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Why Hire a Rental Company for Your Wedding?

NOTE: This article was originally published on hhawkinsphotography.com and is republished here with permission.

 

Why would you ever consider hiring a rental company in Orlando, FL such as Crystal Event Rentals & Design for your wedding? Oh let me just take a huge weight off your shoulders.

Imagine with me, that one-day fresh engagement ring feeling, the morning after the proposal. Social Media open, you begin to scroll through wedding pictures, collecting ideas as you go.  As you gather, you decide how you want your wedding to feel, what you want it to look like, and your vision for the day starts to take shape.

Planning a Wedding

Diamond engagement ring in ring box by Orlando wedding photographer

You and your fiancé settle on the perfect venue, but you realize there are so many other elements you need to bring your vision to life that the venue may not offer.  You could purchase a welcome sign for your ceremony, décor for your reception tables, and make your own ceremony arch, but that’s pricey.  Additionally, the time you’ll spend searching for the perfect elements and setting everything up the day before the wedding will be quite a task. Besides, what will you do with the decor after the wedding?  Store it?  Sell it?  Find someone to give it to?

A Better Way

I propose a better, time saving, breathe-easier, enjoy-your-wedding-day way!  Allow me to introduce you to Crystal Event Rentals & Design, a company based near Orlando, FL!  Imagine being able to rent everything you need from one place! Now, picture not having to pick it up from the warehouse, set it up, take it down, or return it. Let me tell you, not all rental companies are created equal. Many do not offer transportation, setup, or teardown services like Crystal Event Rentals & Design! Let that blow your mind for a minute.

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The People behind Crystal Event Rentals & Design

Now you need to meet the organized, amazing, and creative people who make the magic happen!  Each of them are event staff leads so you’re sure to see at least one of them at your event. Shelby, the account manger, is the one who’ll conduct your design consultations to bring your vision to life! When she’s not in the office answering emails or on the phone, you’ll find her at events helping set up and break down.

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Danielle, who is the warehouse manager, is most often found piecing all the creative elements together for upcoming events, researching new trends, and keeping their inventory up to date.

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Roc is the warehouse assistant, helping Danielle gather inventory for events but is also a sales representative and cultivates relationships with venues and vendors.

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Together they are a powerhouse team!

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What Can You Rent from Crystal Event Rentals & Design?

So what exactly can you rent from Crystal Event Rentals & Design?  Their website is an INCREDIBLE resource that has a picture, description, price, and an easy-to-use “Add to Wishlist” button below each item.  Here’s a brief list of what they offer:

Ceremony Rentals:

Chairs and aisle runners

Altar Décor like circle, triangle, and other shaped arches, pergola mandap, white draping for arches and ceilings, floral arrangements,

Aisle Décor such as chair hangings, lanterns

Signs for seating, reserved chairs, memorial signs

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Reception Rentals:

Tables and chairs of many sizes and shapes

Linens, table runners, and napkins in dozens of colors

Table Décor such as candelabras and candle holders, vases, lanterns, large statement centerpieces, greenery, floral accents, votive candles, and a wide array of chargers.

Reception signage like table numbers, sweetheart table and reserved signs

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Accent Décor

Gifts and cards signs and card boxes

Guest book signs

Cake stands

They even offer a “Welcome Package” that includes things like a welcome sign, an easel, floral/greenery, and trinket sets for below the easel! How easy is that?!

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Bites & Beverages

This is probably my favorite category of things they offer because it’s so unique and would save you so much time and effort!  If you envision that you’d like a coffee, donut, dessert, candy, ice cream, popcorn, s’mores bar or even a pretzel wall, no need to sweat the setup! Crystal Event Rentals & Design has it all!

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Extras

Things you may not have thought of like a “be smitten, not bitten” station that includes a table, linen, and a basket with bug spray, is an incredible idea. Other extras they offer are things like votives, sun umbrellas, chandelier floral arrangements, hedge wall backdrop, snow machine, uplighting set, and a mobile bar to mention a few!

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Why Crystal Event Rentals & Design?

While Central Florida is a large area and many event rental companies operate within it, a handful of things make Crystal Event Rentals and Design (CERD) stand above the rest! Being affordable and service-based, they want to help you design something captivating.

Their goal is to offer competitive, if not lower prices than other rental companies.

But the fact that they are service-based, like I mentioned earlier, is just incredible to me!  Any time a couple books CERD, it also comes with a service, not just the items you’re renting.  They’ll transport it to your location, set it up, then take it back to the warehouse.  This is bride’s absolute favorite thing about working with CERD and it takes SO much stress off their family members.  Personally speaking, I connected with Shelby and her team while coordinating and photographing a styled shoot (think mini faux wedding designed mainly for photography purposes).  I was super excited when she told me she’d love to be a part of our shoot but even more excited when she said she’d transport and set everything up.  It took a HUGE amount of work off my plate!

Another thing that makes CERD unique is that they are more mobile than many rental companies which allows them to service smaller-scale, higher-end events.  For instance, many rental companies are unable to provide services at Disney Springs due to challenges with parking, large crowds, limited space, and transporting items to upper floors. So if you’re planning a smaller event such as a proposal, party or a small wedding, CERD is more than equipped to bring your vision to life!

The Process Working with Crystal Event Rentals & Design

Transporting and setting up isn’t the only service that CERD offers!  If you were to inquire today, Shelby would first send you a questionnaire to gather information about your event, vision, and budget.  The next step in the process is your Virtual Design Consultation, where Shelby will walk with you through each aspect of your wedding. By combining your vision and photos with their expertise and research, they are sure to create something that other brides want to pin on their Pinterest board! Once you’ve settled on exactly what you’d like to rent, they’ll put together a super detailed and organized, easy to read contract.

Each ceremony item will be listed line by line in a single box, along with a picture of the item and its price.  All of the ceremony items will be in their own box, all the reception items will be in another box, and so on.  This ensures that you’ll be able to see exactly what you’re getting with no confusion or hidden fees.

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As for my personal experience with them… like I mentioned, I worked with Shelby, Danielle and Roc on a wedding styled shoot earlier this year. (See the full blog post from that shoot here!) I came to Shelby just like any bride would, with a vision and an idea of what I wanted this wedding shoot to look like.  First of all, I was blown away by Shelby’s responsiveness, communication and friendly professionalism.  She was so easy to chat with and quickly caught onto my vision.  Even when I had a few miscellaneous questions leading up to the shoot, Shelby was always available to help and brainstorm ideas with me.  They arrived early to the shoot with décor in hand.  While I was busy photographing the bride getting ready, they artfully designed the reception tables, ceremony location and picnic scene.  I didn’t worry about a single thing, they nailed my vision perfectly!  On top of that, Shelby and her team are incredibly kind and hardworking people.  It goes without saying that I don’t feature just any wedding vendor on my website. I was so impressed working with them and even more impressed after chatting with Shelby about CERD in prep for this blog post.  You owe it to yourself to go check out their website if you’re planning an event of any size!

Crystal Event Rentals & Design not only has a large inventory of wedding and event décor to rent at affordable prices, but amazing service to go with it.  No matter what size event you’re planning, the team over at CERD will guide you in bringing your vision to life, and execute it for you on the day of the event without a bit of stress on your part!

And if you enjoyed the photography from this post, come on over to my website here! I’d love to hear from you, especially if you’re planning your own wedding in Central Florida!