How to Transform an Event Space
Here at Plato Catering Hire, we love events, and since 1999 we’ve enjoyed playing a vital role in thousands of them. We get to meet all sorts of other companies in the event industry, and we love sharing trade tips and tricks.
Take event space decor for example. Much of our work as a catering equipment hire company happens before the event starts, so we get to see some amazing venue transformations. It’s fantastic how the event space decor can magically make a venue look amazing.
We’ve delivered to village halls that look stunningly beautiful and marquees that would look at home on the pages of stylish wedding magazines. As we’re sure you know, it’s all in the detail. So much can be done with a venue and, although some can be left with their own character showing through, some venues benefit from personalisation.
Here are some tips we’ve picked up from talking to lots of wonderful people in events over the years, and ways we can help your event go off without a hitch. If we miss anything you’ve learnt, be sure to share it!
Before you hire any catering equipment or decorations, establish an event theme.
Forgive us, we’re stating the obvious here, but before you can organise any decorations or hire and catering equipment, you need to pick the theme of your event!
When we’ve spoken to event organisers, they’ve all said that having a strong theme throughout is the easiest way to tie an event together. From the initial invitation to the table decorations, a theme will drive the way the event looks and feels. It doesn’t have to be obvious and garish – try subtle details if that’s more your client’s style. In the end, you need to make sure your event matches your goals.
Got your theme? Great, here are some great ways to play it out…
Catering equipment hire
An essential part of your event is ensuring you have the right catering equipment throughout. Even the items used to eat and drink can be matched to the venue and theme.
All sorts of items can be hired such as:
Crockery Hire – plates, bowls, and more.
Glass Hire – from champagne flutes to whiskey tumblers.
Cutlery Hire – spoons, knives, forks, and even cake knives.
Kitchen Hire – cooking equipment like fryers and ovens.
There are a lot of options when it comes to crockery hire and we’ve covered them in detail in our crockery checklist blog here.
It’s also very important to make sure there’s enough plates, glasses, knives and forks for all the guests! Do a headcount and don’t forget to consider extra guests, table layouts, and things like receptions and toasts where you’ll require different types of drinking glasses which will add to your total number needed.
When hiring equipment from Plato, you can be safe in the knowledge that any electrical equipment is PAT tested before it’s hired out. Plato is also a member of the SafeHire Certification Scheme, which means we have a proven competence in safety, health, environment, and quality. This ensures you’ll receive the highest possible quality of service and catering equipment hire.
Lighting
Lighting is very important for a venue. Remember that event in a sports club or hall and the event organiser had to try to make do with the harsh overhead strip lights? It was a bit much and played havoc with the event photography!
Lighting from up-lights, especially when combined with drapes and curtains, can make a huge difference to a room. Lights that follow the colour theme and light-up features of the room are something even the biggest monuments and tourist attractions do. Nearby Warwick Castle is beautifully lit up at night, for example. They also include fire torches at the side of the path to guide the guests to where they’re going as part of the medieval banquets.
Some other ideas are illuminated table displays, battery-operated decorative candles, shaped lights, letter lights, LED furniture, chandeliers, mirror balls, and tea lights – the list is endless. Planning a corporate event? You can even project your client’s brand or logo on the floor or ceiling!
Fairy lights
If the budget doesn’t stretch to a full-on feature light show, then something simpler might just be the way to go. Fairly lights are a marvel for this and very on theme if you’re hosting a garden party, masquerade dance or gala!
Covering a wall or even just some pillars or beams will add a wow factor and either a focal point or some background sparkle to hide a dull concrete wall or unsightly section of the room. Net lights are also popular for walls or to make fencing that bit more pretty. Places like Argos and Wilko offer inexpensive fairy lights that can be given to the client to keep after the event and use in their home as a keepsake.
Drapes
If you’re planning a wedding reception in a barn, then the walls or beams are probably part of the charm and should be on show. Working with a local village hall? You could do a lot with those walls by covering them. The event space decor will heavily depend on, you guessed it, the event space!
Drapes can completely change the space and often make the room feel bigger and more extravagant. Although not the cheapest option, if your client is saving on venue hire with a favourable village hall rate, then suggest spending some of the budget on elegant and flowing ‘walls’ that will create a stunning effect from floor to ceiling. A quick Google search will help you find some local drapes suppliers to the venue.
Bunting
Struggling to convince your client that drapes are worth the cost? Bunting can be very effective, especially if they’ve gone for the country chic feel. Anyone in the event industry will tell you that bunting is a common sight at events and the added dash of colour can transform a space with the floating features catching the eye and giving the venue a friendly feel. You can buy bunting on eBay or Amazon, make it yourself, or hire it. It’s a simple way to improve the event space decor with a smaller budget.
Carpet
Having worked in marquees for such a long time we’re aware of the power of carpet. Most marquees have a wooden floor put down and then carpet added to cover it. It changes the style of the room right away and can be done in any room. It’s easy to forget about flooring when thinking about event space decor, that’s what we’re here for!
The carpet is single use as it’s not hard-wearing or stain resistant and it’s therefore cheap. Covering the concrete floor of your village all and adding in some red carpet for extra measures will create a different feeling and remove some of the echoey acoustics. And if you’re throwing it away, no worries about stains!
Table decorations
What is put into the room makes a big difference, too. The tables will often be the biggest component of a room. Guests will spend more time there, so it makes a lot of sense to have these well-decorated and in line with the theme. On a practical note, hiring table number holders can help people navigate to their seats more easily while saving you, and the client, the upfront cost of buying them outright just for one event.
Table decorations like centrepieces, especially with height, will give the theme, event, and event space lots of colour, statement, and even added mood lighting if going for lit options. Details are so important when it comes to event space decor, and they don’t have to be grand! Tea lights, fairy lights, tall flowers, illuminated stars – we’ve seen some amazing creations. Here are some ideas from our friends at Table Art to get you started!
As well as decorations, tables themselves can be used to enhance the event space decor by creating different ‘areas’. For example, a collection of a few tall poseur tables grouped together will naturally create an area for people to chat and mingle. Guests would appreciate them even more if you’re serving canapes – no juggling a glass, canape, and phone!
Furniture hire
Events clearly need chairs – and enough of them. Hiring chairs for the event is a core part of the event organisation. Really want to add some style? Chair covers could be it. Covering the chairs isn’t just about hiding the chairs from sight. Most chairs for hire are very presentable and many are stylish on their own. It’s more about the flowing curves and dressed nature that chair covers add.
Chair covers that match the table linen and cloth can also make a big impact. Although this can be seen as a grand spend on top of the other event hire items, chair linen hire can make a really big difference to the look and feel of an event space. Of course, matching the chair covers will help to bring the whole room together for a polished look and feel.
At Plato Catering Equipment Hire, we offer chair covers to suit most themes, in white, ivory, or black!
Linen hire
As mentioned above, matching the tablecloth with the chair covers and linen completes the look! Completing the set with well-placed napkins and matching cloth really can make or break an event’s theme.
We have over 30 options to choose from for your event space decor needs because we keep being asked for more colours! The linen hire includes any (or all) of the following:
Napkins.
Chair covers.
Chair sashes.
Waiting cloths.
Do you need to hire catering equipment for your event or would you like some tailored advice? Contact our friendly team today to find out how we can help!
