A popular thing to do at weddings is to have
the guests sign a dinner plate or platter, which is then fired in a kiln
to make the signatures permanent. It's a really nice, personalized
commemorative for the bride and groom. Truly a one-of-a-kind item.
That means BigCeramicStore.com gets lots of
questions about it! This page contains what we know about wedding
plates. We also had a Tip-of-the-Week
about it.
If you have comments or actual experience about
this, your input is most welcome. Email us at support@BigCeramicStore.com
Do you sell the plates and platters?
What should I look for in a plate / platter?
What's the basic procedure for firing a wedding
plate?
What's the best way to write on the plate?
Give me the Pros and Cons of all the different choices.
If I use an underglaze pencil, how do I keep it sharp?
Will an underglaze pencil smudge or smear?
How do I avoid that?
What are 3 things I should absolutely do?
Where are your underglaze markers and pencils at?
What other techniques can I try? new!
Sorry, no. Not at this time.
The platter should be unglazed bisque.
Bisque is clay that has been fired once and is ready for glaze
firing. Lo-fire bisque would be OK as long as the plate was for viewing only
(not eating off of regularly afterwards, for example).
If the bisque is not real smooth, sand it a
bit. The writing will be much better looking. This is a
reason to avoid a stoneware bisque with grog in it, even though it would
be a more durable piece.
In general you want to...
- Write on the bisque
- Fire it.
- Put clear
glaze on it
- Fire it again
Putting glaze on unfired UG pencil or marker will tend to
wash it out.
This is a tough one. There is no
simple answer.
You're
looking for an underglaze item, which will go under the glaze (hence "underglaze")
and be protected by it.
You really have 3 practical
choices:
Underglaze Pencil
Based on the feedback we've had from our customers, the Black
UG
pencil seems to be the one that works most reliably; as far as being
visible on the plate once you are all finished firing it. On the
downside, it seems more likely to smear or smudge as it's
handled by your guests. You'll also need to keep the pencil sharp.
Underglaze Marker
These seem much better suited to the purpose. The UG
marker fluid dries
on the bisque and guests would be comfortable using them. They
would not require sharpening, like a pencil. On the downside,
the writing may get washed out. We
have had one customer who specifically tested it and gave us bad
feedback. (She said the slate marker faded to a yellow, but we
don't specifically know how it was fired, so your mileage may vary.
Another customer had good results in a test firing, but poor results in
the final product. It was speculated that the pens dried out over
the duration of the reception and that less colorant was transferred to
the plate. However the final product firing was not strictly
monitored and it may not have been done correctly.
Underglaze chalk/crayon
These are really for drawing and sketching; more of an artists
tool. Probably a poor choice for this application, unless you just
wanted to decorate the plate with some color after signing.
We have heard of people using pencil sharpeners
or eyeliner pencil sharpeners to keep the pencil sharp during the
reception.
Yes, there is definitely the risk of smudging
or smearing. Try having the guests sign from the top, to the bottom, of
the plate, not randomly. That way their hand does not rest on
other signatures while they write. Alternately,
it's been suggested to have guests sign in a radial pattern from the
center out.
Do a full test BEFORE the wedding to work out any problems.
It's too important to risk a procedural mess-up. Get an extra
plate and try it out. Make notes on how it was fired. If
it works good, make sure the real item is processed the same
way. If it looks bad, try it another way before the
wedding.
Have spare pencils and/or markers,
whichever you are using. If one gets broken, damaged or lost,
you'll be glad.
- Have an extra plate at the reception.
If the first gets dropped, pull out the backup. Otherwise, you
may be very disappointed, and one of your guests may feel very bad.
Here is the link to the page.
Underglaze
Typically we have them in stock and can ship
right away.
Alison, a friend of BigCeramicStore, says...
I work at a paint-your-own pottery studio and we
do quite a few wedding plates and platters. We give the customer a
Pentab Flair pen to have the guests sign the piece in. It doesn't
bleed or smear but it will burn away in firing. When they bring
the piece back to the studio we go over all the words with a writer
bottle. (ed. similar to a slip-trailing bottled
with a metal tip, like the Amaco, Tucker or squeeze bottle shown
here http://www.bigceramicstore.com/Supplies/SlipTrailing.htm
)
They produce a really
fine line with very little clogging. We use the Duncan Concepts
line of underglaze in the bottle and then dip in clear glaze and
fire. We only have to fire it once and everyone has been happy
with the finished result.
I
will warn you, when you glaze a piece with the Flair writing on it the
pen will show through the glaze. Don't worry about it, it will
still burn away and not affect the final product.
I have attached a
picture of a wedding set that was done in our studio to give an idea
of the final product. I work for Brushfire Pottery Studio which is
located in Nashville, TN and we would be more than happy to help anyone
interested in such an endeavor. 615-385-5334
Thanks Alison!
