If you’re wondering where to go for great Minneapolis wedding decor rental for the big day – we got you! We had a chat with Audra from Festivities Event Rental, Decor, and Florals to get all your wedding decor questions answered.

Meet Audra

“Everybody has a story and you want your wedding to speak for who you are!”

Audra’s favorite part of her job as one of Festivities’ design team members is getting to know you, the couple. She shared it’s one of her big joys learning all about her clients, their style and particular interests, what set them apart and makes their wedding unique. She loves getting their designs finished just right, hearing about how the day goes, and seeing wedding pictures afterwards!

Q1: What should we expect when working with Festivities Event Staff?

Excellent question! Festivities is staffed with a team of professionals from many different event-planning or coordinating backgrounds, and with a wealth of wedding experience. The team also includes in-house florists to bring to life your floral designs from start to finish.

The process begins with an in-person consultation in their beautiful space where the team’s main goal is to get to know you, your style, and your event needs, and help start up your personal vision board. Then over the coming months, you’ll work with their awesome crew to narrow your designs and bring them to life via in-person meetings, mock ups, and vision board creations.

A member of their team is available 24/7 for emergencies, and you will work with a Crew Captain – your go-to – both in the planning process and on the day of your event, or to work with your day of wedding decor coordinator (Curious about day of wedding coordination? We’ve got a blog for that!)

Q2: What kinds of services and wedding decor does Festivities offer?

Festivities offers everything from basic and specialty tables, chairs, linens, and decorations to games, backdrops, tenting, flooring, custom designs, branding logos, and florals. They are full-service wedding decor planners, designers, and florists, and also offer options to deliver and pick up decor.

Q3: Anything we should know before our in-person consult?

It’s a good idea to come in with wedding decor priorities in mind – are you dedicated to florals or is perfect lighting your thing? This can really help with budgeting and prioritizing your design plan.

Consider your budget ahead of time too, and come in open-minded to new solutions in order to get your look at the best price for you.

It pays to be prepared, but don’t stress if you don’t have it all figured out! You’ll be meeting with a team of professionals there to help you every step of the way!

Q4: Where do we start with pricing, availability, and deposits?

The best place to start is with Festivities’ website. Give their awesome event staff a call to discuss your date and preliminary details, that way they can give you information around pricing and availability specific to your needs.

After that, you’ll get to set up an in-person consult! These consults are great opportunities for you and the team to get to know each other, talk budget, and start a vision board. It’s also a chance to see some of your wild ideas (and Pinterest boards) translated into tangible and practical sample designs!

You will also receive access to catalogs and price sheets for all their rentables. Festivities requires a 50% deposit due on signing, with the remaining total due two weeks before your event, and you can decrease your concept by up to 20% until two weeks prior to your event.

Q5: What is included in our order for fees and delivery?

Festivities customizes your order based on your specific needs.

If you’d like Festivities to deliver (and pick up) your order at the venue, that’s definitely an option for an additional fee. The bonus for this option? You don’t have to stress about your wedding decor arriving on-time or getting back to the vendor! Just keep in mind that the delivery option requires a minimum product rental.

If you’d rather pick up and drop off your wedding decor items yourself, you are more than welcome to for no additional fee. Plus, there is no daily rental charge, so you can pick up your rental items on Thursday or Friday, and return them on Monday, for no additional cost!

Q6: Does Festivities offer packages or package deals?

Festivities does not offer regular packages or off-season discounts. However, they do hold various promotions throughout the year, and they also partner with a lot of venues who may offer packages with them as part of your booking. In some cases, they may also offer discounts depending on the size and type of décor and floral rental. Feel free to discuss your options with their team!

Q7: Can Festivities accommodate high-capacity orders?

Festivities has a large inventory with the goal of meeting all their clients’ needs, including high-capacity orders. Plus, their team comes with lots of wedding decor experience and can get creative when necessary!

Q8: Does Festivities service include site diagramming?

This is a really great question. It depends! Typically, the venue will provide a site diagram, and Festivities will draw and plan within that diagram to help you visualize your space.

If you’re using a Festivities tent for your wedding, then Festivities will create the tenting diagram using 3-D designs to ensure all the décor elements are planned just the way you want them!

Q9: Awesome! Let’s talk fun stuff – what’s a vision board??

Great question! Festivities creates a unique online vision board for each client they work with. This board includes images from previous Festivities creations and images pulled from Pinterest or other design inspirations.

The goal of a vision board is to help create a visual idea of your style and preferences during the design process, and offers the flexibility for evolution and change.

Plus, you’ll have access to your online vision board during the whole planning process! You’ll receive a link to it with your consultation quote.

Q10: What’s the biggest bang for our buck?

Specialty linens and thoughtful lighting can really define your space when you’re looking to get the most out of your money. This is especially true for your head table, where most of the attention will be drawn. What makes a linen special? Color, texture, design – subtle or bold – whatever says you!

Audra also shared her personal favorite approach to accenting a space – utilizing beautiful floral statement pieces and mixing with candles and other subtle lighting options as guests will really remember those iconic settings.

Q11: Are there any timeless wedding decor items?

Candlelight! Nothing sets the mood like candlelight, and it’s a great compliment to beautiful floral. Audra also suggests candelabras, a versatile piece that can be modernized or classically-emphasized with florals.

Q12: Speaking of florals…tell me everything!

We’re glad you asked! The Festivities team loves florals and has their own in-house florists and floral teams to make sure you are getting the best designs and freshest flowers!
Florals can be THE key piece to wedding decor – not just on your tables, but in your ceremony, in your bouquets and boutonnieres. When your event team builds your design, they are often building it off your floral selections and working directly with your team florist right there on-site.
This means florals get a lot of well-deserved attention!

Q13: Can I get any flower all year?

Short answer? Yes – for a price, and pricing depends on the season. That being said, Festivities’ professional staff can also assist you in finding more affordable, in-season options that compliment your design!
There’s a lot that goes into flower selection – design, seasonality, durability, role (bouquet? table setting? corsage?), weather (flowers best for cold or hot weather?) – and Festivities considers all of these factors when putting together designs.
Their goal is to create florals that are right for you stylistically and practically.

Q14: Are we able to get substitutions for certain florals?

Absolutely! Festivities has a wide range of floral options to get your design just right. Plus, they work with really great growers to make perfect emergency substitutions near your event date if needed.

Q15: What are some things to keep in mind for florals?

There really is a wide range of flowers out there – for every style and budget, and some that might surprise you!
When you’re budgeting, it’s a good rule of thumb to plan for 15-20% to go toward florals.
It helps to talk through your interests with your event team and to bring in some general ideas of what you love, so the team can help you narrow it down.
Be open to substitutions – you can get the look you want with many different florals, and you never know what you might fall in love with!