After a two-year covid break, you are welcoming your extended family back for the holidays. However, you do not have enough cutlery for all these guests. Or you just don’t feel like washing all those dishes. There is a solution.
Why not rent one? This service, which is attracting more and more individuals, makes it possible to avoid unnecessary purchases in these inflationary times and constitutes an ecological choice by avoiding overloading garbage with cardboard and plastic dishes.
The principle is simple. We first determine how many guests will be present – some companies do not accept to rent below a minimum number. “Things have changed a lot. Before, we could rent three forks, eight spoons and seven glasses and we made bills of $8 ! But it no longer exists. We have minimum quantities and money now, ”explains Sébastien Laporte, of La nouvelle tablée, in Longueuil, who specifies that an amount of $150 is required. Crockery and cutlery can be rented for more than 10 people and glasses come in racks of 16, 25, 36 or 49, depending on their size.
Other companies accept to rent for smaller groups. “With us, there is no minimum,” assures Guy Payment, of Location Tchin-Tchin, in Laval. The owner explains that, unlike other companies, he agrees to rent the exact number required by the client and not in multiples of 25 like some competitors. If someone needs 30 glasses, he will rent them 30, not 50.
Everything for your receptions
In addition to glasses and plates, do you think you need a punch bowl, a stove and a whipped cream dispenser? No problem !
Rental companies have well-stocked product catalogs where all needs can be met. This ranges from cutlery and decorative items to furniture, cooking equipment and even table linens.
For decoration, it seems that red, green, gold and silver, traditional Christmas colors, are popular.
In addition to the rental cost, the customer must pay for breakage insurance (usually between 8% and 10% of the total bill) to cover broken glasses and scratched plates. “If someone breaks a glass, it will be covered up to 5%. If someone takes a rack glasses and drops it, he will have to pay for them. It doesn’t cover that, it covers normal breakage. It covers for example a stained tablecloth, a tablecloth broken with a knife. But the material has to come back, ”says Sébastien Laporte, from La nouvelle tablée.
PHOTOSAIVA, GETTY IMAGES
Dinnerware rental companies even offer decorative items.
No dishes to do!
Once the glasses, plates and utensils are used and dirty, there is no need to do the dishes. That’s the beauty of the service, “it’s less complicated, they don’t wash anything,” says Richard Roy, owner of Vaisloc in Quebec. “The dishes come in crates with bags. Customers remove most of the food by rinsing a little, put it back in the box, close the bag and either we collect the boxes or they come and bring them to us,” he adds.
Because yes, if you want a completely turnkey service, most companies offer delivery and pick-up service after the event.
Of course, charges apply depending on the distance traveled and a minimum order is required since we won’t come to deliver five glasses and five forks!
An affordable price
This peace of mind obviously comes at a price, which remains quite reasonable if the number of guests remains small. “Glasses vary between 35 and 50 cents, except if we go to the top of the range. There aren’t many of us, but I rent Riedel at $1.80 for a 10 oz glass. It’s worth $10 a glass. These are not insurable, they are fragile. If you break them, you pay for them,” says Guy Payment of Location Tchin-Tchin.
While some rental companies offering this service are already full for the holidays, others still have some availability, especially on December 24 and 25, for family receptions with a small number of guests. ” It’s not too late. We don’t have corporate events on December 24 and 25,” says Georges Rahmé, manager at Diva Location in Laval.