Everyone loves a cocktail party – flowing drinks, gourmet canapés, dance floor hits and laughs with good friends. Whether you’re wanting to throw a large, lavish bash or a small intimate affair, there’s a few essential things you need to ensure your cocktail party is the best event you’ve ever hosted. With over 60 years’ experience in the event hire industry, Pages are the place to turn to for your party rental needs. From chair hire to bespoke marquees, we have everything you need, at affordable prices. Here’s our guide to things you need if you want to host a cocktail party with ‘wow’ factor.
Fabulous Glassware
You can’t serve Martinis without Martini glasses, and bubbles in a standard wine glass? No way. Think about all the drinks and cocktails you will be serving and ensure you have the right glasses specific for each drink. Furthermore, why stick to plain, clear glasses when you can have fancy crystal cut champagne flutes, bespoke coloured wine goblets and high end Reidel glassware? From shots to scotch, Martinis to Mojitos, ensure you have the right glassware for every drink on your menu.
The Ultimate Bar Tools
There’s more to making cocktails than just pouring liquor into glasses. Cocktail making is an art form, and any art requires the right tools. Spoons, shakers, stirrers, swizzle sticks, shot glasses – make sure you buy or hire all the bar tools you need, not only will they ensure your cocktails taste great, they will make them a breeze to make on the night.
Ice Buckets for Icey Cold Drinks
There’s nothing worse than serving up warm drinks, especially during a summer event where guests are looking for a nice cold beverage. You may have a big fridge in your kitchen, but that will fill up quickly and you don’t want everyone going into your kitchen for drinks if the party is outside. Ensure you have enough large ice buckets to keep bottles of wine, beer, soft drinks and water cold, and keep a separate ice bucket or ice chest behind the bar solely for ice cubes.
The Right Amount of Tables and Chairs
While cocktail events are known as being ‘standing’ events, you still need to have bar tables for people to mingle around and rest their drinks and scattered chairs and lounges for when guests just need a little rest during the night. Chair hire companies have a wide range of chairs you can rent from folding and stacking chairs, to lounge suites, bar stools and designer tiffany chairs. Nothing will make people leave your party quicker than if they have nowhere to have a break from the dance floor for a few minutes.
Party Lighting
A vital ingredient in a fabulous cocktail is lighting. Proper lighting sets the scene and creates atmosphere. Dim lighting makes guests feel less self-conscious and exudes a glamorous feel so don’t light up your party with a hundred bright spotlights. Layer your lighting, use a combination of fairy lights, festoon lighting, flashing party lights and disco balls.
Other Helpful Hints for a Great Cocktail Party
- Send invitations around 2 to 3 weeks prior to the event, unless it’s a busy time of year like November and December.
- Plan on 50-75% of invited guests to attend, this will help you to estimate the number of drinks you’ll be pouring and how many bottles you’ll need.
- Estimate 2 to 3 drinks per person.
- Add a feature – this could be a signature drink or food dish, activity, decoration or whatever else might suit your party.
While delicious cocktails, sumptuous food and banging tunes that keep the dance floor going are the main ingredients for a memorable cocktail party, you need the right tools, furniture and accessories to ensure it’s memorable for the right reasons. If you are looking for party chair hire, Pages have all of your cocktail party needs all in one place – from tables to bar tools and everything in between, we can help you throw a party that will leave your guests thinking you are the host with the most. Browse our range online or contact our friendly team on 1300 305 250 today.