Rent vs buy?

Personally, we're buying all of our decor and borrowing a few things from my FSIL. She got married in November and told us we could use her card box and centerpieces if we wanted so we did not have to buy them. We're 100% using her card box but still haven't decided on if we are going to use her centerpieces of if we're going to buy our own. We're made the choice to buy most of our decor items because, as you said, we will be able to tamper with them, or customize them if needed to make them exactly what we want.

Besides furniture and drapery, there was really no decor we found that was cheaper to rent than to buy. We signed up for email alerts from Hobby Lobby and Michael's early on so we could buy things slowly while they were on sale. It was also super easy to sell most of our decor.

It really depends on what you're trying to buy/rent. I'd never buy tables but I'd rent them. I would never rent linens but I'd buy them. Items like plates/cutlery can be tricky. Often times those come out to be cheaper to rent, but if someone breaks stuff then you could be out of pocket for it. We watched FB marketplace for a bit and found someone selling all of their vintage china they had collected for their wedding. It's beautiful and if we wind up not being able to resell it, that's okay. We can keep our favorite pieces to reuse for family dinners and have fond memories. The cost was better than renting, so if we are able to resell it, then we'll have come out better.

We've bought all of our decor for the wedding (besides some things the vendor supplied), and it's been fairly inexpensive because I've gotten most things from FB Marketplace, wedding resale groups, or sales at Hobby Lobby. The great thing about buying is that you can sell the stuff afterwards and recoup some of your money! That was the biggest selling point for me to decide to buy instead of rent.

It's nearly always more economical to rent decorations/glassware and linens. Unless you host large parties in your home/house of worship on a regular basis, buying is not the best option for many people. The time and stress of listing them for sale afterwards and completing the transactions always cancels out any potential discounts. I would never bank on getting any money back from selling since many want items as cheap as they can. Your time and sanity are much more valuable.

You have to add in your time/labor/sanity (at minimum wage times the hours spent) of setting up and tear down plus everything involved in sales (cleaning, taking photos, listing items, meeting with people, final transactions). Rental companies do all the steaming, setup/teardown through your day of coordinator, etc so that you can spend your time with your VIPs getting ready or heading out worry free.