The Ultimate Guide to Wedding Rentals

While it can be tempting to buy everything you need to help make your wedding day perfect, you’ll actually want to rent most of the things you need for your big day. Sure, it’s a lot to spend for one day’s use, but you’d easily fork over many times more if you buy everything, and by renting you know you’ll be using equipment and items that won’t give up on you halfway through the day.

In fact, party rentals for weddings in NYC represent a better value. They’re less expensive and there’s less of a chance of something going wrong with tried-and-true rentals, and odds are you won’t be using most of those things ever again, so you can’t even claim it’s some kind of investment in your future — that is, unless you want to open your own party rental business.

What You Should Buy

There may be many things that you should rent for a wedding, but there are some things that are best put in the ownership column. A dress (or pantsuit) is one of those things. Same goes for your partner’s tux or a fab outfit of their own. You could get away with renting a dress for a bachelorette party or for all those pre-wedding engagements, but you don’t want anything but your own gown, perfectly tailored to your needs on your big day.

If you want any custom signage at your wedding, that’s also something you’ll want to buy. After all, you won’t be able to find the exact sign you want for rent or even second-hand, so that means ponying up and commissioning someone to build it. The best part is that after the big day, you can hang it in your living room or somewhere else in your home as something to forever remember your fantastic day.

Welcome bags or party favors are also ideal candidates for purchasing, not renting. You can’t really rent things like candies, hot sauce or a small bottle of bubbly, and you’d get some strange looks if you tried to ask for any unused items back at the end of the day, so don’t bother. 

What You Should Rent

Because things like wedding glassware, bar rentals, tables and chairs are so expensive to buy, you’ll want to put these items on your rental list. Besides, party rentals for NYC weddings can fill a whole hall with the items you’ll need to pull off that wedding, and you’ll save yourself a fortune by renting, not buying. 

In addition to the hardware, also consider renting table linens, napkins and runners. You’d go broke trying to pick up dozens of each for all those large tables, and good luck ever finding a use for them again if you think it’s an investment, not an expense. Beyond that, linens are also difficult to clean, fold, press and store, and you’ll never have enough time to steam all those creased linens on the big day.

Things like candles, vases and random holders may seem easy enough to source on your own, but what happens after the wedding when you have hundreds of random knick knacks when you’d never use more than a few. The same goes for place settings — rent, don’t buy. You won’t ever need more than a dozen place settings, and having more than 100 on hand is just a great way to fill up your storage for a few decades before you finally toss them.

Here at Big Dawg Party Rentals, we’re your partner for weddings in NYC and Brooklyn. With all the trendiest styles and classic looks that you need to plan that perfect wedding, we’re here to make your dreams a reality.