Christmas hire books out earlier than any other period. Here is a checklist of the furniture and equipment you need to organise before your office Christmas party.
Christmas hire books out earlier than any other period. Here is a checklist of the furniture and equipment you need to organise before your office Christmas party.
Securing your christmas party hire equipment requires early planning. December dates fill up from October onwards, and late November events leave little room for delay. Booking a December event means placing your order by the end of October. Late November dates require confirmation by early November at the latest.
The venue determines everything else on this checklist. A hired function hall usually supplies its own furniture, so check the inventory before you order. A marquee on a private site gives you a blank canvas, meaning you must source everything from scratch. An office space cleared for the night sits somewhere in the middle. You will likely need tables and chairs, but the existing layout dictates room capacity.
Round tables suit a sit-down Christmas dinner. A 5ft round table seats eight guests, while a 6ft round seats ten. Use the 5ft version where ceiling height or dance floor space restricts movement and you cannot spread tables widely. A buffet-format event requires 6ft trestle tables along the walls as serving surfaces. Guests can sit at round tables or stand at poseur tables depending on the format. Review our table hire options online to check exact dimensions.
Chiavari chairs suit a formal sit-down dinner. They function as the standard hire chair for prestige events and photograph well. A more casual format allows folding chairs to cut the cost without looking out of place. Events mixing dining and dancing require chairs for every place setting. Guests will move them around, and running short mid-event causes problems. We hold thousands of chairs in stock, with live availability shown on every chair hire product page.
Linen colour sets the tone of the room. Red, green, gold, or silver gives a clear festive feel and works well for informal office parties. White or ivory linen creates a formal atmosphere and suits a sit-down dinner where table settings take priority. Overlays and runners in a contrasting colour let you use a neutral base cloth and add festive accents. This approach costs less than hiring coloured tablecloths for the entire room. Check our linen hire section for exact sizing.
A sit-down dinner requires a red wine glass, a white wine glass, and a water glass per cover. Running champagne for a toast at the end of the night means adding champagne flutes to the order. Keep a 10% buffer on glassware numbers, as breakages happen at busy events. Every order includes a free minor damage waiver to cover accidental breakages. Pre-setting the tables requires a bread plate per cover and a small side knife. You can return all items unwashed using our "Send It Back Dirty" service.
A full place setting covers a dinner plate, a side plate, a soup bowl, and the cutlery for each course. Order cutlery to match your menu. Extra side plates for bread rolls add detail that changes how the table looks and how guests eat throughout the meal. Expo Hire supplies commercial-grade plates and bowls for events of any size. All plates and cutlery qualify for the "Send It Back Dirty" service, saving your catering team hours of washing up.
Running a hot buffet requires chafing dishes to hold food at temperature during service. A two-third size chafing dish holds a standard gastronorm pan and fits buffet lines where space restricts larger units. Tea and coffee service needs a 30-litre urn to handle around 100 cups before refilling. Plan one urn for every 80 to 100 guests. Position them where guests can queue without blocking the main flow of the room.
A pre-dinner drinks reception benefits from a clear bar area. Poseur tables and bar stools create the right setting for guests standing with a drink before they sit down for dinner. Standalone parties without a sit-down meal rely on this high-level furniture for most of the seating arrangement. They take up less floor space than round tables and allow more guests to occupy the same area. The EventPro® range features commercial-grade bar furniture.
Expo Hire supplies furniture, catering equipment, glassware, crockery, and linen. We do not stock decorations, centrepieces, lighting, or DJ equipment. Source those items through specialist suppliers. Planning a marquee event requires a separate marquee contractor. We fit out the interior alongside their structural work. Delivery starts from £40 ex-VAT. We calculate this cost by road distance from your nearest depot.
December hire starts booking up from late October. Planning a December event without an order by the end of October means checking availability first, as other customers will have already booked popular product lines. Confirming early gives you more options on quantities, chair styles, and linen colours. We require no security deposit, though a 25% advance deposit option exists for orders over £500.
Tell us your guest numbers, venue, and event date to put together a hire package. You can Request a quote online. All prices and live stock levels display directly on the site, allowing you to build your basket without making a phone call.
Browse our inventory of furniture, linen, crockery, glassware, and catering equipment for your christmas party hire. Select your items, choose your delivery date, and order online. Expo Hire delivers seven days a week, with live vehicle tracking and SMS ETA notifications on delivery day. Stock levels update in real time. Select your hire dates to check availability and confirm your booking online.
Choose from our vast range of catering hire, furniture hire and exhibition hire products. Select from the categories listed below or use our great search function above.
