<p>Ordering too few glasses is the most common mistake on glass hire orders. Guests put glasses down, pick up a fresh one, and the count adds up quickly. This guide covers quantities, glass types, and what to expect on delivery day.</p>
<p>Ordering too few glasses is the most common mistake on glass hire orders. Guests put glasses down, pick up a fresh one, and the count adds up quickly. This guide covers quantities, glass types, and what to expect on delivery day.</p>
For a drinks reception lasting two hours, allow two glasses per person per drink type. For a sit-down dinner with a white and a red, allow one of each per person plus one water glass per person. Both figures assume guests put their glass down and pick up a clean one; in practice most do.
We hire wine glasses in 9oz and 12oz. The 9oz is the standard: it pours a 175ml measure cleanly and is the size guests expect at an event. The 12oz suits occasions where guests pour their own wine or where bottles sit on the table rather than being served by the glass.
For a drinks reception of 100 guests lasting two hours, order 200 wine glasses minimum. For a sit-down dinner of 100 with a white and a red being poured: 100 of each. Most bookers order the same quantity regardless and use them across both wines. That works in practice.
Flutes are almost always ordered for arrival drinks or a toast. For a toast only, one per person covers it. For an arrival drinks reception lasting an hour with only champagne, order 1.5 per person and you won't run short. If you're running a champagne tower, ask us: the count for a display tower differs from service use.
Highball tumblers cover the gap when serving soft drinks, cocktails or beer alongside wine. For mixed events where some guests don't drink wine, add 20–30% of your guest count in tumblers.
All glassware hire includes a cleaning surcharge. We collect the glasses dirty and wash them ourselves. You don't need to rinse anything before we arrive. The cleaning fee is added at checkout and covers full commercial glasswasher cleaning after return.
Glasses break at events. We include a free Minor Damage Waiver on every order, which covers a reasonable level of breakage. A few glasses per hundred fall within the waiver. If you're running a very large event or an outdoor bar, order a buffer and we'll collect the unused ones.
Enter your delivery postcode and dates on our website and the available stock count shows in real time. The order is confirmed before you pay. No calls, no follow-up, no substitutions on delivery day.
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.
