Wedding Hire: Why you don’t need exact numbers

The wedding season is almost upon us and already we are taking orders for beautiful ceremonies across the country. A question we often get asked about wedding hire is one of numbers; when the right time to commit to an order is and if an order can be adjusted up or down if numbers of guests change.

We've put this blog post together based on our experience of delivery wedding hire throughout the United Kingdom.

When to order Wedding Hire

As with anything, the earlier an order is placed the better, as availability is limited and can be stretched in really busy periods. However, with many functions being run on a strict budget there can be a real antipathy towards hiring anything that is not going to be used. Because of this, we  understand why customers might be reluctant to hold back their order until they have firm numbers for their big day.

The problem with holding back an order until one is really sure on numbers is that it brings availability into play. Spring and summer are very busy months for us for wedding hire, and naturally orders are taken on a first come, first served basis. It's not just our products that are limited by availability either; delivery space on vans can become a factor. As much as we'd like to take every single order possible, there does come a point when van space has all been taken and drivers are at the legal limit of how much driving they can do. When that happens we have no choice but to close off days on our calendar from accepting new deliveries or collections.

This is why we urge customers to book their order as soon as they can, to prevent disappointment. The good news is that not having exact numbers isn't as much a problem as one would think.

Don't know how much wedding hire to order?

For many people, one of the things that holds them back from ordering is not knowing how much wedding hire they need to order due to a lack of precise numbers. This is understandable when working to tight financial constraints, but while budgeting to the penny can appear to be the course of wisdom, our experience has proven that doing so can cause unforeseen issues which end up being much costly. Despite best efforts to guard against them, accidents and problems sometimes do occur. The old maxim that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is one to really bear in mind.

This is why we recommend that if at all possible, it’s worth ordering a little bit of spare equipment. Crockery can get broken in transit; linen can get torn accidentally and someone’s great uncle Jim might decide that lack of RSVP be damned, he will make an effort to turn up.

If only exact numbers of items are hired then these kinds of situations can lead to very time critical issues which are almost impossible for us to fix. For the sake of 30p for an extra dinner plate or 20p for an extra spoon is it worth risking not having enough?

Our recommendation from past experience is ordering 10% extra crockery and cutlery than people attending. We understand that some might balk at this figure but based on thousands of deliveries of wedding hire we’re sure that an extra 10% of this kind of wedding hire will fix the vast majority of little problems at a wedding reception or function.

If you would like to know how we can help you with your wedding hire requirements, you can speak to us via our live chat facility or drop us a line at sales@expohire.com.