While buying wedding linens direct is quite prevalent in the United States, finding good quality, seamless wedding linens wholesale in Canada can be a more time consuming and difficult task. One of the questions that we often get asked is where to buy wedding linens direct in Canada. Besides National Event Supply (who as you may or may not know just introduced a new line of polyester linens and spandex linens), here are 4 companies you can purchase wedding linens direct from:

1. LinenTablecloth

While they are based in the United States, LinenTablecloth has a Canadian ecommerce site that allows event venues and others purchasing tablecloths to buy wedding linens direct from their website. Shipping is out of Memphis, Tennessee and they will pay brokerage and duties associated with linens crossing the United States/Canada border (often a surprise cost associated with shipping linens from the US).

2. EventDecorDirect

Again based in the United States with a Canadian Location, EventDecorDirect stocks fancy table skirts, chair covers, and stretch cocktail table covers.

3. Tricific

Based in Markham, Ontario with a secondary location in Quebec, Tricific has been around since 1967 supplying restaurants, hotels, banquet halls and party rental companies with table linens, table skirting and cloth napkins.

4. Canadian Hotel Supply

With several American locations, Canadian Hotel Supply is owned by American Hotel Register co, and co-leases warehouse space in Toronto and Vancouver to offer hotels, restaurants and other companies with table linens and other foodservice supplies.

So there are 4 companies to consider if you’re getting quotes or pricing for your restaurant, party rental event venue or hotel. The key to a great experience with purchasing wedding linens direct is:

• The durability of the product
• The value of the product
• The quality of the product

Hopefully, in your case, your experience with wedding linens will be an exceptional one.

While our primary target market has traditionally been selling wholesale event equipment such as dinnerware, flatware, folding tables & folding chairs to the party rental industry, we just recently introduced a new line of event linens that we’ve been told are a great value to help make sure your budget is spent on the wow factor.

Plastic folding chairs are a great addition to any venue that holds events as well as being a great inventory item for party rental companies to stock. There is quite a difference in price that exists in plastic folding chairs in Canada. Note that this blog post examines commercial quality plastic folding chairs that have been stress tested for high wear and tear industries such as party rental. This blog post will attempt to clarify why the price variations exist and what to look for high quality plastic folding chairs in Vancouver, plastic folding chairs in Alberta and anywhere in Canada for that matter.

Cost of Plastic Folding Chairs in Canada:

Plastic Folding Chairs come in a wide variety of colours including in a black plastic folding chair and a white plastic folding chair. Traditional plastic folding chairs are the least expensive of the plastic event chairs. This is mainly due to the fact that the cost of materials and production for a plastic folding chair is cheaper. There are numerous pricing components when purchasing wedding white plastic folding chairs that influence the cost – the materials being used in the plastic folding chair frame and whether the chair is sold on volume discount levels or at a set price. The average plastic folding chair will cost $12.49 to $19.59 CDN, depending on the quality of the chair, the type of plastic and metal used and how strong / durable the chair is. Plastic folding chairs can hold between 400 – 800lbs. Typically, with all types of plastic folding chairs, the larger volume of chair you buy, the lower the cost of each chair.

Shipping costs of Plastic Folding Chairs:

The shipping costs of these chairs usually run $1.50 – 8.50 per chair depending on the size of the order (shipping costs tend to decrease based on volume), where it is shipping from and where it is shipping to. The shipping costs do not vary based on the type of chair purchased but solely on volume, weight and shipping location. Nationally based event suppliers will have multiple warehouses across the country to provide better shipping rates coast to coast.

With any company dealing in the event industry – whether it be catering, banquet halls, golf courses, restaurants wanting highboy bar tables, hotels with meeting space or party rental companies – when you buy cocktail tables for standing receptions you want to ensure you’re picking the right table for your company. You want to be able to meet your guests’ reception needs while ensuring your inventory / material costs for the tables don’t affect your bottom line. Add in any breakage or future wear and tear, potential stacking or transporting issues and it can be a bit overwhelming.

This article presents an easy to view list of the pros and cons of cocktail tables vs. cruiser tables.

Cocktail Tables:

• Plastic table tops in round shape only
• Cocktail table tops available in 31.5" or 32"
• Tops are 1 1/4" (folding pedestal table) or 1 3/4" thick (folding cocktail table)
• Cocktail tables available in 30" height (table height) or 43" height (bar height)
• The folding cocktail table has no assembly required & the folding pedestal table ships top off, with minimal assembly (no tools required)
• No parts available for purchase – requiring new table to be purchased
• Table feet do not allow leveling on uneven ground
• Minimal set up time if labour time is a priority to your business
• To buy cocktail tables, average cost ranges between $59.95 - $89.95 CDN (shipping & taxes extra)

Cruiser Tables:

• Wood table tops in either square or round shapes
• Square & Round tops available in 24", 30", 36"
• Tops are 3/4" thick
• Cruiser tables available in 30" height (table height) or 42.5" height (bar height)
• Assembly required as all parts of a cruiser table are sold separately (screwdriver required)
• Because pieces are sold separately, new parts can be purchased if lost or damaged
• Screw-on feet allowing leveling of table on uneven ground
• More time required for set up due to separate parts and leveling
• To buy cruiser tables, average cost ranges between $64.95 – $79.95 CDN (all parts included – shipping & taxes extra)

We can’t honestly say that cruiser tables are better than cocktail tables or vice versa. We wouldn’t sell both if one was a more superior a product. We like to lay out the pros and cons of similar products and let our customers or potential customers decide what makes sense for their business needs. Hopefully this blog post gives you food for thought in determining the best tables for your standing receptions.

A while back we wrote a post discussing the differences that existed between wood Chiavari chairs vs. resin Chiavari chairs. We did this to shed light on the pros and cons of each product so buyer’s interested in purchasing Chiavari chairs could have an understanding of what they’re purchasing. This blog post discusses the difference between aluminum Chiavari chairs versus resin Chiavari chairs in a list format.

Aluminum Chiavari Chairs:

• Lightweight chairs – generally less than 10lbs per chair
• Seams may be spot welded instead of fully welded
• 1.5mm thickness and hollow
• Because of the softness of the metal, seats tend to feature permanent cushions with fixed plywood base to avoid seat damage
• Metal material shows scratches with bare metal
• Water can cause damage to finish
• Often, only 1 horizontal chair rail instead of the traditional 2 horizontal chair rails
• 1 horizontal chair rail instead of 2 allows aluminum chair to stack easier
• Aluminum is a softer metal which can subject the chair to more give
• Aluminum can be (not in all cases) a more expensive metal

Resin Chiavari Chairs:

• Chairs weigh 13lbs each
• 4mm thick resin and 1mm thick hollow steel frame support
• Seams are virtually invisible
• Resin is a similar colour to the chair coating colour and as such does not show scratches as easily as wood or aluminum (i.e. gold high gloss finish when scratched would show a gold toned core)
• Solid resin seat allowing for easy change out of cushions
• Resin material less likely to succumb to water damage
• 2 horizontal chair rails similar to the traditional Chiavari chair look
• Resin Chiavari chairs can hold over 1000lbs making them an extremely strong chair

There is obviously a business case that can be made for buying each type of Chiavari chair – aluminum Chiavari chairs can take up less space if storage space is an issue and they’re lighter to move and stack. Resin Chiavari chairs hold up better to scratches, water and have a more traditional look to the classic wood chiavari chair with better stability and durability. Until we find a supplier we are happy with, we don’t plan on selling aluminum Chiavari chairs. The manufacturers we’ve investigated were too shoddy with their quality control or the look of the chair was too far gone from the traditional wood Chiavari chair and we just couldn’t stand behind the product.

If you’re considering purchasing glassware or crystal – whether it be wholesale or retail pricing – and you’ve done research on the web or experienced firsthand some of the problems associated with glassware in commercial environments such as restaurants, caterers or party rental companies.

The 4 most common problems associated with wholesale glassware:

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Problem #1: Stems breaking or popping off the bowls

With stems breaking or popping off the bowls of the wine glass this tends to occur when the crystal stemware is being transferred to different locations – even with proper glassware racks. Generally the bumps in the road cause the wine glass bowls to separate from the stem of the glass. There’s unfortunately little that can be done to fix this if you see high rates of this happening other than buying better quality glassware. At National Event Supply, in the 2 years that we have been selling stemware, we have only heard of one party rental customer instance where 24 of their 1000 champagne flute bowls popped off the stems – and we offered to replace them free of charge on their next order.

Problem #2: Breakage Rates

It’s unfortunately the nature of the glass business. Glass is a notoriously breakable material and even with proper care and careful transportation breakage occurs. Are you aware of your breakage rates? Because of its delicate nature it makes fiscal sense to be keeping track of your breakage rates. We managed to win over a restaurant in Toronto who was averaging a breakage rate of 3 glasses per day with a higher priced glassware provider. They’re now paying 25% less per glass and so far our glasses are performing admirably.

Problem #3: Wine Glass Stems or Bowls not uniform

There are two different kinds of glassware existing on the market: handmade and machine made glassware. Machine made glass means that the molten hot glass is blown into a mold all by machine ensuring consistency of shape while retaining a steady quality. It is a much faster process and allows better affordability in the glasses produced. Handmade glass is mouth blown and molded by slowly nudging, stretching and rolling the blown glass into shape. Because of the time consuming nature of this process and how skilled the artisans must be to produce this glass, handmade glass tends to have a higher price point. Also, because it is made by an artisan, consistency – while strived for – is lacked where shape is concerned. If you have a detail discerning bride who strives for uniformity, a machine made glass will be your best bet for ensuring the quality and consistency of shape is there for her. National Event Supply only stocks machine made glassware & crystal because we want to ensure we can promise our customers a quality made, consistent product.

Problem #4: Glass or Crystal Containing Lead

Per one of our earlier blog posts on the top questions asked about crystal and glass stemware: Lead crystal has been the primary form of crystal glassware since its inception. With the recent awareness and movement away from BPA due to health concerns, there has been debate on the use of lead in crystal. It is advised that you should not use lead crystal containers to store beverages for periods of time longer than a day. As per Riedel's website, assuming that "worldwide legal standards are met and also surpassed", there are no issues or concerns with using lead crystal on a daily basis. The lead addition to the crystal and glass is supposed to add sparkle, give more weight to the stemware, and increase its durability. That being said (and we’re a little biased if truth be told) our crystal stemware sparkles just like a Twilight vampire in the sunshine. If you’re still not 100% sure lead crystal is the right move for your company, National Event Supply only stocks lead-free crystal glasses.