With New Retail Space, Something Different Party Rental Is Helping Clients Who Want To Take A DIY Approach To Entertaining

When it comes to hosting an event, whether it’s an intimate dinner party in the home or a larger-scale event at an off-site location, there has been a trend toward hosts seeking to put their own personal stamp on the mood and motif of the function they’re putting on by doing much of the design themselves.

A carefully curated table setting is the ultimate expression of one’s tastes and penchant for design, but the DIY approach yields a better outcome with a little guidance.

That’s where Something Different Party Rental comes in.

Something Different Party Rental has been in the events game for nearly two decades. Seth Stern started the operation in 2005, and since then his company has been a go-to choice for supporting a wide range of event professionals, from caterers, planners and designers to venues and institutions hosting anything from an intimate dinner party to large-scale charitable galas.

Last year, SDPR opened its event shop, a new retail space at 145 Main Street, near Catena’s, in Southampton Village. According to Stern, the shop has been a way to expand what SDPR can do, showcase what the company has available and what it’s capable of in terms of design and party rentals for its clients.

“The retail store was a branding opportunity, and we’re able to sell inventory,” Stern said. “Rentals are, historically, the last thing picked out and paid for, but are one of the most important parts of the special events industry.”

Stern said that the retail store serves as the “home base” for SDPR’s rental operation on the East End, and positions the company as “a consumer-facing lifestyle brand,” helping to “engage with whoever the consumer is and help them, effectively, do it themselves.”

“It’s sort of a reversal of the business model,” Stern explained. “In the past, rental companies would be dealing exclusively with the caterers. We put ourselves in a position where we can help consumers navigate the special event world using our network.”

Stern said that while rentals remain “the backbone” of his business, the retail offering has made the company more diverse, something he realized would be key during the pandemic, when the events industry was hit hard. The retail end of the operation creates more options for both Stern and his clients.

“We’re there to help as little or as much as someone needs,” he said.

SDPR’s retail store, which Stern describes as “an upscale Party City,” is a place where a party host, personal chef or house manager can go for ideas and inspiration when planning an event with a DIY approach, and can receive expertise and guidance from Stern and his team of professionals.

“It’s like a laboratory in a lot of ways,” Stern said. “We carry high-end Italian glassware, cool barware, fine china, pottery, and it’s offered at a very good price.”

The SDPR warehouse also has space that’s geared toward caterers and event professionals, what Stern calls a “fully functioning creativity lab.”

“If a caterer needs a place to have a tasting, or if a florist needs a production place, it’s really a multi-function workspace for event professionals,” Stern said, adding that the third component of the business warehouse is an area set aside for retail back stock and rentals.

While caterers and other event professionals have their own systems in place, Stern has a few tips and pointers for clients interested in the DIY approach, specifically when it comes to table settings.

“In terms of the tabletop, I think of it as a blank canvas,” he said. “Everyone sees it differently. Designing a table is a very interactive process.”

When he’s working with a client to design a tabletop, Stern said the first element that’s key is having a discussion about the event itself. “We’ll talk about what is the goal for the party,” he said. “Is it a dinner party, or gala or a bar mitzvah, wedding, quinceañera. Who’s it for? What guests will be there?”

Stern uses certain guiding principles when helping clients put together a tabletop for an event, and said that while he has his own personal design preferences, his top priority is helping his clients get what they want. “I can have a strong opinion, but I choose to be part of the process of developing someone else’s vision,” he said. “We want to empower our clients to be able to express themselves through events, and we help them do that.”

Stern has seen many trends come and go, and sometimes come back again, from a focus on neutral colors, to the farm table/rustic look, to an industrial/mid-century kind of aesthetic. He said he loves vibrant pops of color, which is big this season, although he added that many customers are still interested in “simple, earthy, organic” looks, often with a lot of succulents.

Certain schools of thought encourage having a focal point on the table, one that is neutral in color, and many designers suggest using white plates to better highlight the food, and then placing that plate on top of a multi-colored piece of pottery or stoneware, or another kind of charger plate, or place mats.

When it comes to specific rules about cutlery and glassware placement, Stern said he doesn’t get too wrapped up in those specifics.

He added that for outdoor dining events, lighting is a crucial element, saying that lanterns can be incredibly effective at events for creating the right kind of mood and atmosphere.

Whether a client is planning an intimate outdoor dinner or a full-blown party, Stern says that SDPR can accommodate their needs.

“Because we have such an expansive inventory, we can make 95 percent of a client’s vision come to life,” he said, adding that hewing to any kind of traditional rules around table setting isn’t necessary in this day and age.

“It’s such a personal preference,” he said. “There’s no real right or wrong.”