Your wedding will, hopefully, be one of the happiest days of your life. But part of what goes into making a wedding one of the best days of your life is a lot of planning. Wedding planning is never relaxing, even if you’ve hired a professional planner to do the job for you. Many brides in this day and age cannot afford to hire wedding planners; and though wedding planners have a specialized skill set, there is really no reason why you can’t do your wedding planning on your own, no matter how daunting it might seem. The most difficult part of any wedding to plan is the wedding reception. Why? Well, for one thing a wedding reception requires more space than a ceremony, as people will not only be sitting down but likely dancing and socializing too. For that matter, many receptions now feature games and activities that reflect the bride and grooms’ personalities — that requires extra space too. Wedding receptions are also heavily associated with food. While not all brides and grooms serve full meals, most receptions at the very least feature snacks of some kind. You will certainly see tables at wedding receptions, and people likely will be eating, drinking, and talking at their own tables. As such, an important logistical factor to consider is that of wedding tablecloths. Don’t get scared — where brides decades ago had to haul out their mother’s best tablecloths to use as wedding reception linens, this isn’t a concern anymore thanks to linen rental companies. While you could buy your specialty linens, you don’t have to — and there are many reasons why you shouldn’t.

Number Crunching: Spending Money On Your Wedding

Linen rental companies offer prices and rates on tablecloth rentals that are extremely competitive with the cost of buying linens outright. While it’s easy to get sentimental about wedding linens and imagine that you might save them as mementos, the cost gets a little daunting once you put it up against what you’ll already be spending on your wedding. After 18,000 American couples who married in 2011 were surveyed, The Real Weddings Survey found that the average cost of a wedding was $26,984. Even if you can save on certain things, the cost of each guest — from chairs to tables to what they’ll eat — is hard to negotiate down. A 2013 survey indicated that the cost per wedding guest was about $196. Now, you could buy your wedding linens, keep them forever, and in all likelihood never use them again. Or you could rent them from one of many linen rental companies for much less, get the look you want, and spend a lot less.

Getting The Look: Choosing Your Wedding Linens

Every little bit of decor in a wedding goes towards its over “look” and atmosphere. Luckily, linen rental companies have a variety of different options for brides and grooms to choose from. Say you’re looking for a more rustic feel, which is very stylish right now. Chevron, zig-zag, and checkered tablecloths give a rustic look and are perfect for spring and summer weddings. You could also choose burlap for a similar vibe and pair it with lace, giving a complimentary feel. Should you lean towards a more formal, vintage look, stick with colors like gold, blush pink, and peach. Pastels can also be easily mixed and matched, are very much timeless. Some brides like a textured look — like lace, petals, and rosettes. These would go over tablecloths as overlays, and stand out in photos.

When The Party’s Over: Cleaning Up After Renting Linens

One of the great things about linen rental companies is that they will clean the linens after the events for you. Sometimes, they’ll even pick them up from the wedding reception venue. While you might be concerned about things like stains, worry not — these companies are aware that accidents happen, and most policies will protect you against normal stains like spilled food, drink, or candle wax.