Handing down family heirlooms, such as wedding china, is becoming a more common gift.

Ever since she was a little girl, Amanda Davis dreamed of one day having her grandmother's cherished wedding china as her very own.

"As a child, I always loved listening to stories about past family gatherings as Mamo took each piece of her china out of the hutch so carefully," Davis said. "I can remember thinking about how this same china had been used for numerous family gatherings and feeling a sense of connection."

Davis had no idea her grandmother, Bettie Guillion, shared a similar dream. Guillion knew her granddaughter loved her china, and she planned to pass along her precious heirlooms when Davis grew up and set her own big date.

But there was one problem — missing pieces. Guillion received the set for her own wedding in the early 1940s, and while she had managed to keep most of her beloved collection through the decades, somewhere along the way, the cups and saucers disappeared.

Guillion's daughter, Linda Bohannon, thought it would be impossible to replace them.

"My mother picked her china out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog more than 60 years ago, so we knew there was just no way we'd ever find it," Bohannon said. "The only thing she could remember about her china was that it was made by Homer Laughlin. That didn't seem like much to go on, so at that point I just hoped we could find some nice cream colored pieces Amanda could use with the set."

Bohannon heard about Replacements, known as the world's largest supplier of old and new china, crystal, silver and collectibles.

When she visited the company's Web site, Bohannon found a list of china made by Homer Laughlin and noticed photographs of most patterns. She started clicking away and was almost speechless when she came across an image that looked very familiar.

"I called my mother up and asked her, does your china have little pink and yellow roses on it, and could the pattern name be 'Countess'?" Bohannon said.

Davis isn't alone in creating wedding registries for family treasures.

Many brides are choosing to complete china, crystal and flatware sets lovingly handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter.

Unfortunately, if the patterns are especially old, there is a good chance the manufacturer no longer produces the pieces, making it nearly impossible to track down at most department stores.