Exquisite Events Rental & Design

If you're interested in rentals for your wedding I would recommend you look elsewhere. They put on a great display at the Bridal fairs, like at the San Jose Convention center, but don't let that fool you. Here is a summary of our experience:

1. To begin with, it's very difficult to get a hold of anyone over the phone, especially on the weekend. We found the lady that apparently runs the show, Terry, to be rude and difficult to work with. On the initial conversations she was fine, but as our event got closer she became quite rude and abrupt (on at least 3 occasions), especially if we had any questions; she really didn't seem to want to answer any questions that we had and we were left wondering what was going to happen on the day of our event.

2. They were very clear about payment due dates, but vague about delivery, set-up, breakdown, and pick-up details, (see # 3). When we reserved our dance floor we were never asked or informed about set-up times or pickup times. It was only when we called to confirm the setup and pickup times that we were told about their time constraints.

3. There is a extra charge if their employees work past 4pm or on Sundays, but this was not something we were made aware of when initially making the booking. (We aren't sure about their weekday rental policy, but most people get married on a Saturday or Sunday so this would probably be a problem if your event is on a Saturday night (or Sunday)). In addition, we were only told about a week before our wedding that there would be a hefty extra charge to pick-up later that evening or the next day, (Sunday) . We couldn't leave the dance floor set up at our venue so we ended up having to breakdown the dance floor apart ourselves that evening.

4. We found the quality of their dance floor to be quite poor. There were damaged sections of the floor which were unsightly and unsafe. The dance floor was also quite slick and numerous people slipped on it and almost fell throughout the night (and it wasn't because of our shoes or any other reason-- it was clearly a very old/ heavily used dance floor covered in grime).

When you book chair covers, the dance floor, your linens, etc. you don't want to have to worry about dealing with difficult vendors. After all, you want to spend your attention and energy on each other!

I've used Williams Party Rentals before and LOVED them but they've recently changed their policies and the whole "you can't rent an equal number of coffee cups and saucers unless you order in multiples of 80" fiasco made me take my business elsewhere, which is how I ended up at Exquisite Party Rentals.

The pricing *seems* cheaper than Williams so I was happy I found them but then the hidden costs creep in and it ends up being about the same and since Williams has better, more confident-sounding customer service, I'd probably rather bite the bullet and succumb to their stupid policies so I know the party rental portion of my parties will go off without a hitch.

The Cons:

* If you rent round tables and umbrellas, the tables that Williams has have built-in umbrella support so you don't need to rent the stand. The tables at Exquisite do not have this handy feature so while the umbrellas themselves are cheaper, they actually work out to be more expensive when you include the stand.

* One of our umbrellas had a broken "arm" that had been sloppily taped back together. It was ugly and it didn't even give the arm the support it needed so we couldn't use that umbrella. The customer service I got when I called the next week and asked for the price of that umbrella to be refunded was unnecessarily pissy.

* Things may be slightly cheaper (or about the same) as Williams but Exquisite charges $50 for delivery. Williams has a $10 fuel surcharge or whatever it is, but otherwise delivery is free.

* Their showroom is only open during business hours (and on Saturdays by appt, I think) so it's difficult to get in there to make linen selections, but even during the work week it may or may not be open. Call ahead, for sure.

* They have someone answering the phones who answers questions whether or not she knows the answers to be correct. This bugs the crap out of me. If you don't know, just say you'll find out and get back to me! And when you do know, please sound confident about it so I can feel like I'm in good hands.

The Pros:

* UNLIKE Williams, you can rent things in any quantities. Like, if I need 37 wine glasses I can order 37 wine glasses. No forcing me to order 50.

* Other than the broken umbrella, everything was delivered on time and we didn't have any issues.

All in all, these guys are okay and I'd probably use them again but if Williams were to change their policies to be non-retarded, I'd go back in a flash.

I have to say that out of all my wedding vendors, Terri of Exquisite Rentals was the most impressive. She totally bent over backwards for me, brought samples and swatches to meet with my florist so that we didn't have to drive to her store, sewed table cloths and linens on short notice to get the color fabric that I wanted/needed, found and rented items from other stores and gave it to me a cost so that I didn't have to shop multiple rental stores for missing items, and so much more.

I am just amazed at all that she did to help make my wedding planning easier and at last minute too. Their items might not be the highest end, but it was perfect for what I needed on my budget.

I noticed that another reviewer said she was abrupt. I just want to explain that she can sound that way because she is running around for multiple weddings and is under a lot of pressure, but I feel that she is someone who does care about helping you with your wedding. She just might not be as charismatic, that's all.

Pros:
- Can meet by appointment
- Very good budget prices
- Can sew you what you need if you bring her the fabric you want. Amazing!

Cons:
- Not as fancy as the super expensive rentals
- Not as much selection

I bought a groupon deal they had a while back, just in time for a website launch bbq we were throwing. The staff was very helpful, and my equipment was delivered on time. No complaints. However, I think i was missing some linens that I thought i had requested. But i can't remember if it was me or them that forgot, as this was a summer shindig. But in terms of service and quality of equipment, can't complain.

I purchased a Groupon a few months back knowing that I had an event coming up that I need to rent items for. As soon as I requested a quote Jill replied and was very helpful through my indecisiveness and changes that I made up until the last week. All of the representatives including the drivers were very professional and helpful and I will definitely rent from them again.

I went to an event held for brides at Exquisite Events this past weekend and I have to say WOW I was thoroughly impressed by the venue choices, food, beverages and wealth of knowledge they provided brides with...I wold recommend to anyone planning a wedding to contact Exquisite events, they know what they are doing! If they are doing a SJ/ Bay area bridal tour I woudl say definitely do it!!

We drove several miles out of our way to use a Groupon that Exquisite Events had offerred. Michelle could not have been nicer and more helpful. She set a table for us to show us how the items we had chosen would actually look. Very often you only have small swatches of linens to look at to make your choice -- they had the whole deal. The custom linens that they had on display were fabulous -- like nothing I had ever seen. They actually have seamstresses on site to do whatever you want. Their selections of dishes and glasses was terrific as well.
I would absolutely suggest that it is worth the trip to their store if you are in need of party rentals.

Currently I have a wedding coming up in 2 months and I am not even sure if I have chairs for my wedding. They were able to accept payment without a problem, but when you call you can never leave a message. I haven't talked to anyone since I have paid. I called for days in a row and no one picked up. Now when I call it says that there phone is disconnected. I just sent them an e-mail and I will have to see how that goes, but if I were you I would go with someone else when it comes to renting items.

Exquisite Events made my daughter's bridal shower a huge success. Michelle was so easy to work with and helped us make great choices. She took her time and graciously went over color combinations that only a pro could come up with. We gave her our budget and she helped us pretty much stick to it. I was so impressed also with all the items you have available for rent. It's practically a one stop shop for parties!

Don't rent here.

Sandra and Sonny are rude and unprofessional. Went to Exquisite because of Groupons. They wouldn't honor my Groupon because I was sharing rentals with another person at the same venue who had the same Groupon which they *did* honor.

Sonny said they only honored the other party's Groupon as a mistake and had she known, she wouldn't have done it. She would only honor my coupons if she went back and charged the other party full price. A response like this from the owner of the business shows how little they value their customers.

I would have canceled my order but was stuck the day before my wedding and had to eat paying full price even though they acknowledged my Groupon purchase.

On a different occasion, I called to adjust my order and add setup instructions. Sandra promptly added the setup fees for my order, but did not take down any instructions on what setup was required. I had to follow up with them to make sure they had the proper instructions.

There are many other companies out there to rent furniture from. Had I reviewed Yelp first I would have seen the negative experiences from other customers and taken my business elsewhere. It is an expensive lesson learned.