith, which is actually a favored silver destination in New York for many silver lovers and anyone who needs to polish, plate or engrave silver or complete a silver set at a reasonable price. “They sell every pattern for about a third what you’d pay in a store,” Maggie told me. We also got some good advice on polishing silver recently from author friend Megan Fulweiler (see her post from March 22).
Many thanks to Maggie for letting us in on a great new source. Can hardly wait to visit Jean’s Silversmiths. A shop that can also repair favorite time-worn pieces is a treasure itself!
Thanks for your comment, Megan. Your tips on cleaning silver are a treasure, too!