Blog posts from June, 2016

Stemware is a notoriously tricky product to transport when you’re a party rental company or caterer. Because of its delicate nature, and a need to ensure breakage doesn’t occur, finding the best transportation methods when taking glass and crystal stemware offsite to an event is so important. We’ve rounded up the best methods for transporting stemware so you can figure out what method best supports your business needs. Read on to learn more:

Glass Racks

Glass racks come in two different materials – wire and plastic. Wire glass racks similar to Ten Strawberry Street’s below are designed to keep glasses safe when being transferred from one event to the next.

They are also designed to be used in the dishwasher, so you can store, transport, and wash your glass stemware all in the same unit. They need to be wrapped to avoid contamination of bugs or dust.

Plastic glass racks like the ones below, are also designed for safe transport of glass stemware. They are a little heavier than wire glass racks but provide built in protection against bugs or dust. They are also dishwasher safe so they can go from storage of the glasses to transport to an event to the dishwasher to be washed.

Catering Boxes

Cheaper than the wire or plastic glass racks, catering boxes are another option party rental company’s use for transporting stemware. These are lighter than wire glass racks and made of strong, durable polypropylene plastic corrugated material. These will not last as long as wire or plastic glass racks but tend to be almost half the price. They are open to contamination and party rental companies tend to wrap them with saran wrap to ensure dust and bugs don’t get in.

Chiavari Chairs are one of the most popular event chairs in the market. Because of that, they have also been duplicated and improved upon in different materials – such as aluminum and resin. In the past we’ve done a write up on the pros and cons of resin Chiavari chairs. This is to give a transparent view to customers so they understand the positives and negatives the chair has. This helps them figure out what best meets their business needs. Today’s blog post provides the positive and negative points regarding wood Chiavari chairs. Read on to see the differences:

Pros:

• The authentic Chiavari Chair – over 200 years old – has always been wood
• Wood Chiavari Chair have a matte finish. Additionally, Wood Chiavari Chairs typically come in a wider range of colours which means it may not be possible for you to find a resin alternative. This is because wood chiavari’s can be stained for a more translucent finish.
• Wood Chiavari chairs are easier to re-finish
• Weigh less than a resin Chiavari chair
• Less expensive chair than a resin Chiavari chair
• Costs can be reduced further with knocked down unassembled wood Chiavari chairs

Cons:

• Wood Chiavari Chair shows a natural wood colour when it chips
• Knocked down unassembled wood Chiavari chairs need their screws tightened often
• Knocked down unassembled wood Chiavari chairs can be less sturdy / strong if proper care isn’t taken to ensure the screws and bolts are fastened.
• Wood Chiavari Chairs often need their paint touched up after events
• Can succumb to water damage if left outside for prolonged periods of time

We like to lay out how products work for our customers so that they can make an informed decision based on their needs. We write a lot of pro and con blog posts as well as product 1 versus product 2 blog posts to provide comparison. Last week I talked about the differences that exist between the ruched spandex banquet chair covers versus the spandex banquet chair covers. This week I’m going to talk about the differences that exist between ruched spandex banquet chair covers versus polyester banquet chair covers. Read on to see the similarities and differences.

Ruched Spandex Banquet Chair Covers:

• Fits a teardrop backed banquet chair
• Used more often in weddings
• Gathered, ruffled look
• Adds texture so sashes or florals aren’t necessary (though still used for extra décor oomph)
• Machine washable
• Guests can put their purses under the chair without it showing to others
• Harder to put on as the legs need to be fit into the chair cover feet
• No need for steaming or ironing
• More expensive than spandex banquet chair covers (because more material and elastic is needed)
• Elastic can be stretched over time creating a baggier silhouette

Polyester Banquet Chair Covers:

• Traditional silhouette
• Easily decorated with sashes and florals
• Machine washable
• Draped casual look
• Less expensive than ruched chair covers
• Guests can put their purses under the chair without it showing to others
• Easy to put on
• Needs to be immediately removed from the dryer or steamed / ironed as it wrinkles
• Only fits a rounded back banquet chair

Banquet chairs area highly sought after event chair used in hotels, banquet halls & other event venues, golf courses and rented out from Party Rental Companies. Since we currently only stock teardrop back banquet chairs with silver vein frames at our Ontario Headquarters, I thought it made sense to round up other banquet chair suppliers in Canada that offer more than one style of banquet hall chair.

Comfor Tek Seating

Based in Alberta with a manufacturing and distribution plant in the United States, Comfor Tek Seating offers commercial chairs and tables to Assisted Living Facilities, Banquet Halls, Convention Centres, and Worship Sanctuaries.

Davidson Furniture

Founded in 1983. Davidson Furniture Specialties Ltd. has focused on the educational and hospitality markets, with commercial grade quality furniture and equipment. They distribute Sico, McCourt Manufacturing, MTS Seating, Holsag Canada, Grosfillex, and Woodard products while also distributing their own line of Davidson Furniture Specialities tables.

Canada Chair Company

Located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Chair offers quality commercial chairs, tables and other furniture products to institutions across Canada. They’ve been in business since 1955 and specialize in stackable and folding chairs, folding tables and carts.

Rodo Industries Inc

Rodo Industries Inc. is a Canadian contract manufacturing company, located in Southwestern Ontario, providing commercial furniture including metal & wood dining chairs, outdoor furniture including all weather wicker, umbrellas, metal and wood bar stools, dining tables, and upholstered booth seating. They also distribute Grosfillex Products.

Just in Time Tables and Chairs

Located in Aurora, Ontario, Just in Time Tables & Chairs was established in 2003 to provide carefully selected quality tables and chairs for banquet facilities, hotels and churches. They service the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) with a wide selection of tables, chairs, transport carts and other related products.

Photo Source: Motel Benin Plaza

Each event chair has a business case for or against them – some businesses love and swear by only wood Chiavari chairs while others want nothing to do with them. The same can be said for resin Chiavari chairs. Back in 2013 we made the decision to provide non-biased reviews of our products so that companies buying from us could make their own decisions based on their own business needs. Because of this, read on to see the pros and cons of resin Chiavari chairs:

Pros:

• 4mm thick resin and 1mm thick hollow steel frame support (ours has a steel frame to provide additional support and durability – not all resin Chiavari’s do though)
• Seams are virtually invisible
• Resin is a similar colour to the chair coating colour and as such does not show scratches as easily as wood or aluminum (i.e. gold high gloss finish when scratched would show a gold toned core)
• Solid colour causes party rental companies to make decision on chair based on current chair colour trend. (i.e. last year’s hot colour was mahogany Chiavari chairs. This year’s hot colour is gold Chiavari chairs)
• Solid resin seat allowing for easy change out of cushions
• 2 horizontal chair rails similar to the traditional Chiavari chair look
• Resin Chiavari chairs can hold over 1000lbs making them an extremely strong chair
• Resin less likely to succumb to water damage

Cons:

• Generally more expensive than a wood or aluminum Chiavari chair – but also tend to last longer
• Cannot be re-painted or re-stained as easily as a wood Chiavari
• Chairs weigh 13lbs each – tend to weigh more than wood or aluminum – especially if there’s a steel core frame
• Not all resin Chiavari chairs are the same chair – which leads to confusion in the marketplace