Rentals

If you are organizing your own reception it is likely that you will need to rent some or all of the equipment, furnishings and decorations. This is the only practical solution when you need to provide for a large number of people for a few hours. Rental companies vary in what they provide, which may require you to use more than one to get everything you need.

Here’s a list of items
commonly rented.

• Furniture: tables, chairs, and lights; including spots and chandeliers.
• Dinnerware: plates, cutlery, linens and glassware.
• Food preparation and serving equipment: chafing dishes, steam tables and barbecues.
• Decorative items: columns, archways, envelope boxes.
• Audio-visual equipment suchas projectors and screens for slide-show and video presentations.

Larger companies have showrooms in which table settings are displayed so you can see what you are ordering. Selection is usually limited to a few basic styles and colours of linens so you may not find the exact match to the theme colour of the wedding. Regardless, disposables are no replacement for real china, glassware and linens.

In most cases, your caterer will arrange for the rental of food serving and preparation equipment but if you are doing it yourself, you’ll need to arrange for this as well.

Dealing with Rental Companies

Rental companies can tell you what’s normally required and give some quick instructions on how to use it. All such equipment is checked before it is delivered so it is a rare case that something doesn’t work. Most have an emergency service and will dispatch someone with a replacement or the capability to repair the problem. Even so, it is advisable to check operation as soon as it arrives in case the unexpected should happen.

Archways, columns and fountains are some of the more unusual items available for rent and some have custom creations found nowhere else. Designed to be portable, they are usually easy to setup and move around as needed.

If you are renting tableware, furniture and the tent in which to put it, assume that your costs are going to be equivalent to, if not more than renting a similar-sized hall in which all of these items are provided so your decision should not be based on the notion of saving money.

Audio-Visual

Slide shows and videos are common at receptions. The tableau of chidhood photos, family members and casual shots of the couple offer humour and nostalgia and valuable visual relief.

Rentals are usually by the day or weekend and include the necessary connectors. Units are extremely easy to set up because most newer cmputers can erasily detect projection units. If you don’t have a notebook computer to run it on, rent one.

 

Here’s how the business side works

Rental companies suggest booking several months in advance, especially if your wedding is during the busy months of May to August. The larger your reception, the more time you need to allow. Their customers include business and community events that can also affect the availability.

Rental companies come in all sizes. Even the smallest can handle groups up to fifty but over this number, you need to select a larger business. In some rural areas, it may be necessary to rent from several locations where jewelry stores and specialty shops have got into the business of renting tableware and cutlery. Some rental companies can ship considerable distances and offer service within a 100-mile radius.

Although some companies allow you to put in a “hold” without making a firm reservation until the final date is determined, most require a reservation a few months in advance and a non-refundable deposit of 10-15%. This primarily applies to complete orders. If you run short of table and chairs at the last minute because of a growing guest list, companies will accept last-minute orders although you will have to take what’s available. All companies we asked required that the bill be paid prior to delivery or shipment is C.O.D. with payment expected when they arrive.

The rental company simply delivers items to a specified location the setup is up to you, which may require your own crew to arrange the tables and chairs and set the tables. This service is sometimes handled by the caterers but should be arranged in advance. If you are using a wedding planner, they will know of a service or be able to make the necessary arrangements. Delivery occurs a day or two before the wedding so there is sufficient time for setup, however, the hall may not be available until the evening before or early on the morning of the wedding.

Dishes, cutlery, etc. is boxed and packed to prevent breakage and must be returned to these containers when you are finished. Services differ in regards to how cutlery and dishes must be cleaned before return. Some only require plates to be scraped and glasses emptied, while others expect everything to be returned in the same state in which it was delivered. Most companies have a “replacement cost” breakage or loss policy; you pay what it costs for them to replace the broken item or the cost of necessary repairs. Although accidents can happen, to avoid these costs, treat the rental equipment like it was your own.

Companies do not carry insurance that protects you from incidents such as a chair breaking and a person getting injured. This is your responsibility even though it may have occurred on a piece of rental equipment. It becomes your responsibility to seek compensation from the rental company if you think there is cause.