So today, I was out doing wedding stuff with a friend and fellow bride and she mentioned making her tablecloths herself. Her mom is a seamstress so she plans to purchase the fabric and have her mom run a seam along the edge.
Of course, I decided I might be able to do the same thing. My sister sews so she and I went to look for fabric possibilities. First we went to Jo-Ann. Of the few fabrics we liked, they all started at $13/yard. No thank you.
Then we went to this fabric place my sister knew about, Fabric Warehouse, where all their fabrics are $3.49/yd. We found a few ivory satins that we liked but after checking the width on it, turns out nothing we bought would be wide enough to cover our 72″ tables without a seam. And I don’t want a seam. Plus, at 3.49/yard and knowing that we’d need about 4 yards per table, with 20 tables, the fabric was going to total around $300.
At that rate, we’d be better off renting. We know they’ll be seamless and the measurments will be right and we won’t have to figure out what to do with them after the fact.
I did a quick check on some places that rent linen in my area and it looks like the going rate is anywhere from $13-$35 for the fabrics I like. This mess adds up. For the cheapest fabric (bleh), this comes close to $300 after taxes and installation.
Right now, I don’t know what to do. Our venue doesn’t supply linens and the chairs are fugly. That means an added expense for linens and chairs/chair covers no matter how you cut it.
Suggestions? Anyone? Bueller?
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7 Comments so far
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Satin flat sheets. Little sewing and no one will know the difference.
By Ursula on 04.11.09 11:32 pm | Permalink
You buy, you sell. Buying allows you to recoup some of the cost on the back end by selling your items on wedding exchange sites or Ebay. I wish I would have realized how expensive it was to rent tablecloths further out from my wedding…I probably would have attempted to make them myself.
By Dayna on 04.13.09 1:01 pm | Permalink
Hey,
I have been following your wonderful blog forever and I am finally engaged. We will be getting married in August at our church home and our reception hall is also fugly. Fortunately, I found an excellent chair and linen company called Unique Chair Covers and Linens and her fancy ones are only 10 bucks and regular linens are only 6 bucks. Chair covers are only 1.50 with sashes included, satin or organza! She is great!! http://uniquechaircovers.com/gallery.html
- Al (from Bates)
By Alicia on 04.13.09 3:49 pm | Permalink
@Alicia – Thank you so much! I just called them and left a message. My fingers are crossed.
By Ms. 12k on 04.13.09 6:49 pm | Permalink
If all you’re looking for is white, you should try e-bay.
An unsolicited thought about chair covers…I think my chairs are ugly. I wanted chair covers, but it was out of my budget even at $1.50 a piece. I realized that I am the only person who cares about the chairs. As long as the food is good no one will complain.
By Vilija on 04.15.09 11:37 pm | Permalink
As far as the width of the fabric and the seaming issues, not sure how it would work and look logistically but what about using two different fabrics? Ivory and say, an accent color? The seam would then serve a function.
By Anonymous on 04.19.09 3:02 pm | Permalink
eBay girl! they sell many tableclothes in Lots. Or the bedsheets idea might work too.
By steph on 06.16.09 12:32 pm | Permalink
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