Potty about teapots

As you know we're trying to add our own little creative touches to our wedding, and I had an idea for the table centre-pieces. In-keeping with the informal garden party theme, I thought it would be nice to have chintzy, flowery teapots and jugs to put flowers in. Y'know instead of vases or weird over-the-top, over-designed displays you sometimes see at weddings.

The idea is that it's all sort of a bit vintage, a bit afternoon tea, a bit country kitchen. And they'll look cute with the pretty bunting we plan to hang in the marquee.

I have become mildly obsessed with second hand teapots. I must have in the region of 25 now. Which is a bit daft when we only have five tables.

But I can't stop now I've started. I love teapots anyway, but once I started looking at them in charity shops and on eBay I have became fascinated by just how many different types there are. And they are all so pretty!

It turns out I'm not the only one getting my knickers in a twist about teapots. Some of them go for hundreds of pounds on eBay. And I've learned to spot which ones will spark a frenzy of frantic bidding. The ones with 'Prince Albert Roses' in the title are worth a small fortune and anything 'Sadler' always ends in an impossible to win bidding war. It's been a real eye opener I can tell you.

Hilariously, I told my big brother in passing about the teapot idea. Now, my big brother is a proper blokey bloke. He likes beer. He likes his Girls Aloud calendar. He likes breaking wind. He likes dirty jokes. He likes carving up forests on his mountain bike. So imagine my surprise when I'm sitting at work one day and a large box arrives from him in the post. I open it to find it's crammed full of chintzy teapots! Obviously some are more 'on brief' than others, but bless him for walking into the charity shops and buying girlie crockery in the first place. And he didn't stop there - he came to visit me last weekend and again arrived with a big bag. "Here you go Sis, more teapots! 'ave you got enough now??"

The thing is I probably had enough when I had five. But I just can't stop looking out for them. And I know it's going to be hard to choose which teapots in my collection will take centre stage on the day. So if you're a guest at our wedding, don't be surprised if you see the excess teapots dotted around the garden, complete with flowers and greenery popping out the spout...