Use your imagination when it comes to tablecloths, overlays, table runners, and napkins.

The range of fabrics and products out there is worth investigating. Tablecloths, overlays, table runners, and napkins can also be custom designed and embroidered or beaded to match your wedding gown. It is key that whoever is making them for you or has made the ones to rent has used specialty needles that have been designed to prevent puckering.

Check to make sure that the fabric being used has been treated and is flame-retardant and stain-proof. If you are having table coverings made, check to see if any party companies would like to purchase them from you after your event. Depending on the quantities being ordered, this may be of interest to them and you will recover some of your costs.

Table tops (the look of the table including centerpieces), table settings (china, crystal, silverware), and table and chair rentals can be handled by your décor company, florist, caterer, in some cases by your venue, or by a rental company that can handle all or part of your requests but that may not be proficient in design. What you want to avoid is having the design elements appear disjointed or mismatched. It is not just the look that you have to factor in, but who will physically be unloading, taking inventory, making sure there are no damaged goods that need to be replaced, putting each piece on the table with skill and precision, collecting the items, repackaging them, and moving them out. If, for example, you have ordered table settings through your décor company, which staff will be clearing the dirty plates, cutlery, and glasses? Which staff will be responsible for rinsing them, washing them, and reloading them? This can be an area that is easily overlooked and you do not want to find yourself in the middle of your wedding with stacks of dirty dishes and no one accepting responsibility for them, or without critical serving components because one supplier thought the other was bringing them.

The same applies at your wed ding ceremony site if rental chairs are being brought in. Who will be setting them in place and packing them up for return delivery?