Part 2 of Helen Lowe’s event furniture insights
People always say that you ‘just know’ when you find the perfect wedding dress (or suit, possibly), and I have to say I have always felt exactly the same when it comes to dressing a room for an event.
I mean, is there anything more exciting than finding just the right furniture to complement a theme – ensuring that the flow is just so, that the colours are on point, and that the general atmosphere is ‘knock me over with a feather-esque’? I don’t think so!
And once you’ve got all of that sorted, what could possibly go wrong?! Umm, let’s think about that, shall we?
So… you’ve chosen the venue, finalised the guest list and decided on just the right kind of food and drink for your upcoming ‘do’. You’ve got a vision in your mind that this event is going to be the event to top all events ever and nothing – not event Brexit – is going to stand in your way.
Then, mid bus ride home, or in the shower, or whilst waiting for a coffee at your favourite little café, it hits you… “How on earth am I going to make this a reality?!”
Well, Event Profs, stick with me and you might find that things are about to get quite interesting…
For arguments sake, and for the purpose of this article, let’s just say you’ve gone for an industrial theme with a pop of colour (all the rage this year, didn’t you know), you’ve got 200 guests RSVP’d and less than 24 hours to transform the location of your choice from empty field to sleek, swanky and sophisticated – without a hint of muddy footprints.
One of the first things to consider is how much furniture you really need and where exactly you’re going to place it. If it’s a sit down meal then you will of course need to have a seat at a table allocated for every person in the room. If, on the other hand, your event is more about networking and mingling, the chances are that you can get away with a slightly lower ‘seat to bum’ ratio as it were, meaning that less furniture is required. Top tip: If space saving is what you’re after, bar stools and tables – like our range of Tolix style stools – work an absolute treat!
Although it might be tempting to go all out and fill the room to the brim (been there, done that, got the t-shirt) generally, this isn’t necessary – as long as you’re tactical about the placing of your items.
To make the decision easier to navigate, we recommend sectioning the room off into smaller areas and deciding what needs to go in each of them – rather than looking at the whole room as one enormous, overwhelming space that needs filling (eg. top left: bar area, top right: buffet, bottom left: stage, bottom right: entrance/exit) – this way you can piece your event together like a jigsaw and nothing gets forgotten about.
Speaking of entrances and exits… as much as we’re sure you want your guests to have such a fantastic time that they never want to leave, it’s important that when arranging your furniture and décor you consider the accessibility of the venue. Think about the different sections within the room too and figure out how easy it’s going to be to manoeuvre between them, taking health and safety into consideration.
Next up are the accessories, the knick-knacks, the ‘bits and bobs’ – AKA the things that turn your event from Wow to Woooooow! A splash of colour here and there to catch people’s eye, maybe some balloons, coloured floorcoverings or why not just go all out and install a table football?! (We can guarantee your guests will thank you later). Whatever takes your fancy, the way in which you jazz up your event can really make or break it – too much and you’ll be channelling your inner charity shop but too little and your guests may lose interest. Balance is key.
Whether your event is corporate, casual or somewhere in-between, the way in which you dress the room is key. Be sure to think about the venue, the type of event, how many guests are coming and what the format will be and, if you’re stuck on what type of furniture to hire, give Europa International a call – the furniture hire experts who are on hand to deal with whatever our Event Profs throw at us (not quite literally, though. We draw the line at that!).
