Rent What You Want;
Get What You Need
Want to avoid antics that turn your party into a "Father of the Bride" spinoff? Be smart about your rental service provider, says Leslie Kawahara, account manager for Abbey Event Services in Rancho Domingas, California.

Service and experience are more important than the equipment or the quote, says Kawahara, whose company runs the L.A. Marathon and even builds concert shells. "To me, it’s who’s going to work with me, what are the needs, and the quote," she notes.

Many special events resources can provide pretty much everything you need to set up shop, from sound systems and tents to china and chairs. If you want a specialist, surf the web for specific organizations (caterers, special events managers, sound system engineers, etc.). A terrific place to start is www.ises.com, the site for the International Special Events Society. Ask friends for recommendations, too. Word of mouth is the best way to find out a company’s quirks.

• Start early: If you’re doing something complicated, you’ll need a day or two for quotes. Then you’d better leave a week or two for planning, plus time to construct your masterpiece. Before you hire a specific company, be sure to get bids from other vendors.

Abbey Event, for example, provides party rental structures, including stages, rentals, flooring, crowd control, chairs, linens, dishes, china, lighting for theatrical and regular use. It even does full band shells for concerts. What’s not included? Props, decorating or food.

• Pin down all the details. Start with when, where and how long your shindig will last. Then find out what the particular company will provide at what price. (Don’t want any surprise charges popping up.) You want to be sure exactly what a company provides so you can fill in the gaps with specialists like caterers and sound technicians.

If you’re using a special events firm as well as a caterer, you’ll need to be explicit about who is in charge. Abbey, for example, sends a supervisor to each site. He or she acts as a point person, working closely with wedding coordinators and caterers to ensure the event gets off the ground smoothly. Abbey also handles fire marshal approvals, if necessary, and provides a 24-hour emergency service.

"You have to take each job as a separate entity," Kawahara says from her perspective. "There should be a comfort level. Usually people are a nervous wreck."

The finer points of using a special events service:

Set up: larger events can take days to put up and break down; be sure to ask if you’re having the shindig on foreign soil. Larger conferences may take 2 weeks to pull down, while others are out in an hour.

Ask for a layout: Abbey Events does its space design on CAD (computer-aided design system) so you can see the floor layout and make changes. This usually won’t happen until the deal is inked, though. It’s too easy for prospective clients to take the plan down the street and get a competitive quote.

Get references: If you’re doing something big, ask to visit a site that’s up and running. Or call a few people who’ve used the service.

Find out where it’s coming from: Make sure the place can support your needs. (Abbey has its own equipment and four warehouses.)

Cost: Get quotes from various sources. Be sure there aren’t hidden charges, and that you’re getting everything you need. The contract should be specific. Prices vary wildly, depending on what you need.

Tear down: Know which companies are coming back to collect their stuff, and which you’re supposed to return.

-- Michelle Nellett