WPCNR'S THE REAL DEAL By The Wedding Jeannie, Jeannie Uyanik. January 13, 2008: Readers will be pleased to learn that renting anything for your event, even a sophisticated bathroom system, should be eons easier than renting a habitable space in New York City.  As with everything in party planning, there are a few key tricks to make the process as efficient and smooth as possible, but if the thought of needing to rent for your event is overwhelming, this column should provide some comfort.

Jeannie Uyanik, Planner to the World

The Wedding Jeannie

WPCNR Columnista

There is no limit to what you can rent for an event; everything from toilets, to dresses, to jewelry, to trees, divans, and sophisticated installations.  The first task is to determine what you actually need to rent.  If you are doing an event at a private residence, the sky is the limit.  The first thing to consider is if you have enough space inside a residence to accommodate all aspects of a function in rain and shine.  Generally, the answer is no, but people are hesitant to want the burden of renting a tent.  Trust us when we say that this is a much smaller task than the burden of rain when 220 people are about to arrive and there is no space to cover everyone for all portions of the event. 

Especially with a wedding, imagine that there generally have to be three spaces available for use; the ceremony area, the cocktail area and the reception area.  Often, the reception and ceremony area can take place in the same space, but you need to make sure that the caterer is able to re-set the space within an hour time frame to have it ready again for the reception.  If you find that you do need additional space, tenting is a great alternative. 

There are of course many things to consider once you opt for a tent; a free standing tent or one that uses existing infrastructure as the anchor; a tent with or without poles, sides and windows – the options abound.  This is easily understandable once you begin to review the options with a tenting company.  One of our favorites, a reputable but not inexpensive firm is Stamford Tent (www.stamfordtent.com) based in CT. 

Once you have chosen the tent type and style, other rentals to consider include lighting, heating or cooling systems, flooring (for the entire ground), dance floor and internal infrastructure such as a band stand or riser.  Again, while this might seem like a lot to deal with, tenting companies are equipped to supply you with all the resources you need and the primary obstacle is finding a tenting company that you trust and with which you feel comfortable working. 

Generally, if you are doing an event at a private residence, or on private grounds, then you will also need to consider a cook’s tent where the caterers will have space to prepare and plate the food.  In the case of rain, companies will often allow for a 50% deposit to hold the tent with the right of refusal should you not want to purchase it for the day of.  If however it does rain, consider that you will need other features, like canopies, to connect either the cook’s tent to the main tent and to any other structures that might be in play for an event. 

For a private residence or raw space function, bathrooms will be essential depending on the size of your guest list and the availability of other toilets in the immediate vicinity of the event.  Remember, if you are having a tented event and feel comfortable that guests can walk to the toilets, should it rain, you need to provide a way in which they can get to the bathrooms without getting soaked.  Assuming though that you are bringing in portable bathrooms, the options for elegant toilets abound.  While in recent times, the image of portable toilets conjured memories of picnics in the park or childhood stops along the freeway, today’s portable toilets can be nicer than those at the best restaurants or hotels (with the price tag to match though). 

Tenting companies can also assist with this, but keep in mind that you are going to be paying a middle man to handle this transaction and it’s most prudent to source a bathroom rental company independently.  The one important thing to remember is to include the option of having an attendant on site for the event.  They will make sure that the bathrooms are in proper order throughout the duration of guest use.

While comparatively, items like tables, chairs, linens, glassware and cutlery can seem insignificant relative to larger rental needs, these are things that dress the space and what guests actually notice most.  It’s important to spend time looking at each item that you want to use and picking them in person if possible. 

For this reason, Party Rental Ltd. (www.partyrentalltd.com) is top choice because of their exceptional showroom space in New York City.  And when ordering the fun stuff, its more likely than not that if a caterer is involved, the company will need a number of things as well (from tables to heating appliances) and they often want to coordinate the rentals themselves from start to finish.  If not, make sure you liaise with them to confirm that all the items for service and for preparation are included on a checklist. 

Once the big items are under control, consider if you want to rent formal wear for the day – from tuxedos and men’s shoes to wedding dresses and formal gowns.  Wedding dress rental can often end up being only a fraction of the cost of a regular gown (usually somewhere in the area of 20% of the original cost) and can be a great way to maximize the budget while not minimizing the wow factor.  A few great resources include MyrJan (www.myrjan.com) and www.alexandriasformal.com for women.  Ironically, while there are a plethora of places that offer tuxedo rentals, many can be a nightmare to deal with so search carefully and make sure that the store has an exceptional customer service department in case of any problems. 

Another sundry item that you can consider renting for a big event or wedding day includes jewelry.  Adorn Brides (www.adornbrides.com) offers a few selections, but we have found that the most fabulous pieces tend to come directly from high-end jewelry stores; some hotels will arrange rentals on behalf of their guests or alternatively, it’s possible to deal with jewelers directly, although each has its own formalities as to execution of a rental.  Located in New York City is Doyle & Doyle (www.doyledoyle.com), which has a wide collection of antique and estate jewelry from which to choose. 

But our favorite rental for sure, which can be fun and really have a huge impact on guests close to the end of the night is that for cakes!  Yes, you can rent a cake from www.cakerental.com and while there are amazing cake bakers all over the world (more on cakes in next week’s column) it’s hard to beat the price, style and size that Styrofoam can create.  Even our favorite bakers would concede that you have a lot more room to play and at smaller price tag, when dealing with non-edible items than you do with fondant and flour!