If you’ve got a birthday, wedding or big event coming up, it’s time to start planning your party!
Throwing a party isn’t all about the beer and the bags of ice you’ll need – there’s lots of other things to plan along the way. To help out, we’ve put together an essential checklist of the main things you need to throw an outdoor party.
Things You Need for a Party Outside
1. Party Tents
If you’re hosting a big bash then chances are you don’t want to have it in your living room. Lots of guests means lots of noise, lots of mess and lots of clean up. The simplest way to avoid that is to take it outside!
But what about the weather? What if it rains? What if it’s cold? What if it’s way too sunny?
Tents are always the answer. Hiring a few marquees or canvas event tents keeps everybody comfortable and dry, and it gets all your guests out of the house and onto the lawn where little accidents won’t matter.
2. Tables and Seating
You’ve got somewhere to party, now you need some furniture to round out the space.
Tables and seating are the simplest thing to do. If you’re having a sit-down meal then one table per group is a good idea, but you could also get away with a few communal tables if you’re simply serving finger foods.
You don’t necessarily need one seat for every guest, depending on the type of party you’re throwing. Just make sure there’s enough seats for everyone to rest their feet for 10 minutes here and there throughout the night.
It’s easy to hire tables and chairs, or you could simply ask guests to bring a camp chair if you want to keep the budget under control.
3. Food and Drink
Okay, you’ve got the basics, now it’s time to get into the good stuff!
Food and drink will make or break a party. If you’re catering yourself, focus on things you can produce lots of (like finger foods). It may not be quite as classy as a sit-down meal, but we promise that plates of party pies, spring rolls and BBQ snags will go down extremely well with your guests.
On the fancy end you can opt for professional catering. A catering company can whip up as much food as you need, and they’ll probably be able to provide the other stuff like drinks, plates and cutlery.
4. Plates and Cutlery
This one often takes people by surprise, but you need plenty of plates and bowls and cups and cutlery if you’re throwing a party.
Chances are you don’t have 50 sets of dinnerware lying around. In which case, you’ll probably need to hire place settings from a party company. We recommend erring on the side of caution. Order more plates than you need – you never know who’ll go back for seconds, and there’s always the chance that a plate or two will get broken.
5. Decorations
If you’re smart then you probably picked a nice tent for your event. A white marquee, or a boho-style canvas tent. That’s great and all, but tents usually don’t look the part until they’re draped in decorations.
You don’t have to go all out. The decorator’s cheat sheet says to focus on lighting. Good lighting can set the mood for your entire party. It doesn’t matter how much you spend on flowers, knicknacks, table settings and signs if the lighting isn’t on point.
On the budget end of the scale, LED fairy lights are cheap and very Instagram-worthy. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you could invest in some coloured lights, LED candles and maybe even a disco ball!
6. Music and Entertainment
You’ve got the food and the lights and the bougie tents, so what do you need next? A bit of music!
That’s right, clear away some tables and throw down a nice outdoor rug so you can have a dance floor. All you need is a decent sound system. Chances are, if you have speakers hooked up to your TV, you probably have everything you need! If not, you can definitely hire a decent sound system for a reasonable price.
Just don’t try to rely on your dinky little bluetooth speaker to handle an entire party – it takes a lot of volume to crank the music when you have a tent full of people eating and talking and laughing.
7. Bathroom Facilities
Last but not least, every good party needs a porcelain throne!
It’s not the most glamorous part of the celebration, but chances are that your poor bathroom can’t handle 20 guests filing in and out all night. Things can go south pretty fast if you’re expecting everyone to line up and wait, especially if you’re serving food and drink.
If you have multiple bathrooms then you’re fine. But, if you have limited bathrooms, lots of guests or if you’re holding your party away from permanent plumbing, it’s time to call in the big guns: portable toilet hire.
Portaloos are a super simple and affordable way to make sure party goers don’t need to dash to the bushes when nature calls! You only need one portaloo for every 50 guests or so (but more toilets never hurt anybody), and the hire company will take care of the rest.
Throw Your Next Party in Style with Poles & Holes!
Gather up your guests, pitch a tent and fill the esky with your finest cans of beer, it’s time to party!
Except it’s not time just yet. First, you’ll need to organise some food, music, tents and toilets. If you’ve got the rest taken care of, the team at Poles & Holes can set you up with some portable toilets that will ensure your night is memorable in all the right ways.
Poles & Holes offers portaloo hire throughout the Brisbane region. We do weekend-long hire of our standard portaloos, or we can sort out a deal that works for you and your guests.
Contact us if you have any questions or to book a portaloo for your next event!
