How to Select and Order Church Communion Ware
This can be confusing and intimidating to the first-time buyer. And, even if you are adding to an existing set, you are probably not the person that ordered the last time.
We are showing the Broadman and Holman RemembranceWare on the web site, it is stocked by our main supplier and usually available to us in a day or 2. Artistic Manufacturing is the other main supplier, if you would prefer to order theirs, it is available to us, however it is created to order and the turnaround time is typically about 3 weeks. The pieces equivalent to the RemembranceWare line are similarly priced, however Artistic also offers some very expensive finishes as well. Please call us if you would like more information about the Artistic option. We show the silvertone and brasstone finishes on the web site, again because they are more readily available to us. RemembranceWare also offers a bronzetone finish that is darker than the brasstone which we can order. The prices are similar, but again the turnaround time is greater. RemembranceWare is guaranteed by the manufacturer for 5 years.
The minimum required for a service for a small church is a bread plate and a cup tray and disc to hold the cups. The tray and disc are always stacking, however the bread plate is available in both a stacking and non-stacking version. Our decades-long experience with this suggests that you should always buy the stacking version.
You can also buy a base piece each for the stacking bread plate and the cup tray and disk. This raises it up a little higher from the altar, and presents a little more visually, but is not required. Again experience dictates that if you are going to put either of them on a base, both should be on bases.
There are also covers available each for the stacking bread plate and the cup tray and disk. This is cosmetic only, presenting a little more finished look, but is not required. They are often covered with a cloth instead. Again experience dictates that if you are going to purchase covers for either, you should do both.
Each cup tray and disk holds 40 cups, the bread trays are similarly sized. Simply order enough to so that you have one for each 40 people you expect to serve. For example, if you are expecting to ser 150 people, you would need to order 4 stacking bread plates and 4 cup trays and disks. For this example if you were also ordering bases you would order one of each and similarly if ordering covers you would order one of each.