The Rental Circuit
Rich Curlis Rentals in Titusville has evolved with its owners. In 1977, Rich Curlis started his own business in the automotive industry. He built racing engines, shipping them all over the world. The racing industry took him on the road, where he attended events and trade shows. He would set up his own tent for his products.
He used that same tent to launch his events-rental business with wife Sharon Curlis in 1992 that catered to racing happenings on the local level. Twenty-six years later, Rich Curlis Rentals has gone beyond tents and racing to serving the Space Coast with premiere event-rental offerings.
Among the items available for rental are linens, dinnerware, chairs, tables, tents, concession items and more. They even offer “day-of” coordination services.
“Each and every day is a new adventure and offers new and exciting challenges from doing weddings with 10,000-plus lights to offering a chalet-style tent for a smaller venue. We are always looking for ways to expand our inventory and have lots of exciting news for future growth,” Rich Curlis said.
Sharon Curlis estimates that about 30 percent of their business comes from people planning destination weddings.
“We go all up and down the Brevard/Volusia/Orange/Seminole county coasts. We can do weddings on Disney properties, at the Port [Canaveral], Warbird Air Museum, and Kennedy Space Center,” she said.
“The beautiful weather and the attractions all make for perfect settings for a destination wedding.”
Patti Kohlmorgen of Cincinnati hired Rich Curlis Rentals for her son’s recent beach wedding, along with R&C Beach Weddings of Cocoa Beach. In addition to the usual rental items, her soon-to-be daughter-in-law had one special request: brown wooden chairs for the guest seating.
“She didn’t want the white plastic chairs that you typically see. The problem with wood, though, is they can’t get wet or they’ll be ruined,” Kohlmorgen said.
Rich Curlis had recently purchased new wooden chairs, but with a forecast of 100 percent chance of thunderstorms early on the wedding day, Kohlmorgen told the bride that she just may have to settle for white chairs.
“That was the least of our worries, really. We weren’t even sure we’d be able to have an outdoor wedding at all,” Kohlmorgen said. Just hours before the ceremony, the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared. Much to Kohlmorgen’s surprise, Rich and Sharon Curlis showed up with brown wooden chairs for setup, even though they’d all decided on white due to the forecast.
“They saw the weather had changed and made the decision to surprise us with brown chairs. I was elated. They were thinking about the happiness and satisfaction of a bride and family even if it was something as seemingly insignificant as brown chairs,” Kohlmorgen said. “ They stayed for the wedding and even took some pictures to share with us.”
Locals Matt and Zoey Molnar recently hired Rich Curlis Rentals to help plan their 1980s-inspired wedding that took place on the beach, followed by a reception at the Cocoa Beach Country Club’s outdoor pavilion.
“Sharon helped us plan all the unique details, like having a Boy George impersonator. When the forecast called for rain, they came and set up tents. We received over 200 compliments from guests,” said Matt Molnar, owner of Matts Bicycles in Cocoa Beach.
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