InTents April/May 2023 - 28

Delores Crum, president and chief
culture officer at Premiere Events in
Austin, Texas, agrees, but doesn't give
" The number one
rule of rental is
that what you have
is not what your
customers want,
and what your
customers want is
not what you have. "
- Delores Crum,
Premiere Events
COVID all the credit for that.
" I live in Texas, where we are very
comfortable being in close proximity,
but equally comfortable being in large
spaces, " explains Crum. " I would say the
main driver for space selection is the
budget and the venue-when people
choose small venues with big guest lists,
they know that's going to have a different
feel to it than a larger venue where
people can spread out. I would not view
that as COVID driven.
" Yes, some weddings got really small for
a while and that obviously was driven by
Sitting areas and other furniture
arrangements have become more
popular for weddings in recent
years-it's not just about chairs and
tables. This trend was furthered
by the extra room required under
pandemic regulations. Photo courtesy
of Jessica Fry Photography.
COVID gathering restrictions, " she adds.
" As those restrictions were loosened,
wedding guest counts got back to preCOVID
levels. There still may be some
COVID holdover there. We're seeing many
wedding couples more focused on inviting
guests with whom they have a closer
relationship, rather than 'filling the room'
with 'random people.' "
" YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING "
Tables and chairs are obviously the
backbone of wedding furniture, but
these days couples are often choosing
a variety of other interesting pieces
for the big day. And as always, the
challenge for rental houses and
planners, as well as their clients, is to
figure out what's trendy and what's
not to keep their inventory current.
" What drives rental preferences is
what's happening in the fashion world
and what's happening in the furniture
houses, " says Crum. " Wherever people
go for furniture, their choices are
influenced by what they see there.
And what's presented in the media
influences the choices as well. If you
pick up a copy of some design magazine,
it's what you see there. Rental choices
are driven by fashion. "
Crum doesn't try to predict trends,
for good reason. " The number one rule
of rental is that what you have is not
what your customers want, and what
your customers want is not what you
have, " she says. " The number two rule
is if you have what your customers
want, they all want it at the same
time. It's a lose-lose proposition to
try to anticipate what your customer
is going to be asking for, " she says.
" You can't have everything, " adds
Crum. That's why it's sometimes
necessary, she says, to work with other
rental companies to fill inventory gaps.
" We had a request in my inbox this
morning for something very modern and
single use, " she says. " The vision of this
planner is very modern. It's black sofas
and white chairs, the dominant color
palette right now, it seems.
" We're not seeing as much leather as
we did for a time, " she says. " For a while
it was all white leather lounges, but
that's not necessarily the dominant style
now. Tomorrow I may get a request for
something very traditional, like a velvet
sofa. We've bought six or eight different
28 intents april-may 2023
InTents April/May 2023

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