Party in a rented hall or clubhouse: decorate without damage, cleared up within half an hour
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
5 min reading time
You get the key at seven o'clock and must vacate the premises by one o'clock. This is how you decorate a rented space without damage, and clear it out again within half an hour.
You'll receive the key at seven o'clock, the first guests arrive at half past eight, and the venue needs to be swept clean by one o'clock. Renting a hall, canteen, or clubhouse is often cheaper and easier than clearing out your home — but it also means working against the clock, in an unfamiliar space, where you can't damage anything.
Most annoyances on such an evening aren't due to a lack of decoration. They're due to no one asking beforehand if anything can be hung on the wall, and cleanup only starting after everyone has left. Below is an approach that prevents this.
Ask this before you order anything
Five questions for the manager will save you an evening of improvisation:
Can anything be hung on the wall, and if so: with tape, with hooks, or only on existing rails?
Are confetti, streamers, or loose decorations allowed? Some venues charge cleaning fees.
Is glassware available, and does it need to be washed before returning?
Where are the bins, and do you need to take the rubbish with you?
What time does the main lighting come on, and can it be dimmed?
That last point determines more than you think. A room with full fluorescent lighting feels like a meeting room until the end, no matter how many garlands you hang.
Hanging without holes
Bring two types of adhesive. For light items on smooth walls, transparent tape that you neither see nor leaves residue later works: Scotch Crystal Tape, 2 pieces costs €6.00. For tougher jobs — straightening a banner, securing a cable — black tape 10 meters x 48 mm for €3.00 is handy, provided the manager agrees.
If you want to hang something heavier, self-adhesive hooks 6 x 6 cm, 10 pieces for €5.95 are a safer choice than a nail in someone else's wall. Test one first in an inconspicuous spot and leave it for a while before hanging anything on it; on painted or plastered surfaces, the paint layer may come off.
A simple and damage-free solution that is often forgotten: don't hang anything, but stretch something. A line between two existing hooks or pillars, with wooden clips, 10 pieces for €9.95 to hang photos, cards, or poems. Afterwards, you roll up the line and literally nothing happened.
Light is the cheapest decoration
If you only bring one thing to change the atmosphere, bring light. LED balloons, 5 pieces cost €2.95 and do more in a dimly lit room than a table full of loose decorations. A heart-shaped light object with 37 LEDs, 40 x 42 cm for €19.95 works well as a single focal point: at the entrance, behind the gift table, or as a background for photos.
Also bring one proper lamp for cleanup. A mini LED flashlight with hand crank for €14.95 requires no batteries and is exactly what you need if you've lost a set of keys or a phone under a table at half past one.
Glass, hard plastic or cardboard?
If the venue doesn't provide glassware, the question isn't just about cost, but also who washes it. For coffee and tea, 150ml coffee cups, 100 pieces for €14.95 are the easiest route: cleanup is one bag. For people who carry the same glass around all evening, a sturdy reusable cup works better, such as the 500ml hard PVC sports and coffee cup for €9.95.
For a toast at the beginning or end of the evening, small glassware suffices: a set of 6 shot glasses of 60 ml costs €3.00. Count on about one and a half cups per person per hour for soft drinks and water if you're using disposables — people put their cup down and grab a new one. Therefore, place one marker by the drinks table so everyone writes their name on it; in practice, this saves a third of your consumption.
Decorating: small and at eye level
In a large hall, loose decorations along the edges disappear. What does work is decorating the tables people look at. Rainbow placemats 32 x 42 cm for €8.95 instantly add color to a plain folding table, and acrylic decorative hearts, 20 pieces for €2.00 or a tube of 400 grams of decorative stones for €2.95 fill the space between glasses and dishes without needing to bring a vase.
If you're celebrating an association, neighborhood, or something with a clear theme, a set of flags does more than ten small things. The rainbow flags, set of 6 pieces 60 x 45 cm cost €17.95 and hang on an existing line or rail.
One confetti moment is enough. A party popper with red leaves 28cm costs €6.95 — use it at one fixed point, preferably on a smooth floor and not on carpet, so you can sweep it away afterwards.
Cleanup in reverse order
Clean up in the same order you set up, but in reverse, and start earlier than you think. Bring two empty boxes — a 50-liter moving box costs €3.50 — and label them beforehand: one for items to go back, one for waste not allowed in the venue's bins.
Well before closing time, set up a 25-meter barrier tape for €2.95 in front of the table that is already empty. That sounds like a joke, and it kind of is, but it works: people won't put anything there and you won't have to do that corner twice.
Finally, with your flashlight, do a round along power outlets, windowsills, and under the tables. That's where you'll find chargers, keys, and jackets that would otherwise cost an extra trip the next day.
Getting started
Everything for decoration can be found in Party Supplies, drinking utensils in Glasses and flags and garlands in Flags & Streamers. Do you know how many guests are coming but not how much to order? Email info@verpakkingdeals.nl with the number of people and the duration of your party — and we'll help you calculate.
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