If you think the devil is in the details, you’re not alone: Local events rental firm Eventide strongly agrees. For your special day, these folks want the décor, from bowers to umbrellas, to fit your vision. Whether it’s tables and chairs, linen, cutlery and glassware, service trays, or tents, the firm provides a range of choices on … well, everything.
Who knew there were nine kinds of ice troughs, more than three dozen varieties of platters (wood, ceramic, melamine, and metal), and 21 options for baskets? But Eventide’s objective isn’t to overwhelm you with choices—it’s to provide a wonderfully specific, curated setting for your occasion. The firm’s specialty is its customized wood pieces: bars, bowers, canopies, serving pieces and platters, and decorative items.
When it comes to custom bars, Eventide offers three customizable options. The Belmont features a semi-circular or circular bar, which can be adapted to your wedding’s look/color scheme with variations in color, panels, and countertop—and then accessorized with shelving, food displays, and umbrellas. The more casual Carleton is a two-server bar with more than 20 variations of front panels and countertops to fit your setting, as well as built-ins to provide everything the bartenders need. The rustic Avon features a striking restored wooden canoe with optional display stands, serving as the centerpiece for buffets of charcuterie, breakfast, or desserts.
Eventide was launched about two years ago, as a sister company of The Catering Outfit, a local boutique culinary design firm started in 1999 by executive chef Walter Slawski. While the rental firm started out handling wedding events, it’s starting to build a clientele in corporate events and private parties as well. Eventide just recently moved into a larger warehouse space, and now has a dozen employees.
Charlottesville native Sheri Scaminaci, Eventide’s rental director and warehouse manager, has “been here since the beginning,” she says. With a background that includes restaurants, catering, and carpentry, she would seem to have been custom designed for her job, which includes everything from consulting with planners, designers, and couples to going out on deliveries. And, her father runs the firm’s woodshop, designing and constructing many of its custom products.
Eventide’s current client mix is about 50 percent planners (they have worked with Hannah Rose Design, Day by Fay, Magnum Opus Events, and several others around town) and 50 percent individuals and their designers. “We’re always open to your ideas,” says Scaminaci.
While Eventide doesn’t do total wedding planning, its services are designed to mesh seamlessly with the logistics of your party. Luckily, Scaminaci’s background also includes volunteer firefighting—so she can handle just about anything. “Each event can get to be a lot of work,” she says, “but I love it.”