An outdoor extravaganza or an indoor celebration. Whatever the cause of your festivities may be, you will likely need some equipment to liven up the event.

Party rentals are quickly becoming an essential aspect of corporate functions or family gatherings (yes, you need to entertain your second cousins from Biloxi, Mississippi, too). Party rental companies provide everything from tables to tents, balloon castles to water slides.

The biggest factor that you must take into account before you rent equipment is protection.

Whether it is the unhygienic behaviour of the human resources department or the unpredictable reactions of Mother Nature, it is critical that you employ the necessary measures to protect and shield from harmful elements. You don’t want to pay extra, do you?

Here are five party rental tips to protect your equipment:

1. Inspect the Pieces Upon Arrival

As the rentals are taken off the truck and installed on the site, you need to do your part: inspect every single piece of equipment.

What should you look for? Here are a few suggestions to incorporate into your strategy:

• Dirt.
• Missing components.
• Faulty equipment.
• Tears

It is these little things that may seem inconsequential, but it could dampen the party and impact your wallet.

2. Always Keep the Rentals Clean

Party time does sometimes equate to a lot of mess that you never wanted. If you’re renting some of the party items, then you need to do your best to keep them clean from the moment they are delivered to the moment they are picked up again.

This can seem like an impossible task to perform, particularly if there are dozens of people at the event. How can you prevent them from staining and ripping everything?

Here are a couple of ideas:

• Place signage around the facility about keeping everything clean.
• Cover the equipment with linens until the event starts.
• Recover the equipment after the party is over.

Speaking of which…

3. Wrap the Rentals Until the Party Begins

It would be a prudent idea to wrap all of the rentals – tables, chairs, lounges, etc. – until the party begins or until more people start filing in. This will prevent premature dirt from landing on the party rentals.

4. Fair or Foul – Weather Plays a Big Role

There is nothing more fun than having a party outside in the middle of summer, or even at the start of autumn. This is particularly a great idea when there are children attending the party.

The only drawback is that Mother Nature does not comply to your wishes. In other words, it will start to rain, it will start to get cold, it will start to get really windy.

This is awful if you’re renting furniture and technology.

So, what’s the solution? Take advantage of tents.

Rather than having all of the rentals out in the open sun, construct a tent and attempt to confine the fun to under the tent. Or, at the very least, keep the essentials under the tent and encourage everyone else to enjoy the warm temperatures and sublime sunshine.

5. Ensure You Have Enough Room

Do you know the best way to damage your party rentals? When everyone is crammed together in a single small space. This will guarantee that at least one rip or stain occurs.

The simple remedy to this problem is to just ensure you have enough room in the first place. Once you know how much available space you have, you can then determine what can and cannot be rented from the company.

Many party rental firms are understandable about damages, dirt, and other unforeseen circumstances. But you must remember that these things are also rented out to other customers. Once the rentals are in your care, it is up to you that they are well taken care of. Otherwise, you will need to pay an additional price, and that is something you won’t want to do.