I use plain white Corelle - they are super resistant to stains, chips, cracks, and breakage. They are very thin, so I can stack a ton of them in the cabinet, and I dress them up with cute linens, mismatched vintage dessert plates, etc.

White goes with everything and will never go out of style, and you can find individual pieces as replacements (or, more likely, additions).

Isn't it something of a rule that everyone has to have at least one set of glass Corelle dinnerware? They're inexpensive, lightweight, last forever (I currently have a combination of hand-me-downs from both my mother and my grandmother), are dishwasher and microwave safe, and from looking at the company's website they come in a bunch of cute patterns. It also seems like, if some did break, it'd be fairly easy to find replacements.

Plus, Corelle dishes are designed with dishwashers in mind - wasn't interested, thought they were boring until I house-sat for a family with them and realized that I could fit pretty much a set of 10 place settings in the dishwasher at once [plates x 2, cups, bowls] and still have room for pots.

I've had great luck with salad plates from Crate and Barrel I'm assuming the matching bowls and dinner plates would be fine too.

I have white "Roulette" dishes from Crate & Barrel and I absolutely love them. You can pair them with more colorful serving dishes to spice things up if they're too boring for you. My 3rd anniversary is coming up and every piece looks brand new. They are perfect.

I registered for the caterer's sets at Pottery Barn. Dinnerware in sets of 12...they're plain white, and they're less than 12" in diameter (some of the PB dinnerware is too big for cabinets)
here's a link: https://secure.potterybarn.com/products/caterers-12-piece-dinnerware-set/

I LOVE my Denby China. It's a little heavier, but it's microwave/oven/freezer/and dishwasher safe. I got mine a couple years back at Belk and it's modern and cute without being too cute. And they also have a great side pieces (casserole dishes, platters, etc).

@HCL - My mother bought some of the patterned Corelle, and the pattern is not kiln-fired on! Hers started getting weird looking after about 5 years. Granted, that is a lot of use, but still.

Definitely agree about Corelle-- I have the set my parents bought 20 years ago, and they're still going strong. They're super lightweight, too.

I'm also a fan of Corelle. I bought other dishes but found they were heavy and only use them for parties. Corelle does have different prints, but I found they weren't as nice in person.

Aside -- Young House Love posted this week about wedding registries and things they love and dislike five years after their wedding. Good advice there and in the comments about registries in general. I suggest giving it a look.

Fiestaware. They come in a range of really cool colors, are super durable and oven safe, and they're made in the USA. There's a market for vintage colors on eBay, which goes to show how long they last. We registered for them and I love them, and no offense to the proponents of white (my old color), but most meals I cook seem to "pop" a lot better against our bright blue.

I registered (and got) Chirp by Lenox. I use it everyday and LOVE it. It is microwave/oven/freezer/dishwasher safe and is beautiful! Plus there is a huge range of additional coordinating products (table clothes, pillows, sheets, napkins, bath towels - you name it!)

I use plain white Corelle too, it's lightweight, lasts forever, and most importantly to me, stacks in a minimum of space. From the perspective of someone who has had a kitchen for years, and gone through lots of different kitchen fads, you can't go wrong with plain white. You never get tired of it. I have given away most of my "fad" dishware...I have one set of good china and plenty of white Corelle.

Corelle, Corelle, Corelle. These would be more fun than plain white wiothout being trendy or have weird color clashes: http://www.corelle.com/patterns/brilliant-black-dots

Go with porcelain; it is fairly light weight and resistant to chips and scratches (as opposed to most stoneware). I've been using a set of white porcelain dishes every day for the past 20 years and it's still presentable.

I can't comment on Corelle recommendations, but I'm sure it's very good too. You have to like that skim-milk white though :-)

Adding my vote for Corelle. I threw out three entire sets of chipped, scratched, and broken stoneware before I gave in and bought a couple of sets of plain white Corelle. It's been a lifesaver. Never breaks, never chips, never scratches, it's super lightweight and stacks well in small cabinets. I picked up a Rubbermaid pantry shelf from Walmart and now with service for eight, I can fit all of my bowls, plates, salad plates, and serving bowls into the space that was previously taken up by bowls alone. Many of their patterns are cute, but I would probably stick with white and accent with other pieces (pretty serving bowls, colorful linen napkins, cute coffee mugs, etc). White never goes out of fashion.

I love the colour of my Denby stoneware but I hate the chips. So my only recommendation is against stoneware.

Im a HUGE fan of Crate and Barrel for everyday dishes. They have a few varieties of plain white dies (round, oval, square), and then some fancier china-pattern like types that are also very durable (just void the earthenware or ceramic stuff!!).

Crate and Barrel does have lovely sets of dishes that you can plan on seeing for years to come, but also check out Fishs Eddy for something more playful. They certainly have a polka dot set! Their stuff is sturdy as well, and you can plan on seeing most of their collections for awhile.

I got these last year for my wedding, and I love them. They're dishwasher/oven/microwave safe because that's the only kind I was willing to register for. they are lightweight, I haven't broken any yet, and the white is a nice, clean white. But they're not boring :)
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/kiri-dinnerware/f38015

Really surprised to see all these kudos for Corelle -- I really hate that stuff! The thinness, the texture, the skim-milk color -- it just bugs me. I don't own any at home but my office has some in its mis-matched kitchenware and I try to avoid using it. It is nice that it doesn't break easily; probably nicer for kids to use than plastic, but I would not want it for my everyday dinnerware.

I'll put in a vote for Fiestaware. It isn't unbreakable but it is widely available and not too expensive to replace the occasional dropped cup or bowl.

I've pieced together a multi-color set of Noritake Colorwave dishes, and I love them. I got the round ones, without the plain white surface without the wide, colored rim. Between the blue, green and turquoise, I think I may have gone with one set too many in the blue/green range. Aside from that, though, I'm totally happy with them. I've dropped a couple of them in the sink while washing and had no breaks or chips, yet. It's hard to say what your idea of super heavy is, but these seem to be of a fairly typical weight to me.

For anyone looking to buy these on their own, try signing up for Bed, Bath, & Beyond's newsletter and using the regular 20%-off one item coupons they email you every month to buy a single place setting at a time. If you sign up with more than one email address, you can get and use more than one coupon at a time, too.

we've got sophie conran for portmerion and they are awesome - pretty resistant to life, and a great wavy pattern - i love them!

Ikea has a set of plates that I love -- No border, just the right size, and are beautiful. They're not expensive at all, too, so I have another set stashed away for large parties.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90131657/

I know it's weird to think about registering for Corelle, because it isn't that pricey, but I seriously love it and will never be able to do heavy, chipped stoneware again! They have great, modern patterns now, too. And I don't know what people mean when they say milky-white. I have white plates with a cool modern blue swoosh on them, and they are stark white. I think the new designs are nicer and cleaner looking than the old designs. (Although a couple of years ago I passed down my really old garage-sale-bought pattern, and she still uses them without problems because they last so long!)
http://www.corelle.com/patterns/flo

I too can't stand Corelle. It's too thin, the white is -- well, skim-milk. I've never seen food beautifully plated on it. It breaks too -- into sharp shards, with spiky glass particles. As for the patterns...

My choice would be something by Heath Ceramics (which you probably feel is too thick), or Royal Copenhagen Mega Blue Fluted.

http://www.royalcopenhagen.com/en/shop/shop-series/1/dinnerware/5/blue-fluted-mega

The Mega Blue combines beautifully with the traditional Blue Fluted and/or the Half Lace and Lace patterns as a more formal setting, but is wonderfully casual on its own.

I would advise buying a pattern that is highly unlikely to ever go out of production or go out of style, and that can dress up and dress down.

When my husband and I first moved in together, I loved a brightly colored dinnerware set; now, I'm glad we never got it because it lacked versatility, and was was really very trendy (eventually, it became very dated).

Register for Apilco (Williams-Sonoma) a dream for everyday,lasts FOREVER
Heath ceramic's Chez Panisse line is made closer to home and will not chip..(Alice Waters designed them with Edith Heath for her restaurant.

I went with Heath Ceramics (Coupe line) for my registry (pricey stuff I'd never splurge on but absolutely lovely to receive as gifts) and it's served us VERY well for the last 2+ years. Sure it's heavier than Corelle (I have a hand-me-down set I use for cooking and prep and extra plates).

But no breakages, super durable, an absolutely classic design and everything looks gorgeous on it. They look great as display pieces or on open shelving. And they'll last a really long time!

Sorry to the Corelle fans, but I think it's cheap-looking and ugly, and I don't like any of their patterns.

That doesn't mean the only other option is heavy stoneware. I bought a double set of bone china, ten years ago. It's thin and beautifully curved and pure white, so it goes with everything, and it's very durable (much stronger than cheaper china).

I'd also like to add MUD Australia to the list.

They sell a line of handmade porcelain dishes which are beautiful, come in a very exciting range of colours, are thin, and are very strong. Porcelain is stronger than earthenware, and the demands for hardwearing dishes from the restaurant industry spurred them to switch to porcelain.

I just love the irregular and handmade quality of their pieces. They've been featured in tons of food magazines -- Donna Hay is a big fan and they feature consistently in her layouts, but they are everywhere.

Here are a couple of posts/articles about MUD:

http://arielgordonjewelry.blogspot.ca/2010/05/mud-australia.html

http://www.dhub.org/the-business-of-being-creative/

As for "traditional" wedding china, I got us the Lenox Chocolate line. Its bone china but dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. And its traditional styled but a fun swirly pattern.

We originally registered for white and then decided to go with the "au naturale" from Pottery Barn because we like that it was a little less bracing and the shape of the plates/bowls/etc, is a little more organic and not perfect. It's held up well so far (though it's only been a year, we have everything still) and the food is easy to present on it. Big fan of the two different sizes of bowls--they each have different purposes, which I like more than being stuck with one kind. I'm not a patterned plate person (because I'm a food presentation person and the two generally don't go together), I use colors and patterns and textures for serving pieces. Hope that helps!

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/au-natural-earthenware-dinnerware/?pkey=cdinnerware-white

Duralex glassware is amazing. It's been used in French cafeterias for decades, and lasts forever.

Fiestaware is fantastic. You can mix and match it, and if something gets broken, it is super easy to replace. You can register for the basics and collect the other pieces over time. It's been around for years and comes is so many different colors.