At my daughter’s wedding I was responsible for the Coffee Bar. Since it was a camping wedding, we served breakfast to one and all on the morning after. I only had a few days prior to the wedding to get it all together, so I used what I had. I am an avid collector of vintage thermoses and milk bottles. So I created a Vintage Coffee Bar.
I was totally amazed at how hot those 1950’s thermoses kept the coffee and hot water. They sat all day and the beverages were still hot enough to drink the next morning. They don’t make them like they used too. So here is the list of things that you might want if you decide on a vintage theme for your next coffee or hot cocoa bar.
What to use for a Vintage Coffee Bar:
- Vintage Thermoses of course. You can often find them at Thrift Stores, Antique Stores, Flea Markets or garage sales. Use these for the coffee, hot cocoa and water for tea.
Vintage syrup pitchers with a pour spout or creamers. Even if you can’t find vintage ones you can often find ones that have that vintage look to them. These come in handy for the half and half and flavored creamers.
- Vintage milk bottles. These are great if you are serving food with your coffee. Fill them with different kinds of milk for oatmeal or cold cereals.
- Be sure to add labels to your thermoses and bottles so people can tell the difference between regular and decaf. I used wooden chalkboard tags but paper labels would work just fine.
- Set the stage for your bar with appropriate table coverings. I used a vintage red plaid blanket because we were camping. In a different setting you might use a vintage table cloth, hankies or even dress the table front with vintage aprons.
I had so much fun setting up the vintage coffee bar and it was nice to be able to use some of my treasures. It was a big hit and we left it up the whole weekend for people to use. I hope that you might get some inspiration from my Vintage Coffee Bar the next time you need to serve hot beverages to your friends and family.