How to Rent Serving Dishes for a Wedding

Buffet style receptions are quickly gaining in popularity since many young couples find themselves needing to save money wherever possible when planning their wedding. These kinds of services may be less expensive, but there's no need for them to be any less glamorous, especially when there are a plethora of beautiful serving dishes available to rent for your big day.

Instructions

1. Know your chafing dishes. There are different kinds of chafing dishes, and it will mostly depend on your personal tastes or the tastes of your caterer, but you'll want to be clear which ones you would prefer when you rent your serving dishes.

2. Find out if heat sources will be provided with the serving dishes. If they won't be provided you'll need to purchase the heat sources separately.

3. Ask if the dishes will include under-liner trays with your rental. If they are not included in the serving dishes then you'll need to get these for safety's sake and to make sure you don't damage any of the table linens you may also rent.

4. Inquire about the availability of serving dishes to rent from your caterer or your reception location. If they have them available, it may or may not be cheaper than renting them separately, but it's always best to make sure.

5. Know the final count of guests that you will have at your wedding reception. This will determine how many serving dishes you will need.

6. Arrange to have the serving dishes delivered with the catering supplies. This will save you money on the delivery fees, and will almost guarantee that the dishes will arrive on time since the caterer will likely be calling ahead and checking on the items well before the wedding.

7. Rinse your serving dishes before you return them. Even if the rental company charges a cleaning fee and expects the dishes to be dirty when returned, they can (and will) charge you extra for dried food that is difficult to remove.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of renting extra chafing dishes, have extra stainless steel pans on hand to prepare the food. Simply place the pans inside the chafing dishes for quick refills.

• Be very careful when lighting the heat sources, and only use the appropriate material recommended for the dishes. Using anything else could overheat the dishes causing a fire or burn hazard, or at the very least it may overcook your food or make a flambé dish out of everything you serve.