What season do I get married?

With the holiday season upon us, that means lots of engagements. Most engagements happen between November and February. For those brides that dream of a summer wedding, that means hurry up and plan or wait a year and a half. But how do you choose the season you get married? Here's a few things that helped me get through this!

• Interests: Think about your relationship with your significant other. You want your wedding to be a reflection of your love, and have your personalities shine through. If you love hitting the beach in the summer, maybe a winter wedding isn't your style. If you are avid skiers and love the slopes, maybe a winter wedding is best. You want to be comfortable and at ease on your big day.
• Location: Where do you picture you saying your "I do"? In a church? On a beach? In a hotel? In your backyard? If your location is somewhere indoors, maybe it won't matter that its only 12 degrees outside. Or maybe it means, you get married in January but its in a warm climate. Destination weddings can be a lot of fun!
• Pictures: Pictures are one of the best ways to capture your wedding day for years to come. Rolling green hills, and Victorian staircases are very different backdrops. Think about where those pictures would be on a rainy day in March, or a very hot day in July. What you want your pictures to look like can help narrow your seasons down.

Hidden Tent Costs

A tented event is a beautiful way to celebrate any occasion. The blank canvas of the tent allows you to create exactly the environment you envision. But, when renting a tent there are a few "hidden" costs to keep in mind.

• Permits- Most towns and cities require that all tented events are permitted. This means the fire department will most likely be stopping by to check the structure of the tent to ensure it is safe. They generally do this long before any of your guests are there but be sure to file for your permit several weeks in advance to ensure they are able to inspect at the best time.
• Safety Equipment- Along with a permit, safety equipment is generally required. It includes fire extinguishers, "no smoking" signs, and exit signs. Be sure to check with the city or town where the tent will be located to make sure you have the correct equipment.
• Frame tents- If for any reason we can not stake into the ground, a frame tent is required. There are a few extra expenses with a frame tent. 55 gallon water barrel drums are filled to hold the tent down. Depending on the size of the tent, a water truck maybe required to fill the drums effectively. Make sure to know if staking is allowed.
• Labor- The ideal area for a tent is flat, even ground. Additional labor or equipment may be needed for tents that are on hills, on soft ground, in sand, or in tight spaces. It's best to have someone from our team come to the site to ensure there will be no additional labor costs.

When you inquire for a quote, ask lots of questions! We are here to make your tented event a success, and have no hidden surprises!

Planning a wedding? Here are some of my personal tips. . .

For all of the questions we get asked everyday, I put a frequently asked question post to start. Planning a wedding or an event can be very confusing and overwhelming. I am trying to make things easier. Most of this is my personal opinion but I guess that is what blogging is all about.

When a little girl pictures her wedding, its an image in her mind that lasts forever. A beautiful flowing white gown with a long train, white draped ceilings with tall array of roses as her centerpieces. I know, because I am that girl. Yes, I have worked for a tent company for almost a decade but that still does not bias my thinking. Tented weddings are a blank canvas where anything in the world is possible. Even on a tight budget- a tented wedding is possible.

Choosing an inside venue can be rather tough, I think. Having to include the colors of the stationary things that are already in the room; carpet, walls, ceilings, chairs, etc. is quite a pain for someone who already has colors in mind. Many venues have intricate colored designs in the carpet that can really put a damper to your "vision". Don't get me wrong, chair covers, linens and pipe and drape can change a lot of that. But again, the tent is a blank canvas. I am here to help make the planning of your wedding seem less confusing.

Choosing your tent:

A canopy is a lighter weight structure that needs to be staked into the ground. It is good for a light rain or shade, but I would recommend not using in inclement weather. The biggest size we have in a canopy is a 20’x40 foot. Because its lighter weight, the poles break down small enough to fit the entire package in the trunk of a car. They are also very easy for a customer to set up and break down themselves. These are a lot less expensive then Century, Frame and Sailcloth tents but do not have many options to personalize your event.

A traditional wedding tent, called a Century tent, is a high peaked tension tent. They are made from 100% light block vinyl. These come in a variety of sizes and shapes. They mostly come in white and have center poles that hold the tent up. Because they are tension tents, they have to be staked. We add 10’ to the length and width of your tent for total area we need so that there is enough room for staking. These tents are very clean and contemporary looking. These, personally, are my favorite to work with. The options alone are endless. They also can be draped with a flowing fabric inside the entire tent called a tent liner. The liner truly gives the tent a more regal feel.

A frame tent is a more industrial looking tent. They are free-standing so there is polling on the inside to hold up the top. They do not have high peaks but do increase the square footage of the tent due to having no center poles. Frame tents can be put just about anywhere, asphalt, decks, patios, and also over pools. If we cannot stake in the area, we use 55 gallon water drums with white vinyl covers to secure the tent down safely. If you are hanging lanterns in the tent, frame tents are easier to use because of all the polling inside. If we cannot stake in the area and you need to use a frame tent, don’t worry, they also have fabric liners we can put inside to hide the poles.

Marquee Tents are what I call “walkway tents”. These come in 6’ or 10’ widths and can be installed just about anywhere, at any length. Like frame tents, they are free standing and can be either staked or water barreled. We can also use a “gutter”, which is a long piece of vinyl to connect the marquee tents to another tent or a building. They are very nice for an entrance and when raining, guests can appreciate their dry walk from inside the house to the tent.   

We also have what is called a tidewater tent. The tidewater tent is a lighter sailcloth material which lets in more light. The upside to these is they look beautiful at night because the light can shine through. The downsides include: less square footage because of the rounded ends and on a hot sunny day, these tents do not provide adequate shade for guests and can be rather hot.

Sidewalls: 

We have clear, solid, window, and mesh wall. They come in sections so you can also use a mix of them. You may want to the view on one side of the tent with solid wall but have a waterfront view for clear or window wall on the opposite. On a hot sunny day I would suggest to not have any. All of our tents come with 90 feet of clear or solid sidewall for free. My suggestion, take it just in case. The sidewall clips on like a shower curtain and if the weather on your big day all of a sudden gets inclement, you can put up at least one or two sides of your tent with walls so that rain or wind does not come in.

Tent accessories: 

We have a variety of things to keep up with our seasons in the ocean state. There are fans, heaters, and other items to help with the climate. Anything we do not have we have great vendors we work with in the area who do.

Fire Codes:

Every city in town in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut has different fire and building codes you must abide by when setting up a tent. Be sure to call your local fire department to see what types of things you may need. All of our tents and liners are certified flame retardant to code and we can provide you certificates if needed. We also have certified safety equipment if also needed. If you are asked to pull a permit, keep in mind some cities need days and some weeks to process a tent permit. We can handle all of this for you, ask for details.

Décor:

The liners that I spoke of above are beautiful. If you want to take on the project of doing any fabric décor yourself, keep in mind all of the material you use needs to be certified flame retardant. I suggest a décor or lighting/production company to handle this for you. It can get tricky.

Flooring:

Most tents usually go on grass, which is the ideal option especially if the lawn is kept well. If in more of a sandy or patchy lawn we offer a few options to help. We have a “port-a-floor” which is a green plastic flooring that go on with the lay of the ground. We have found it does great on sandy beaches and dirt. It does make the ground look more uniform. We have also added a new option to flooring in 2013, hardwood flooring. This is real wood flooring that can installed under your entire tent. It has mahogany stain and looks great with our ballroom chairs. There are a lot of pro’s to hardwood flooring your tent. I personally think it looks stunning and you can just leave space for the dancing instead of installing a dance floor. We have matching ramps for entrances and it truly transforms the tent into a room. If you don’t want to do the entire tent, think about sectioning off a corner of the tent for a lounge area.

Dance floor:

There are many options in dance floor. Our rule of thumb we go by is half of your guests dancing at one time. There are many different sizes and shapes we can make our dance floor I suggest to ask one of our event coordinators what size is best for you. Our most popular is a 4’x4’ all weather “parquet look” floor. This can be put under a tent or even just outside. We have a 4’x8’ real oak wood floor that looks very nice under a tent. There is a 3’x3’ black and white floor. So many different options, which I love. All black or all white, checkered, a black or white border, stripes, etc. This can only go under tents or inside venues as it is not all weather. We also have an indoor parquet which is 3’x3’.

Lighting:

We have a couple different options for lighting underneath your tent. Perimeter lights are larger commercial large Christmas tree bulbs that go around the perimeter of the tent for a light ambiance. I wouldn't recommend this for your primary lighting as it doesn't put out that much light. For century tents, we have theatre can lights. This is a 1000 watt can that mounts onto the center pole and shines up into the tent ceiling. These shine very bright and we can install dimmers so that you can control how bright or dim you would like it. Frame tents and marquee tents use what we call a “quartz” light, which is a 300 watt flood light. This is anchored on the top of the tent and it shines down to the ground. These also have the ability to have a dimmer. Onion lights are a rustic style lantern light that we use in our tidewater tents. They can be put two to a pole and are a unique touch. Our last lighting option is our crystal chandeliers. They can also be put two to a pole and add a royal effect to the tent. Pictures of all of the lighting above can be found on our website www.rirental.com . If you are looking for more kinds of lighting, we can recommend great lighting and production companies that have more personalized options for tents.

Tables:

I get asked the question all of the time what size/shape tables I recommend most. I think depends on the look you’re going for. Tuscan style seating is very popular lately. Rectangular tables are placed back to back to make it look as if there is one long table. You can use the standard 30” wide or we also have a 48” wide. For conversation wise, I love them. I think it makes a wedding or event more intimate. People are sitting closer and they are more apt to talk to different people. Use low or tall thin centerpieces on these tables so that people can see across from one another. Round tables come in various sizes. Some like a bunch of 36” rounds that seat 3-5. If you are on a budget, I happen to like the 60”rounds that seat 8-10. Less tables, and less linens. It is also much easier to find linens for these tables as this is the most popular size. If you are using decorative chargers on these tables I would only seat 8. Square tables have become very popular lately too. We have 48” and 60” squares. I love to see when people mix round a square tables at an event.

Linens:

Where do I start? I could go on forever. I literally can’t get enough of them. Some people ask me if I would recommend linens to go halfway down on a table or to the floor. If it is a wedding, I would 100% say to the floor. You do not want to see aluminum table legs. Your guests will not trip on them. In the past few years, linen fabrics have expanded so much. Poly is our most basic. Just because it is our most basic, doesn’t mean I haven’t seen the most beautiful events with basic poly linens. If your venue or caterer provides cloths to the floor, it might be a good idea to take advantage of it, even if they are white or ivory. Adding an overlay or runner is a great way of adding color to the event.

Wedding and Event shows can be a little deceiving. Believe me- I LOVE David Tutera. He is a God in the design world. The linens that are donated to David are from Cloth Connection. They have the most stunning fabrics and frills the eye has seen. Keep in mind, these are very expensive. These same looks can be created with fabrics we have in stock, at a less expensive price.

Online linen shopping: I will give you one piece of advice. If you are online shopping for wedding linens or chair covers, keep in mind that they are going to come in a box and folded up into a package the size of a facecloth. They will have a lot of wrinkles. If you are daring enough to do so, get them shipped in a while before the wedding and be ready to have the time to iron/ steam out every one of them.

We buy our cloths from large manufacturers that can create any size necessary we need. They use commercial quality cloths and when rented from us, they will come clean, pressed on a hanger and bagged. We have a huge variety of cloths that gets larger everyday. Something you don’t see? I can guarantee you I will find it.

Chair covers:

I have to start off by saying we do not rent them. I am not against them by any means but there is a lot of work in them. Companies that do this for a living- trust them. Believe me, the day before your wedding you do not want to tie 200 matching bows and steam out wrinkles. As I said above, getting them online (except for the spandex ones) is a nightmare. If you do decide to get them online, keep in mind every venue has different style chairs. Order one in advanced to make sure it fits and covers the chair completely. They could run you $4.00-$5.00 a chair. I usually tell customers if the venue has a place to store the chairs, we have garden chairs in 4 colors for $4.00 each and ballrooms for $5.50 each.  

Dishes and glasses

I’ve noticed lately people are mixing and matching different pieces of china. I love it. Square dinner, rectangular salad and a round dessert plate looks great. Cobalt blue dishes and glasses have been pretty popular too. Don’t know how many to order? My best advice- ask your caterer. Chances are, they have done this for many years and have a better idea than I do. I worked for a few caterers for a while and can tell you very little about amounts. Buffet dishes- count on people to have seconds. If there are 100 people, I would say order 20 more dinner plates as a “just in case”. Worst comes to worst, your waitstaff can wash some. Bar glasses- this is a definite “Ask your caterer”. There is a certain formula consisting of what kind of beverages, how many different beverages and how long it is served.

Catering companies:

I have worked for large and small catering companies and I can come out saying this: They all cook great food. Some bigger companies can charge more because they are well known but keep in mind 90% went to the same school to cook. I have seen a lot of smaller companies take a quote from a larger company and make the same food for a better price. Make sure you shop around before making the final decision on your caterer, this is a huge part of your event people will remember. Some companies include dishes, glasses, linens, etc and some do not. This is affected in the price. If you see that your caterer has up charged some of these things, keep in mind: They are taking responsibility for these items. Glass and dish breakage is common, so is rips and holes in linens. Your caterer is also the one setting up, cleaning and putting away all of these items so the up charge may be worth it. There is a lot your caterer does behind the scenes that you may not notice during your event that makes your day flawless. 

-Briana Vice President of Rhode Island Rentals