Why renting tableware makes sense: for events large and small

Renting tableware makes sense almost any time you have more guests than matching plates and glasses. You get a uniform table for one evening, you buy nothing you’ll have to store, and you don’t spend the end of the night washing up.

When you host at home, the food gets the attention, but the table is what makes the evening look finished. I’ve cooked in people’s homes around Helsinki since 2012, and I often see a carefully planned menu served on plates pulled from three different cupboards. Here is what renting gets you, when it helps most, and how I arrange it through my partner Jubilee.

Why rent instead of buying?

Because you would use what you buy once or twice a year. A proper table for twelve means plates for every course, several glasses per guest, cutlery and serving dishes. That is a lot to buy, and even more to find room for. Renting means you pay for the one evening you need it, and your cupboards stay as they were.

A uniform table that suits the food

When the plates, glasses and cutlery are one set, the table looks considered. Whether you are laying places for twelve or forty, everything matches and nothing is borrowed from the neighbours.

It also helps to plan the setting around the menu. With four or five courses, each one needs its own plate, and a granita served as a palate cleanser needs a small bowl or glass. If there is a different wine with each course, you need more glasses too. So count your tableware from the menu, course by course.

How much tableware do you actually need?

More than most people guess. Take ten guests and a typical dinner: a welcome from the kitchen, a starter, a palate cleanser, a main course and dessert. If every course comes on its own plate, that is already fifty plates or bowls. Add a water glass and two wine glasses per guest and you’re at thirty glasses. Cutlery is needed for every course as well, unless someone washes it in between.

Washing up mid-dinner is possible, but it eats time just when the courses should be arriving at a steady pace.

When is your own tableware enough?

If it’s a handful of guests and you have a matching set at home, there’s no need to rent. The same goes for a relaxed evening where food is shared from the middle of the table, like a Spanish tapas dinner, which needs fewer plates per person. In borderline cases, consider renting only what’s missing, such as wine glasses, and using your own for the rest.

No sourcing, no washing up

Renting removes the two worst parts of hosting. You don’t go round the shops hunting for tableware for a single evening, and you don’t stand at the sink until midnight afterwards. Everything goes back as it is. The end of the evening belongs to you and your guests.

More than just dishes

One place covers far more than plates and glasses. Tables and chairs, linens and candleholders, hot plates to keep food warm, ice for drinks, coffee equipment, even tents and heaters for a garden party. One order, one delivery, and the space is planned for you.

This is most useful when the event is somewhere that has nothing ready, like a garden or a hired venue. For bigger occasions such as weddings, graduations or company events, have a look at catering and the other event services as well, which include servers and a barista service.

Small dinners too

The benefit is obvious for a big party, but it holds for a small dinner as well. Few people own twelve matching wine glasses or a proper set of serving dishes. Renting gives you them for one night, and the table looks like you prepared for weeks.

Tableware for a private chef dinner

When you book a private chef at home, I bring the ingredients and specialist equipment, but tableware isn’t included in the price. If your own is enough, we use it. If it isn’t, I arrange tableware from Jubilee as part of the dinner.

I arrive about three hours before the guests and set the table myself, so you don’t have to work out which fork goes where. Once the menu is agreed, check your cupboards and tell me what you have. Then we decide together whether to rent everything, some of it, or nothing.

How it works through Umami

I arrange the tableware and any gear through my partner Jubilee, either as part of the dinner or separately for your own event. It is delivered, set and collected, so there is no logistics for you to manage.

Two things are worth knowing in advance. You can cancel free of charge up to seven days before the event. Broken or lost items are charged to the client at replacement price.

Common questions

Do I need to wash rented tableware before returning it?

No. Everything goes back as it is, which is a big part of why renting saves so much effort.

What happens if a glass or plate breaks?

Broken and lost items are paid for at replacement price. One broken glass won’t sink the order, but it will show on the invoice.

Can I rent tableware without booking a chef?

Yes. I can arrange tableware separately, for example for a party where the food comes from elsewhere or you cook it yourself.

Shall we plan the right setting for your event? Get in touch or see the other services.