I had this idea the other day to purchase some pretty antique cake stands and matching dishes for little bouquets on the cake table or cake top, and rent them out to brides. Has anyone done anything similar to this? What was your experience? Was it something that brides were interested in? Did you have problems with people breaking/chipping them? I'd love to hear from someone with an opinion on this!
I wouldn't be buying them for my own personal use/collection, so I'm not as worried about whether or not I could replace them with an exact copy. I am mostly interested in finding out if anyone else has done anything like this and if it was something that people were likely to purchase.
I have a stands and fountains that I rent. I charge them the cost of the item up front as a deposit. Then when it's returned (with in 3 days of the wedding) they get everything except $25.00 (the rental fee) back. For every day it's late I charge them $15.00. Most couples don't have a problem with this because they don't want to buy something for only one use, and they'll make sure someone returns it so they aren't buying it by default! I haven't had any problems with breakage, etc so far (knock on wood)
HTH
I do this a lot too, it adds about $100-$150 a month to my sales. I'll even rent them to clients who aren't using me for their cake or cupcakes.
Check out the photo below! Some stands are $2 finds from garage sales, some from eBay, newspaper ads, bridal chat sites that are selling items. These are great investments if you want to add revenue. You can rent them out over and over and over again. I give them a good cleaning before and after rentals and touch up scratches every so often with fresh coats of paint, but that's all really. They are good to go!
After searching all over locally for companies that rent stands, I was so surprised at the lack of choice out there! I bought a few ordinary stands, then larger ones, coloured ones, silver plateaus and an assortment of cupcake stands. I rent small stands for $15 and up. The cupcake displays are $40.
3 things I'd advise:
only rent to clients who have signed a Rental Contract making them liable for damage & loss
AND get the full information/phone number of the person who will be returning the equipment to you by a specific day and time.
AND clients should pay for it's rental and for your time if you are going to deliver and/or retrieve it from their venue. Be prepared for venues to be closed the next day, nobody knows where it is or who took it home, did it have your name/phone number on it?...happens a LOT. Make sure all those details are decided with the couple before the wedding. Their mind isn't on your stand when they are flying to Hawaii, let me tell you! 
(I don't actually ask for a deposit or payment beforehand. I get payment upon it's return so that I may inspect it quickly first. If the money transaction happens before any damage or loss, I'm afraid the item may be left on my doorstep....happened once and never again!)
I rent mine out too. I require a deposit that I know would pretty much cover me if something were not returned and then I'll give them 50% back if they bring it back in good condidtion and by a certain date. Antonia is right, make sure they sign a contract and agreement on the return and deposit.
Thanks so much! That is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Helen, your cake stand collection is fantastic! WoHooo! *Another* excuse to go garage saling!! 
You can find really inexpensive ones at Winner's and home stores too. They have great colourful ones for $30 and less here. Just make sure to get larger ones that can be used to hold wedding-sized cakes if that's what you will rent them for. 12" and up are harder to find, but better to own.
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