How to Determine Which Wedding Rental Essentials You Need

Wedding rentals play a key role in the overall look of a wedding while enhancing the guest experience through aesthetically pleasing design. From wedding table and chair rentals to linen and napkins, glassware, flatware, charger plates, and more, wedding rental essentials are needed in order to bring an event vision to life.

But what is really considered “essential” when determining which wedding rentals you need? Are all wedding rentals required or can you mix and match between event rentals and the venue’s inventory to create the perfect look within your budget?

We have a simple and easy way for you to consider which wedding décor rental essentials are needed for your upcoming event!

Wedding Rental Essentials: It’s Part of the Planning Process

Selecting the wedding rental essentials needed requires a few steps at the start of the wedding planning process in order to make the best decisions for the event.

Before selecting the décor rentals for a wedding, there are a few decisions that need to first be made. These decisions frame the entire event planning process, including the selection of event and wedding décor essentials.

Determine Wedding Guest List and Budget

First things first – How many guests are you inviting and what is your budget for the event? There’s hardly an effective way to plan a wedding and select wedding rental essentials without having an established guest list and wedding budget.

Having an established guest list will keep you organized while helping to dictate how to proceed with many of the important decisions required throughout the planning process, including selecting your event rental essentials.

It’s important to know how many people will be on your event guest list as well as your corresponding budget so that you can select the best venue to meet your needs. Some venues are larger/smaller than others. A wedding budget and guest list will assist you in narrowing down your venue choices while also helping you to understand how much of your budget remains after understanding your cost per plate at the venue to allocate for wedding rental essentials to complete your décor vision.

Select The Venue

Before googling “wedding rentals near me,” it’s critical to know where the event will be held. The venue plays a large role in understanding the wedding rental essentials needed for the ceremony and reception.

Since it’s nearly impossible to choose wedding rental essentials prior to selecting the venue, there are several questions to ask yourself when seeking out a venue in relation to what you will need to know in order to select wedding rental essentials for the space that will match the overall décor vision.

Is the venue an indoor or outdoor event space?
What colors are primarily used in the event space?
Will the layout of the space accommodate the event you are attempting to plan?
Is the venue considered modern, traditional, trendy, or elegant, and will this impact your décor vision?

Becoming familiar with the event space will help to narrow down the colors and overall vibe you are looking to achieve through the wedding rentals. It’s also a great idea to ask your venue contact about the in-house inventory available at the event space.

Venues typically have a set number of tables, chairs, linen, and tabletop items such as glassware, flatware, and dinnerware. While some venues offer a larger variety than others, often it’s possible to work with what they have and pair them with rental items.

Keep the venue’s inventory list in mind when conferring with your rental company. It’s important for your rental company to know the décor and layout of the venue but also the inventory that they have in-house, so that the rental contact is able to refer to the venue inventory list when selecting your rental essentials.

For example, if you decide to use the tables available at the venue, you will need to know their specific sizes in order to choose rental linen and chairs. If the venue only has a specific number of tables and your guest list is larger, your rental company will add table and chair rentals to your wedding rental essentials list.

A Floorplan Layout Is Necessary

Don’t forget about designing a wedding floor plan layout before determining your wedding rental essentials! A floorplan is essential for visualizing the event layout while also assisting the event team to understand the space and your specific needs. A floorplan can help dictate the rentals required and will also help the rental company once it’s time for set up on the day of the event. If needed, your wedding supply rental company can guide you in designing the wedding layout, as well as point out rental items that are needed for the wedding which may have been overlooked.

How To Select Wedding Rental Essentials

With the budget and guest list established, the venue selected, and the floor plan created, everything is in place to determine the wedding rental essentials that you’ll need!

Rental Linen for Weddings

After determining wedding table rentals based on the venue’s inventory and your needs, we suggest the next step is to select the table linen.

The right wedding linen is essential to the tabletop design within a wedding reception layout. Check with the venue to see which types and styles of linens they have to offer. If you don’t see a wedding linen style you want to use, your rental company would help you to see a wider variety of wedding linens available to rent. Your rental company specialist will take into account your decor vision, the venue’s layout, and décor, as well as your budget, to help you select the wedding linen for your tables.

Photo by Amanda Marti Photography

Wedding Chair Rentals

After the wedding table linen has been chosen, the chair rentals for weddings can be selected. The chairs you choose should coordinate with the rest of the wedding decor rentals and will help to create the vibe you want to achieve for the overall event vision.

There are many chair rental options for weddings. While venues often have in-house chairs available, the event vision will help you determine if a rental chair is essential. For example, if a modern look is what you are after, consider choosing a ghost chair. A bamboo-style chair pairs well with tropical event looks. A classic Chiavari chair to rent is always a great idea, especially when you can coordinate the chair and Chiavari chair cushion to match the décor.

Photo by Chrissy O’Neil & Co.

Wedding Décor Rentals

Tabletop design is crucial in the wedding décor rentals you need to achieve the event vision. While linens and chairs to rent are considered first, event clients typically like to consider other rental essentials such as flatware, glassware, chargers, napkins, napkin rings, and dance floors.

Once you have the wedding table linens and chair rental selected, it is much easier to narrow down the charger plate rentals, wedding flatware rentals, glassware rentals, dinnerware rentals, and the rest of the tabletop accessories. Of course, if there’s a must-have piece you have fallen in love with, such as a wedding charger plate rental, gold flatware, or a colored glassware rental, let your rental company at the start of the rental design process know so that they can work your must-have elements around that wedding rental essential item!

Photo by Verola Studios

Dance Floor Rentals

Renting a dance floor is sometimes overlooked as an option, yet is such an important rental piece to add to a wedding essentials list. As a focal point in a reception floor plan, a dance floor can complete the look of a wedding and give guests a beautiful experience in the center of the room. While venues often already have a dance floor, it’s nice to upgrade and personalize a wedding with a rental dance floor.

There are plenty of dance floor options. An all-white dance floor always provides a clean look, or you can even consider personalizing it with a monogram. Or consider going classically bold with a black and white dance floor – which is always an excellent choice.

Outdoor weddings can also make good use of a dance floor. A rental company can offer a rented dance floor and level the ground in the process. With a subfloor underneath, an outdoor dance floor can also make dancing more comfortable for guests instead of dancing on the natural ground of the venue.

Photo by Desert Born Productions

Outdoor Event Rental Essentials

While most event rentals are fine to be used outdoors, there are some that should not be used in an outdoor environment including certain types of wood and velvet. To be certain, when ordering event rentals for an outdoor event, ask the rental company in advance about the outdoor weather policies for their products. If you are having a tent at your event, some items may be protected, but if there is no tent, double check that all items are safe for outdoor event use. In warmer climates, rental fans are a great idea for guests as well as umbrellas and fans. Guest comfort is part of the guest experience!

Contact us today for help choosing your rentals or to reserve the items that you need for your next memorable event.