Your essential guide to wedding furniture hire
Your essential guide to wedding furniture hire
Wedding furniture hire covers more ground than it sounds. You need chairs that match the venue, tables that fit the guest count, linen that works with the colour scheme, crockery and glassware for every course, and bar furniture for the reception. This guide covers each category in turn. Expo Hire supplies all of it from 11 regional depots across England and Wales, with live stock and pricing online.
Chair choice dictates the room capacity and the aesthetic of every photograph. Our Chiavari chairs remain the standard for formal dining. Stocked in classic black, they suit modern, monochrome themes and corporate-style hospitality setups. White frames match traditional spring and summer marquees, reflecting light across the room. The limewash finish brings rustic texture to barn venues and country houses. For a distinct profile, the Wishbone chair features clean lines and a minimalist wooden frame. The Cross Back chair in oak fits vineyard and garden settings, bringing natural wood grain to the table. We designed our EventPro® range specifically for the hire trade rather than retail use. These chairs stack securely, allowing your setup team to move them from the ceremony area to the dining room. Every wooden and resin chair requires a seat pad for guest comfort. We supply interchangeable seat pads in various colours and materials, including velvet and flat weave fabrics. You select the pad colour that matches your table linen or floral arrangements. Event organisers secure large quantities for major events, just as we supply to Cambridge University and the Commonwealth Games. Browse our full chair hire section to check live pricing and availability for your dates.
A 6ft circular banqueting table seats 10 guests, keeping everyone facing inwards for conversation. These units feature folding metal legs and exterior-grade plywood tops. For banquet-style dining, our 12ft rectangular banqueting tables create long, continuous rows. Event teams use these for head tables or dramatic feasting setups. Space restrictions often demand a smaller footprint. Our 5ft round tables seat up to 8 guests, freeing up floor space for catering staff to navigate. Every wooden top requires covering. You match these units with our linen hire options to complete the dining surface. We supply circular and rectangular cloths in various drop lengths, alongside matching napkins. Explore our table hire category to calculate the exact quantities needed for your floor plan.
Professional caterers require dedicated prep areas behind the scenes. Your dining tables serve the guests, but the kitchen team needs heavy-duty surfaces for plating and service. Standard folding trestle tables provide the necessary workspace for temporary kitchens in marquees or dry-hire venues. These tables feature wipe-clean surfaces and fold flat for dense storage when not in use. Hot food service demands specialized holding equipment. Caterers use hot cupboards to keep plates warm and maintain food temperatures before service. Jackstacks allow kitchen staff to plate dozens of meals vertically, saving crucial floor space in cramped prep tents. We supply this commercial catering equipment alongside our furniture, allowing you to source both front-of-house and back-of-house inventory from a single supplier.
The meal service requires specific plates for each course. Your main course needs standard dinner plates. We stock 10.5-inch white porcelain plates that match any table theme. Starters require soup bowls or smaller side plates. Standard cutlery settings include a main fork, knife, and dessert spoon. Multi-course menus demand dedicated dessert forks and soup spoons. Washing thousands of plates at midnight is a logistical nightmare for caterers. We include a "Send It Back Dirty" service on all crockery, glassware, and cutlery. Your catering team scrapes the plates, empties the glasses, and packs them back into our crates. We handle the cleaning at our depot. This removes the need for on-site dishwashing facilities and saves hours of labour.
Formal dining requires multiple glasses per guest. Standard setups include wine glasses and a matching water glass. Speeches and toasts call for champagne flutes. Bar areas need a different inventory. You must stock beer glasses for draught or bottled drinks, including standard pint and half-pint sizes. Spirit mixers require tall hi-ball glasses or slim jims. Signature drinks require specific cocktail glasses, such as martini or coupe shapes. Breakages happen at every large event. We include a Free Minor Damage Waiver on every order. Other hire companies charge 2–3% of your order total for the same cover — on a typical £1,000 booking, that is up to £30 extra you keep in your pocket. No other UK hire company offers this benefit. It covers accidental chips and minor scratches, protecting your budget from unexpected replacement fees.
Guests spend hours away from the main dining room. A dedicated drinks area keeps the crowd flowing. We stock modular bar units that lock together to form long serving counters. These units give bartenders a solid workspace and hide stock from view. You pair these counters with bar stools for guests who want to sit near the service area. Lounge spaces give older guests a quiet place to sit. Our sofas and armchairs create comfortable seating zones away from the dance floor. Festival-themed events often use bean bags for casual, low-level seating. Evening receptions benefit from illuminated LED furniture. These battery-powered units glow in multiple colours, adding light to dark corners or outdoor terraces.
Summer events often spill onto lawns and patios. Your venue needs outdoor furniture to accommodate these guests. We supply aluminium and rattan sets that withstand sudden rain showers. Evening temperatures drop rapidly, even in July. Gas patio heaters keep guests warm and keep the outdoor areas populated after dark. Unpredictable weather requires backup plans. Pop-up gazebos provide instant shelter for outdoor bars, string quartets, or smoking areas. Delivery for bulky outdoor items starts from £40 ex-VAT, calculated by road distance from your nearest depot.
Expo Hire operates as the UK's first fully online event hire company. You do not need to request a quote or wait for a callback. Our website displays live stock levels and exact pricing. You add items to your basket, enter your venue postcode, and the system calculates the delivery cost instantly. We do not charge a security deposit. Competitors hold hundreds of pounds of your money for weeks; we do not. Orders over £1,000 qualify for a 25% advance deposit option, helping you manage cash flow for large events. On the day of your event, our transport team sends an SMS with an estimated time of arrival. You track the delivery vehicle live on your phone using your order number and postcode. Our drivers deliver to the ground floor loading bay or main entrance of your venue. You must provide accurate access details, including parking restrictions or narrow lanes, to prevent delays. Warehouse self-collection operates directly from our Birmingham headquarters Monday to Friday between 7am and 3pm.
Planning a large-scale reception requires accurate numbers and reliable suppliers. Review your guest list and calculate your table requirements. Add the necessary chairs, allowing a few spares for last-minute additions. Count your courses to determine the exact crockery and cutlery volumes. Factor in the bar area and outdoor spaces. We supply professional equipment to the BBC, ITV, and HSBC, bringing the same commercial-grade inventory to your venue. Check our furniture hire section for heavy-duty items that withstand heavy commercial use. Stock levels update in real time. Select your hire dates to check availability and secure your equipment online today.
Six things no other hire company in the UK offers. We deliver and collect seven days a week — no other hire company does. We are the only hire company to offer live order tracking for both delivery and collection; track your driver in real time by order number and postcode. We check live stock and logistics availability before your order is confirmed, so every order is 100% guaranteed to arrive exactly as placed — no substitutions, no shortfalls. You choose morning or afternoon for both delivery and collection. We never charge a security or damage deposit. Every hire includes a Free Minor Damage Waiver at no extra charge — other companies charge 2–3% of your order total for the same cover. And with the widest product range in the event hire industry, most customers can source their entire event from a single supplier.
