Most experts recommend registering for 12 five-piece place settings (typically, a dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl, cup and saucer) of fine china, but you might want to ask for 14 to 16 sets, so you're prepared for surprise guests or a broken dish. If you entertain infrequently, says Leah Ingram, consider a medium-price, dishwasher-safe pattern you can use on both formal and informal occasions.

Peony-print porcelain Pivoines dinner service, JL Coquet, $373 for a five-piece setting (bread-and-butter plate not shown); at Devine Corporation, 732-751-0500 or devinecorp.net.