I have seen them at a store we have here in Georgia called Old Time Pottery and the plastic ones at Krogers.
Mary

These plates don't clean up well, the second time you use them they will be scratched and water spotted which isn't very appealing. That's why they are disposable. Your guests will probably throw them away when they are done.

If you want something light that you can reuse, using white plastic, not clear, would make it less obvious.

Sounds like a wonderful party. Enjoy

The whole point is not having to deal with washing them and make it easy on yourself but I have plenty of family members who would never throw them away and would wash them ( along with plastic cups and plastic silverware .....) There is ALWAYS someone more frugal than you :-)

If you want to reuse them, consider buying some nice glass dessert plates, they often come in sets of 12, are inexpensive and those will hold up to years of use. I have 50 crystal looking ones that have seen much use over the years.
Look for sets of 12 dessert plates. Even the Dollar Tree or Big Lots would have choices.

I use bamboo plates when I want something that is disposable/recyclable. I wash them off and then recycle them.

Lars

The clear plastic plates don't wash up well, as has been mentioned, I've tried it. I too have a set of inexpensive yet attractive little plastic plates I got at the grocery store or big box, (can't quite remember) that I use on picnics when I'm serving a crowd. I have not regretted having them. They also make a lot of really nice disposable holiday printed paper plates, heavier duty, those seem nicer to me than the plastic ones, that tend to crack and break even on first time use. You can usually find them at the department stores this time of year.

It depends on what they're used for. If there's a lot of knife and fork work, of course they'll be marred, but if they're just so people can walk around with something to hold their bonbons and not worry about dropping and breaking them, then, yes, they can be reused. Wash in a dishpan and dry as you rinse so they don't get spotted. And have extra, because a few always die along the way.

An environmental note: For large scale catering, considering all the resources that go into transporting and washing crockery vs. recycling or disposing of the plastic, the disposables often win on total resource usage.

Thanks that was very helpful information ! I am going to rethink this and go with good old paper plates.

Throw them away.

I don't know if you have a Costco nearby but they feature some great white or cream plastic dishes that have a gold or silver rim. Sometimes they are packaged with nice looking plastic silverware. They definitely had them two weeks ago, but by Chanukah or Christmas they will be sold out. They're cheap enough to toss after one use and they're a complete set. At that price they're hard to beat!

I was in the store today and they had Christmas theme printed plastic plates on sale. Personally I would go with either high end paper or reusable for environmental reasons, but if you really want plastic, I would go for those just because I have used the clear plastic ones and they scratch at the drop of a hat, and crack too. I've had good luck with the colored plastic, even washed and re-used that stuff, although there is definitely a limit to how many times!

Personally I would rather use the plastic and then pitch it rather than paper. Especially if folks will be wandering around with plates in hand. Paper is so flimsy, it's like an accident waiting to happen, and styrofoam is not any better (as well as being bad for the environment.) And yes if some of them are only lightly used you can reuse them. We reuse them for dog treat plates - she doesn't care if they are scratched or spotted as long as there's food on them!!
Edie

I have them, reuse them and have even put them in my dishwasher. Some of them scratch but most don't and if you give them a wipe the spotting won't happen. My dil loves to throw them away, lol. I am cheap but they are a bit pricey. Go for it.