Banquet Hall Rental Nightmares

[LillFilly]

The story Hurting told about coworkers swiping the rented decor at a party made me think of this.

My housemate's mother owned a banquet hall that she rented for business parties, wedding receptions, anniversaries, you name it. You could chose tables size, type, layout and ALL the decor. I mean, ALL the decor. She rented out every theme, color and centerpiece you could imagine; I helped her make things for a few receptions. Of course, she had to deal with the people renting changing the theme half-way through or on the day of, after they'd rented plastic table covers for X$ amount, decided to try and get her to substitute fabric tablecloths without them having to pay the difference...that sort of thing.

So see, she owned everything in the building, every plate napkin holder candleholder.

So many parties would end with half the centerpieces walking out of the building, or even the live plants in the windowsill! People even tried walking off with the table linens! Unfortunately, by the time she caught people and had them stop, a few had already walked out. She caught one Mother of the Bride loading her car with centerpieces! (You'd think people in the bridal party would know better, right?). I guess in their minds, they figured they PAID for the stuff, so it belonged to them.

She had SO many stories of hissy fits thrown by mainly bridal parties, the fights that broke out, the restroom destruction, etc.

One that stands out was the sea themed wedding reception had the bride wanting mini fish bowls with a gold fish in the center of each table. Housemate's mom had the bowls all ready to go and figured she would add the fish just before the reception. Nope, bride came in for a final look and wanted the fish in there NOW! She even went and got fish to put in. Housemate's mom tried to explain the fish would make the bowls filthy and would need to eat before the wedding. The Bride poo-poohed and said they would be fine.

Que wedding day with every table decorated with a dead fish. Housemate's mom ran out and bought floating candles to replace the fish. The Bride never even mentioned it. Didn't stop the wedding party from stealing all the fish bowls though!

And yes, I know, contracts, calling the police, etc. There are SO MANY WAYS that Housemate's mom could have demanded her property back, tacked on fees, banned them, etc. But she is too nice and sweet of a person and does NOT like to confront people, nor will she allow anyone to confront them on her behalf.

[earl colby pottinger]

Photos and billing

Take photos just before people arrive.

Take photos at the end of the event. Bonus if you photo people taking stuff.

Bill the credit card on file or damage deposit taken before-hand.

Listen to the screaming and just point to taken pictures.

[EricKei]

This. A thousand times, this. Perhaps the mom will wise up when she realizes that catering (ha!) to groups that steal her stuff like this will cause her to lose money in the long run, even if they aren't already. It shouldn't be too hard to compare a list of the items provided for any given event (it should be itemized anyway, even if that specific list is not provided to the clients) with an list of what's left after said event. It could be quite eye-opening. Either she needs to charge for the stolen items, or just jack up her prices by 25-50% to account for this, as she really must assume that the guests are gonna steal stuff.

[CoffeeMonkey]

Or she could figure out the rough cost of the stealables and have a damage deposit that the couple gets back after the event if everything is copacetic. Took the centerpieces? Okay, no deposit for you, unless you track them down and return them unscathed.

I wouldn't blame the guests TOO much. In my understanding, centerpieces are more frequently done by the couple, and guests are encouraged to take them home so that they don't have to truck out twenty tables worth of candles and flowers and sparkly doodads. MoB had no excuse!

[eltf177]

Two words - Security Deposit. Add a third - BIG Security Deposit!

[taxguykarl]

And yes, I know, contracts, calling the police, etc. There are SO MANY WAYS that Housemate's mom could have demanded her property back, tacked on fees, banned them, etc. But she is too nice and sweet of a person and does NOT like to confront people, nor will she allow anyone to confront them on her behalf.

Sounds like she despirately needs a hatchet person to handle this nonsense. It only needs to happen once or twice and the word will get around.

[cleorose]

Time to add a clause into her contract

ANY ITEMS LOST OR MISSING FROM RENTAL FACILITY WILL BE CHARGED AT REPLACEMENT COST.

This includes ANYTHING provided as decor from linen, to centerpieces and everything in between.

And have a list attached that they have to initital at the bottom to say that they understand the costs of the items in the event they are stolen.

Pictures are great obviously before and after. Individual pictures of a singular centerpiece and every item included broken down by price is nice to have on hand.

And yes a security deposit should be equal to 50% of the rental. SO if it costs $500 to rent, the security deposit should be $250.

[April]

My husband used to work at an event company. People would rent the venue and my husband's company would decorate it, per their preferences. EVERYTHING, linens, decorations, flowers, lights, fake walls, statues, pillars, I mean EVERYTHING. and it never failed, someone would try to walk off with something. And these were millionaire's. They did very upscale events, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. They had an iron clad contract though. The customers would sign off on each item and the number (40 centerpieces) and inventory was done directly after the event. They were billed for anything missing, at retail cost. It was amazing how many expensive items found their way back after someone was charged 100 dollars for 10 linen napkins

[Amina516]

I've never been to a wedding where the centerpieces werent up for grabs. That being said, I generally ask before I take anything away.

She should consider working that price into a deposit. The centerpieces dont make it through to the next day, the deposit stays.

[earl colby pottinger]

Plus

I would not be surprised that some of the more reasonable parties did not know that the center pieces were not to be taken, but still want the guests to take them anyway.

Those more reasonable ones would pay up-front for the center pieces, but no-one really plans on guests taking plates, cutlery, and the plants in pots. You still need a security deposit.

[taxguykarl]

I've never been to a wedding where the centerpieces werent up for grabs. That being said, I generally ask before I take anything away.

At ours, we had a raffle for them.

[bankworking]

Sounds like a money making opportunity. Spell it out in the contract. "X" price for rental and "X" price for purchase. Any items missing from the rental hall will be considered purchased.