Banquet Tables Make for an Intimate Gathering

We recently had our older son Nate's First Communion.  Following the mass, we had a small group of friends and family over for brunch.  Nate picked out the menu, of course, complete with bacon, breakfast potatoes, cinnamon rolls, black berries, croissants, and a few egg dishes.

When we entertain at our house for a sit-down meal, we like to have everyone sitting down at the same table if possible.  This gets challenging when your guest count starts getting high (or you don't have the space), but we've done it for as many as 26 at one large "table."  When we've had 26, it was actually six 6' banquet tables put together, but it makes a much more intimate event when you get everyone at the same table.  It's fun to be able to see everyone.  This is especially nice if there's one guest of honor, as everyone will get to sit at the table with him or her. 

For Nate's brunch, we had 18 people, and we used two 8' banquet tables together with some umbrellas alongside to provide some shade.  We all got to see Nate, who insisted on sitting at the head of the table for his special day.

Overall, the brunch was a great success!  This set-up works well for dinner parties, baby showers, wedding showers, birthday parties, and more.  You can use 6' or 8' banquet tables and put them together - the # would depend on your space and how many people you want to fit.

You can also put 2 tables together to make a wider table if you're serving family style or need more room at the table.  You can see this table is much wider, but it's simply 2 banquet tables together. 

These are just a few ideas to get you started planning your next intimate gathering.  Let us know if we can help.  Keep in mind that Party Production Rentals has more than just tables and chairs, but linen, china, market umbrellas, lighting and much more.

Organization Keeps Stress at Bay

We did a street fair recently where they were anticipating 50,000 people.  I noticed one of the main organizers was relaxing with his family an hour before the event was supposed to start.  I commented that everything must be going well if he was able to get in some "chill time" before the event even started.  He said things were going smoothly and showed me a detailed diagram they had put together showing the vendor layout and flow of the event.  He and his team spent many hours working on the details ahead of time, and clearly it was paying off.

There were a few big takeaways:

1. Make sure that you've got a detailed plan of how you want your event to go.  This will help you think about everything that needs to happen on the day of, so you won't be scrambling to find something if you think of it 30 minutes before your event.  Be sure to clearly communicate appropriate elements of your plan to your vendors prior to the event.  What you share should include the time frames they can arrive (staggering is good), where they need to go (their spot plus how they enter/exit).  
2. For your event rentals, you should have a clear list of all the items that should go in each area along with a diagram of how you want things set up.  One client from another recent fair had chalked out where they wanted each canopy - this made set-up a snap.  
3. Be sure to have a point person for questions and direction - if you're on a tight time frame, you don't want any of your crews waiting around to get questions answers or guidance.  If you have a big event with multiple areas, have a point person for each area (e.g., main stage, kid's venue, food court, etc.).  They can get to know what needs to happen and facilitate everything as it happens.  
4. Have good communication between areas, ideally with radios.  If something comes up, you can use the radio vs. wasting time trying to track down the people you need to talk to. 
5. Leave ample time for the unexpected.  It always pays to start early... you can never anticipate all the things that could go wrong.  If you only allow enough time for things to go perfectly and they don't, at a minimum, you're sure to get at least a few new gray hairs... or worse, your event could start late. 

 What was our role?  Party Production Rentals was the primary equipment rental company, providing the canopies, staging, seating, tables with linen and umbrellas and more.  Our part was done ahead of schedule (again allow ample time!), which our client greatly appreciated. 

How Many Tables Fit in a Canopy?

We do a lot of canopy set-ups at Party Production Rentals, and we often get asked how many tables will fit under a canopy of a certain size.  Generally, people have a preference for round tables under a canopy (though you should always go with personal preference), and there's a simple rule of thumb if you're using 60" round tables.  (60" rounds are the most common size, and they seat 8-10 people.)  For each 10' x 10' square section of the canopy, you can comfortably fit 1 60" round with chairs.  The picture below demonstrates how this would lay out in a 20' x 20' canopy. 

This canopy will fit 4 60" rounds as there are 4 10' x 10' sections, and each table fits 8-10 people, so you can accommodate 32-40 people.  For larger canopies, just use the same approach.  For example, a 30' x 30' canopy has 9 10' x 10' sections, so it will fit 9 60" rounds or 72-90 people. 

Note: I typically recommend capping the number of chairs at 8 per table for more formal events or events where you have a lot of table items (i.e., large place settings, you are serving family style on the table, or you have large centerpieces).  We do 10 at many events, and it's great for those events... but know there is less space, and the chairs don't push all the way under the table. 

Another option which would allow more people seated under a canopy - but is typically considered less formal - is to put rectangular banquet tables under the canopy.  Below I've demonstrated how this might look, though there are other variations. 

Keep in mind that sometimes you want space for other features under your canopy, such as a dance floor, bar, buffet tables, or a different size/style head table.  It helps to break the canopy into 10' x 10' sections, but we are also available to help you design the ideal layout for your event in the San Diego area.  We include this as part of the service Party Production Rentals offers when we do a canopy set-up.  Please feel free to give us a call or email!

Events Last Weekend

We had a busy weekend last weekend with some great events.  Among them were a few festivals and several weddings (yes, it's wedding season!).

One of the festivals was an Earth Day festival at one of our favorite venues, Mt. Helix Park.  The park offers breath-taking views of the San Diego region, and we've done many wedding ceremonies in the park in addition to other types of events.  I'm hoping to have some pictures of the Earth Day celebration soon, but here are a few pictures of the view and the area to give you an idea of what it's like:

 

We set-up about 40 canopies all along that path leading up to the cross at the top.  I heard it was a great event!  They couldn't have asked for better weather - and the view was spectacular as usual.   

Here are a few pictures of a wedding we did at the La Jolla Bridge Club, another great venue that we do a lot of events at.  This couple had both the ceremony and the reception there, as there are perfect spots for both.  We are hoping to get some nighttime pictures of the event from the photographer - and I will post them when I do - but here are a few pictures I was able to get so far:

This event is a good example of the "full service" we can offer clients... not only did we provide all of the rentals and set-up for the ceremony and reception (chairs, tables, linen, chuppah, p.a. system, dishware, bars, etc), but we also did the lighting and decoration.  We even signed for the alcohol delivery! 

This type of event is very satisfying for us as we can really help design the event our clients desire.  This client sent us a very nice note earlier today: "Hi Paula and Steve,  Thank you so much for the great job you did with the wedding. Everything looked wonderful. I could not have asked for anything on your part to go any smoother or look any nicer."