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If you have ever considered purchasing porcelain for your restaurant, banquet hall, party rental, convention centre, golf course, or maybe even your house, you have probably considered purchasing from at least one of these five companies. They all offer an incredible selection of durable, commercial-quality, porcelain products and they likely have a local distributor in your area. See why these are North American leaders in Restaurant Dinnerware Supply.

Steelite International

Steelite International is a world-leading manufacturer of dinnerware products. Steelite offers an extensive collection of porcelain dinnerware to the restaurant and commercial food service industries. Manufactured in their modern, state-of-the-art facility in Stoke-on-Trent, UK they are masters at combining elegant styles with excellent durability to ensure a long lasting product. Their worldwide distribution has solidified their position as an industry leader.

Dudson

To put it mildly, Dudson has an incredible history. Founded in 1800 in Stoke-on-Trent, UK, Dudson has survived and thrived through 9 generations in the Dudson Family. Dudson is still a privately held, family-owned business with deep roots that continues to amaze with world class design and product quality. Dudson is ready to serve you with distribution centres in the UK, France, Australia, and Spain as well as showrooms in London, Paris, and Toronto.

Royal Doulton

Royal Doulton has always been at the forefront of fashion and design. Established in 1815 Royal Doulton has established themselves as a world-class British tableware brand. Royal Doulton is currently maintaining licensing arrangements with some of the world’s most high profile innovators in the home and lifestyle market including Vera Wang, Jasper Conran, John Rocha, Monique Lhuillier, Barbara Barry, Gordon Ramsay, Martha Stewart and Michael Aram.

World Porcelain - A Libbey FOODSERVICE Company

While their parent company is known and respected for their glassware, World Porcelain is known for their quality porcelain products. Their dinnerware is available is a wide variety of patterns, shapes, and colours to make sure you have the perfect plate from appetiser to dessert. Libbey also owns Syracuse China.

Oneida

The Onedia brand has been around for more than 100 years. Oneida is known and respected around the world for the innovative, quality products that they have been supplying throughout their history. Their wide variety of shapes, sizes, and styles ensure every customer has the opportunity to select the perfect plate for their world class food. Oneida also owns or distributes well-known brands like Buffalo, Schonwald, Sant’ Andrea, and Noritake.

It is interesting to note a few interesting things about this list. The first is that three of the top five companies have key strategic offices in Stoke-on-Trent, UK. Dudson and Steelite have their manufacturing and head office there while Royal Doulton has a design studio. It is also interesting to note that while Libbey and Oneida are more well known for other food service products (glassware and cutlery respectively) they both have very strong brands in porcelain dinnerware.

If you want to learn more about our dinnerware, why not ask us a question?

Although we sell a lot of wedding and special event products, we don't usually have anything to do with wedding planning or special events planning here at National Event Supply. That doesn't mean that it isn't interesting to see what gifted planners can cook up. We also had an interesting article about a small batch distiller show up in our twitter feed that begged to be shared. Finally, from small batch booze to clean water, learn about the great work that charity: water is doing.

Hooray for Bollywood!

Photography courtesy of Rosetta Li Weddings

Bright colours! Gorgeous settings! Bollywood Theme! Elephants made of Flowers? This wedding featured on the weddingbells.ca website has it all. From bridesmaids dressed in bold coloured saris to a venue decorated with fabrics in the brightest of colours, this wedding was a multi-hued wonderland. Who says bridesmaids need to be dressed in pastels, or that table cloths need to be white? And elephants? They're always cool.

Vineyards, Craft Beer, and Small Batch Booze

The Niagara Peninsula is known for its great Canadian wines. There are also several incredible craft brewers in the area. Now I find out from BlogTO that they also have a small batch distiller that's putting together world class spirits. Dillon's Small Batch Distillers in Beamsville, ON have been producing Gin, White Rye, and Vodka since December of 2012 with a focus on utilizing the local bounty. If you're interested in learning more about the distillery, why not check out "Dillon's making world class booze just beyond the GTA" at BlogTO.

charity: water

I recently had the opportunity to hear the head of charity: water speak, and I was blown away. They're gearing up for their big September Campaign, and this year they're hoping to raise $2 Million dollars to bring clean drinking water to 100 Villages in Orissa, India. Scott showed how bringing clean water and sanitation can help break the cycle of poverty and promote social equality. A previous campaign purchased a deep well drill which is currently drilling and tweeting its way across Ethiopia. To learn more about the great work that they're doing, check out the charity: water website!

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries. We use 100% of public donations to directly fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now, 800 million people on the planet don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water. That’s one in nine of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.

Just $20 can give one person access to clean water

The year continues to fly by; it seems like July was just yesterday but it’s already the middle of August. The days are getting shorter and cooler, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had on patios and on decks across the nation. Soon though, students will be heading back to school to start a new year of learning.

Life is a series of teachable moments.

Of course, learning doesn’t just have to happen in a school. Any room can be a classroom, if there is a desire to learn. Sometimes learning starts with the phrase, "Here, hold my beer and watch this," and sometimes it is a little more formal. To help facilitate more formal learning, National Event Supply offers our NES Reliable Plastic Folding Training Tables and our NES Wood Folding Training Table. Both of these tables are perfect for temporary or permanent classroom settings, featuring reduced widths, sturdy construction, and easy set-up. If you’re interested in facilitating more informal learning, National Event Supply offers beer glasses in our Eclisse Line.

Interested in a Wood Training Tables?

NES Wood Training Tables are 96 inches (8-feet) long, 18 inches wide, and 29.5 inches tall. They’re made of ¾ inch plywood that is 13 layers thick and has been clear-coated. They also feature grey, powder-coated legs and support rails that are bolted through the tabletop for additional strength. We currently stock these tables with black PVC vinyl edging, but they are also available on a special-order basis with aluminum bull-nosed edging. They are currently available in our Toronto warehouse and are part of our buy 10 get 1 free promotion.

Have you thought about Plastic Training Tables?

NES Reliable Plastic Folding Training Tables are 71 inches long, 19.5 inches wide, and 29.25 inches tall. Being just under 6-feet long, they are perfect for narrower rooms, and feature an additional 1.5 inches for people using the table. They also feature grey powder-coated legs and have an off-white plastic top like our NES Reliable Round Folding Tables and our NES Reliable Rectangular Folding Tables. Unlike our plastic folding tables and our wood folding tables, they have a perfectly smooth top that is ideal for writing or drawing on. They are currently available in our Toronto warehouse and are also part of our buy 10 get 1 free promotion.

Hope everyone's July went well - we're back with our monthly round up of the best articles and blogs in the event planning, party rental and catering industry. There were so many good reads this month it was hard to choose just a handful! Here at NES, we've been testing the durability of our wood folding tables and plastic folding tables to see how they hold up against the elements. If you're interested in seeing the results, check out the current winner of the folding table durability test.

Many dream of having events outdoors during the warmer weather - but sometimes the anxiety associated with lack of control of the weather can deter those from actually making a go of it. While you can take the route of a more controlled indoor event, adding control to outdoor events is possible. Check out this article in Special Events Magazine on tips to ensure you select a caterer experienced with the outdoors.

The Food Channel has released its 2013 Trends Forecast. With tea, agave, "smokin' hot" meats and traditionally seasonal foods being stretched year round, 2013 is a cornucopia of variety sure to not disappoint the adventurous of caterers, chefs and clients. Here's a look at what Canadian Special Events sees happening in the world of food for 2013.

Struggling to find the perfect venue to satisfy your client's every dream? Event Solutions posted an amazing article on a unique type of venue that can hold an intimate or expansive event and is sure to impress even the most cynical of guest. Head over to Event Solutions to hit your next event "Out of the Park".

Over at Restaurant Central, the NPD Group, who sources consumer data to identify trends in the Canadian foodservice industry wrote an article to help better understand the foodservice industry marketplace. Are Canadians eating out more or less often? If they are, where are they eating out, and when during the day are they eating out more, or less, often? "Read this article" to gain a fuller perspective on what's happening in the Canadian marketplace.

When men drink, then they are rich and successful and win lawsuits and are happy and help their friends. Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.
Aristophanes c. 450 - 385 B.C., Knights [424 B.C.], l. 92.

Unfortunately, there’s no beaker of wine available at 9am on a Wednesday morning to help me say something clever, so I hope you don’t mind a lack of wit. If you’re thinking about adding wineglasses to your inventory it is important to think about how they will be used, whether they’ll be used for casual or formal events, and what is expected in red and white wine glasses.

White Wines, Red Wines, and Sparkling Wines

When you decide that you want to/need to start renting wine glasses, it’s important to budget for two different sizes of wine glasses. Smaller wine glasses are perfect for white wines as you don’t want the wine to warm up before it is drunk. Red wine glasses tend to be larger in size as the taste of red wine improves as it aerates.

If your rental customers are in the mood to celebrate, they may also be interested in Champagne Flutes. Champagne flutes are designed for sparkling wines or wines that are carbonated. Their shape keeps the wine bubbly longer, and improves the taste of the wine. If your customers are looking to celebrate their event with Champagne, they’re going to want a Champagne flute.

How Big of a Wine Glass do I Need?

The size of the wine glass required is dependent on the type of wine being served and the type of event the wine is being served at. As I mentioned earlier white wine glasses are typically smaller than red wine glasses, but the type of event can also make an impact on the size of wine glass that your customers may want. For instance, if you’re serving wine at a cocktail-type event, you’ll typically want a 4oz pour. If you’re serving wine during dinner, a 6oz pour is more desirable.

Wine should not be poured to the rim. Wine always tastes better when it has room to breathe. For a white wine, you want to fill the wine glass until it is 1/3 to 1/2 full. If you’re pouring 4-6oz of white wine in a glass, that means that your white wine glass should be 8oz to 16oz in size. For red wines, you really don’t want to fill the glass beyond 1/3 full. With red wines, bigger glasses are always better. Again, with a 4-6oz pour of wine, you’re looking at wine glasses that are 12oz to 22oz.

Crystal or Glass

Crystal wine glasses are the more elegant choice and perfect for formal events. Crystal stemware tends to be thinner and have a greater clarity than glass stemware allowing for greater appreciation of the wine inside. Their relative lightness when compared to glass stemware provides a more delicate touch, and can also improve the wine drinking experience.

If you focus more on casual events, you’ll appreciate a sturdier wineglass. Outdoor events or bbqs are the perfect venues for glass stemware. While they do not have the clarity of a crystal wine glass, good glass stemware can add a touch of class to any event. Glass stemware’s durability also lends itself to reduced breakage.