The rental glossary.

A smaller item that only goes out with a larger one: tent pegs with a tent, glass racks with glassware, a blower with an inflatable. Accessories are easy to forget on a load-out and expensive to replace, so they are best tracked as items in their own right.

An extra item or service offered alongside the main order, such as chair sashes with chairs or lighting with a tent. Add-ons raise the value of a booking without much extra delivery cost.

Also called: Upsell

A long strip of fabric laid down the aisle at a wedding ceremony. Usually single-use or cleaned and re-rolled after every event, so it is often sold rather than hired.

A free-standing frame, round, square or hexagonal, used as a backdrop for vows, photos or an entrance. Usually hired bare and dressed with drapery or florals on site.

Also called: Wedding arch, Arbour

A record of every change to stock or a booking: who changed what, when, and why. It is how a business answers "where did the other ten chairs go?" without guessing.

How RentWeave handles it

How many of an item are free on a given date range: what you own, less what is already promised to overlapping bookings, less anything damaged, in repair or missing. It is the number every quote should be checked against.

How RentWeave handles it

The quantity that can still be offered to a new customer for a date without breaking a promise to an existing one. Stricter than "in the warehouse today", because stock on the shelf may already be committed to a job next week.

Also called: ATP

Two jobs using the same items with little or no gap between them, such as a Saturday wedding and a Sunday christening. They work only if collection, cleaning and reloading fit in the gap.

A decorative panel or frame placed behind a stage, high table or photo spot. Includes flower walls, sequin walls, branded step-and-repeat banners and draped frames.

Also called: Photo wall, Step-and-repeat

What is still owed on a booking after the deposit and any part-payments. Most rental companies want it cleared before delivery day.

How RentWeave handles it

Heavy weights, concrete blocks, steel plates or filled water barrels, used to hold a tent down where stakes cannot go in, such as on tarmac, tiles or a rooftop. Every leg needs its share, so ballast is counted per tent.

Also called: Tent weights, Water barrels

A long rectangular table, commonly 6 ft (about 1.8 m) or 8 ft (about 2.4 m), that seats six to ten guests. The workhorse of buffets, conference rooms and long family-style dinners.

Also called: Trestle table, Rectangular table, Folding table

A free-standing counter for serving drinks, often lit or with a branded front panel, and sometimes with a back bar for display. Hired by the linear metre or by the unit.

Also called: Portable bar, Mobile bar

The full list of parts that make up one hireable unit, such as a frame tent's legs, rafters, base plates, pegs and roof sheet. A tent goes out complete only if every line on its bill of materials does.

Also called: Kit list

A confirmed commitment to supply named items to a customer for set dates. It reserves the stock, so it should be checked against availability before it is confirmed.

Also called: Order, Reservation, Job

How RentWeave handles it

The total charged for one booking. Tracking the average over a season shows whether packages and add-ons are working.

Also called: Average order value

An inflatable play structure for children's parties, kept up by a constantly running blower. Usually needs anchoring, a safety mat and someone to supervise it, which affects both delivery time and insurance.

Also called: Bouncy castle, Moon bounce

The number of hires an item needs before it has paid back what it cost to buy. An item bought for ten times its hire rate breaks even on its tenth hire, ignoring cleaning and repairs.

Time deliberately left between bookings of the same item to allow for late returns, cleaning and repairs. Too little causes shortages; too much leaves stock idle.

Also called: Turnaround buffer

Stock counted by quantity rather than by serial number: 400 chairs, not chair #1 to chair #400. Most party rental stock is bulk, which is why availability is a number rather than a list of units.

Also called: Quantity-tracked item

How RentWeave handles it

Several items sold together at one price, such as a "100-guest package" of tables, chairs and linen. Each item in the bundle still has to be available for the booking to go ahead.

Also called: Package, Kit

A list of what needs buying or hiring in to cover upcoming shortfalls, net of what is already on order. It turns "we are short" into a purchase decision before the event, not on the morning of it.

How RentWeave handles it

A small dressed table, round or rectangular, that holds the cake and gets its own linen and décor because it is photographed more than any other table in the room.

The terms setting what a customer forfeits if they cancel, usually a sliding scale from a lost deposit to the full fee the closer the event gets. It protects the stock that was turned away for their date.

A small, light shelter, typically 3 × 3 m or 3 × 6 m, used for shade or cover at outdoor parties and stalls. In West Africa "canopy" also covers the larger frame shelters set over guests at owambe parties.

Also called: Gazebo, Pop-up

The decorative piece in the middle of a guest table: vases, candelabra, lanterns, mirrors or floral stands. Hired by the dozen, so counts and breakages matter.

Also called: Centerpiece

A covered tray kept warm over a fuel can or electric element, used on buffets. Goes out with its frame, water pan, food pan, lid and fuel, each of which can come back missing.

Also called: Chafer, Food warmer

A fitted fabric cover pulled over a banquet or folding chair, often finished with a sash. Counted, laundered and inspected between every hire.

Also called: Slipcover

A band of fabric tied around a chair or chair cover in the event's colours. Small, cheap per piece and lost in large numbers, so worth counting out and back.

A large decorative plate set under the dinner plate at each place setting and removed before the main course. Usually glass, acrylic or metal, and stacked in padded crates.

Also called: Under plate, Service plate

A light, stackable chair with a slender bamboo-style back, common at weddings and formal dinners. Sold in wood, resin and metal finishes, and usually hired with a seat pad.

Also called: Tiffany chair

A charge for washing or laundering items returned dirty beyond normal use, such as linen with candle wax or tableware returned with food on it.

Also called: Laundry fee

An engineered aluminium-frame structure with no interior poles, from about 10 m wide to well over 40 m. Takes heavy plant and a trained crew to raise, so it is booked by the build day, not just the event day.

Also called: Clearspan, Structure

A tall, narrow round table for standing guests at receptions and drinks parties, usually dressed in a fitted stretch cover tied at the waist.

Also called: Highboy, Poseur table, High-top

Going back to the venue to bring the stock home after the event. A collection forgotten on the schedule is the classic way stock goes missing and the next job comes up short.

Also called: Pickup

How RentWeave handles it

Quantity promised to confirmed bookings over a date range. Subtract it from what you own and what is out of service, and what is left is what you can still sell.

Also called: Reserved stock, Allocated stock

Something that is used up and does not come back: chafer fuel, cable ties, tape, candles, napkins. Bought and issued rather than hired, and charged as a sale.

How RentWeave handles it

The signed terms of a hire: items, dates, prices, deposit, damage and cancellation terms, and who is responsible for the stock while it is out.

Also called: Rental agreement, Hire agreement

The people working a job: drivers, riggers, decorators and set-up staff. Two jobs on the same day need two crews unless the times are kept apart.

How RentWeave handles it

A wooden bistro-style chair with a crossed back, popular for rustic and garden weddings. Heavier and bulkier to stack than a Chiavari chair, so it takes more van space per seat.

Also called: X-back chair

Counting a section of the warehouse at a time on a rolling schedule, instead of shutting down for one big annual stock-take. Small discrepancies are found while someone still remembers why.

How RentWeave handles it

A non-refundable fee, often a percentage of the hire, that covers ordinary accidental damage so the customer is not billed for every chipped glass. It normally excludes loss, theft and misuse.

Items that came back unfit to hire. They stay counted as owned but leave available stock until they are repaired, written off or charged for.

How RentWeave handles it

Interlocking panels laid over grass or carpet to make a level dance surface, in wood, black-and-white or LED finishes. Hired by the panel or the square metre, with edging pieces.

The look of an event: drapery, backdrops, centrepieces, lighting and florals. A décor company both supplies the items and designs how they are used, which is why décor jobs need set-up time as well as delivery.

Also called: Decor, Styling

How RentWeave handles it

The charge for taking stock to the venue and collecting it again. Flat, by distance or by zone, and often higher for out-of-hours or stair carries.

The span of time the customer has been told to expect the van. A narrow window is a promise to the customer and a limit on how many drops one van can make.

Also called: Time slot

How RentWeave handles it

A part-payment that secures the date and the stock. It counts towards the bill. Not to be confused with a security deposit, which is held against damage and returned.

Also called: Booking deposit, Retainer

How RentWeave handles it

Spreading an item's purchase cost over the years it will earn hire income, for the accounts. Also a reminder that stock wears out and will need replacing out of what it earns.

Planning and sending out the day's runs: which van, which crew, which bookings, in what order and at what time.

How RentWeave handles it

Promising the same items to two events whose dates overlap, so one of them comes up short. The single most expensive mistake in rental, and the one availability checking exists to stop.

Also called: Overbooking

How RentWeave handles it

Fabric hung from frames, ceilings or tent roofs to soften a space, hide walls or divide a room. Pipe and drape is the adjustable upright-and-crossbar frame that holds it.

Also called: Draping, Pipe and drape

When the stock on a booking is expected home again. Items not back by then are overdue, and any booking relying on them is at risk.

Also called: Return date

The person or company organising an event on a client's behalf. Often a rental company's best repeat customer, and sometimes the rental company itself.

Also called: Event coordinator

How RentWeave handles it

Hiring out the physical things events need for a few days at a time: seating, tables, tents, linen, tableware, décor, lighting and staging. The same stock goes out week after week, so tracking where it is decides profit.

Also called: Party rental, Event hire

How RentWeave handles it

Strings of bulbs hung across a marquee, garden or courtyard. Hired by the length, and needing power, hanging points and somebody to rig them before dark.

Also called: String lights, Fairy lights, Bistro lights

A drawing of the venue showing where tables, stage, bars and dance floor go. Drawn to scale it also tells you whether the stock fits the room.

Also called: Layout, Seating plan

How RentWeave handles it

A light chair that folds flat for transport and storage, in plastic, metal or wood. The cheapest seat to hire and the most numerous item in many warehouses.

A tent held up by a free-standing metal frame rather than centre poles, so the inside is clear. Can be weighted rather than staked, which makes it the choice for hard surfaces.

How RentWeave handles it

A portable power unit for outdoor sites, sized in kVA. Hired with fuel, cabling and distribution boards, and often the item that decides whether lighting and sound work at all.

A transparent polycarbonate chair that lets the décor show through. Scratches show too, so it needs soft packing and careful inspection on return.

Also called: Acrylic chair, Clear chair

Wine, champagne, water and cocktail glasses hired by the rack. Breakage is normal and expected, so it is counted out and back by rack and priced with that loss in mind.

How many people the event is for. Almost every line on a party order, from chairs and tables to glasses and toilets, is worked out from it, so a change in guest count is a change to the booking.

Also called: Headcount, Pax

The table for the couple, hosts or guests of honour, often on a riser and dressed differently from the guest tables. A sweetheart table seats only the couple.

Also called: Top table, High table, Sweetheart table

Gas or electric heating for marquees and outdoor areas, from mushroom-style patio heaters to ducted indirect-fired units. Goes out with fuel or power, and with safety distances set by the tent maker.

Also called: Patio heater, Tent heater

The price charged for hiring one of an item for a period, usually per event or per day. In many markets a single event rate covers delivery day to collection day.

Also called: Rental rate, Day rate

Stock set aside for a customer who has not confirmed yet. A hold that never lapses quietly blocks the date for everybody else.

Also called: Tentative booking, Pencil booking, Soft hold

Any air-filled hire item: bouncy castles, slides, obstacle courses, arches and games. Each needs its blower, pegs and mats on the load-out.

Proof of public liability cover, which venues increasingly require from every supplier before they will let a van on site.

Also called: Certificate of insurance, COI

Everything the business owns to hire out, with the quantities and condition of each. For rental, inventory is never simply "on the shelf": some is out, some is damaged, some is in repair and some is missing.

Also called: Stock, Catalogue

How RentWeave handles it

The bill for a booking: items, rates, delivery, tax, deposit taken and balance due, with payment terms and a due date.

How RentWeave handles it

The paperwork the crew takes on a run: the address, the contact on site, access notes, times and the list of items to drop or set up. Signed on delivery as proof the stock arrived.

Also called: Work order, Delivery note

Pre-assembling the parts that always travel together, such as a tent's fittings or a place setting's pieces, into one crate, so picking a job means taking whole kits rather than counting single pieces.

A charge for stock returned after its due-back date, usually per day. It makes up for hires turned away while the stock was not on the shelf.

Also called: Late return charge

How far ahead customers book. Weddings can be booked a year out, children's parties a week out, and the difference changes how you buy stock and plan the season.

Tablecloths, overlays, runners and napkins. Hired by size and colour, laundered after every use, and best tracked by size because a 120-inch round cloth will not do the job of a 90 × 132.

Also called: Table linen

Bringing equipment into the venue and to where it will be used. Venues set load-in times, and a job that misses its slot can lose its build time.

Also called: Get-in, Move-in

Counting the stock for a booking onto the van. What actually went out is the number the return is checked against, so a load-out count is the start of any damage or loss claim.

Also called: Loading, Dispatch count

How RentWeave handles it

Items that went out and have not come back, or that a stock count cannot find. Kept separate from damaged stock until it turns up or is written off.

Also called: Missing stock, Shrinkage

Sofas, armchairs, ottomans and coffee tables used to make relaxed seating areas. Bulky per piece, so it fills a van long before it fills a booking.

Also called: Soft seating

Items away being fixed, cleaned or inspected. Still owned, not available, and expected back, which is what separates them from retired stock.

Also called: Repair, Out of service

How RentWeave handles it

A large event tent, the usual word in the UK, Ireland, Australia and much of Africa. Covers pole, frame and clear-span types; the word often signals a bigger, more formal structure than "tent".

How RentWeave handles it

The smallest booking value a company will deliver for. It keeps a van from making a two-hour round trip for six chairs.

A collection of photos, colours, fabrics and item choices that shows a client how their event will look before it is built.

Also called: Reference board, Inspiration board

How RentWeave handles it

A cloth napkin, hired by the dozen in the event's colours and folded at the table. Easily the item most often lost in large numbers at the end of a night.

Also called: Serviette

How many days a customer has to pay an invoice after its date, such as 7, 14 or 30. Corporate clients and venues often expect them; private customers usually pay before delivery.

Also called: Net 30, Payment terms

How RentWeave handles it

A booking whose due-back date has passed with stock still out. Overdue stock is the first thing to chase, because the next booking may be counting on it.

Also called: Late return

A smaller decorative cloth laid over a base tablecloth, often in sequins, lace or a contrasting colour. A cheap way to change the look of a table without changing the base linen.

Also called: Topper

An extra charge for delivering, setting up or collecting outside normal hours, such as late-night strikes or Sunday collections, because crew cost more then.

Also called: After-hours fee, Out-of-hours charge

A large, lavish Nigerian celebration, from weddings to birthdays and memorials, often for hundreds of guests. Owambe season keeps canopies, chairs, tables and décor in near-constant use.

Speakers, amplifiers, mixer and microphones for speeches and music. Often hired with an operator, and with enough cabling and power to reach the stage.

Also called: Sound system, Public address

The agreed dates and amounts for paying a booking off, typically a deposit at booking and the balance before delivery.

Also called: Instalments

The busiest stretch of the year, when demand outruns stock and the same items are booked every weekend. Its timing depends on the market: summer in Europe and North America, the December festive season and the dry months in much of West Africa.

A camera station with lighting, backdrop and props, often with a printer or instant sharing. Usually hired with an attendant, so it is part equipment and part service.

The list of items and quantities to take off the shelves for a booking. Warehouse staff work through it before the van is loaded.

Also called: Pull sheet, Packing list

Everything laid at one guest's seat: charger, plates, cutlery, glasses and napkin. Quoting by place setting is quicker than item by item, but every piece still has to be counted.

Also called: Cover

A tent held up by centre and side poles and tensioned by ropes and stakes into the ground. Graceful peaks and cheaper than a frame tent, but it needs soft ground and room for the guy lines.

Also called: Peg-and-pole tent

Self-contained toilets for sites with no facilities, from single units to luxury trailers. The number needed is worked out from guest count and event length.

Also called: Restroom trailer, Mobile toilet, Porta-potty

A signature, photo or timestamp showing the stock arrived complete. It settles arguments about what was delivered before they start.

Also called: POD

What the business paid for an item. The starting point for break-even, return on investment and depreciation, and kept separate from the hire rate and the replacement cost.

Also called: Cost price

A written order to a supplier for stock, consumables or sub-hire, with quantities and prices agreed in advance. It is what the supplier's bill is checked against.

Also called: PO

How RentWeave handles it

A priced offer listing items, quantities, dates and terms. It should be checked against availability before it is sent, or you risk promising stock you will not have.

Also called: Estimate, Proposal

How RentWeave handles it

The date after which a quote's prices and availability are no longer promised. It stops a customer accepting in June a quote for stock that was booked by someone else in May.

Also called: Valid until

The fallback if the weather turns: a tent on hold, sidewalls on the van, flooring for soft ground. Agreed in advance so nobody is negotiating it on the morning.

Also called: Wet-weather plan

How much of an item's purchase price its hires have earned back so far. Over 100% and the item has paid for itself.

Also called: Payback

A carpet runner for entrances and walkways, hired by the metre and often paired with stanchions and rope barriers.

Also called: Carpet runner

The span from when stock leaves the warehouse to when it is due back. For most events it covers delivery day, event day and collection day, even if the party lasts a few hours.

Also called: Hire period

What it would cost to buy an item again today. The figure a damage or loss charge should be based on, rather than what was originally paid.

Also called: Replacement value

How RentWeave handles it

Items permanently taken out of hire, because they are beyond repair or no longer wanted. Recording them stops a warehouse believing it owns chairs it threw away last year.

Also called: Written-off stock

Counting stock back in after an event, sorting what is fine, what is damaged and what is missing. Checked against the load-out, it is the evidence for any charge to the customer.

Also called: Check-in

How RentWeave handles it

Profit an item has made relative to what it cost: what it earned in hire, less its purchase and upkeep, divided by its purchase cost. It shows which stock to buy more of and which to sell off.

Also called: ROI

Hanging things safely overhead: drapery, lighting, chandeliers or truss from a tent frame or venue ceiling. Rigging points and weight limits come from the tent or venue, not from guesswork.

Modular platform sections that lock together into a stage or a raised top table, with legs at set heights, steps and skirting.

Also called: Stage deck, Platform

A circular guest table, most often 5 ft (about 1.5 m) across and seating eight to ten. Smaller and larger rounds exist, which is why linen is tracked by table size.

One trip by one vehicle and crew, delivering or collecting one or more bookings. Two runs on the same van at the same time is a clash.

Also called: Trip, Route

How RentWeave handles it

The timed plan of an event day: when the van arrives, when the tent goes up, when doors open, when the cake is cut and when the strike begins.

Also called: Running order, Event timeline

How RentWeave handles it

How guests are arranged: banquet rounds, long tables, theatre rows, classroom, cabaret or cocktail. The style decides how many tables and chairs a room needs and whether the guest count fits at all.

Also called: Room layout

How RentWeave handles it

Money held against damage or loss and returned once the stock comes back in good order. It is the customer's money until it is applied, so it should not be counted as income.

Also called: Damage deposit, Caution fee

How RentWeave handles it

Stock tracked unit by unit with its own serial number, such as generators or speakers. High-value items are often serialised; chairs and glasses almost never are.

Also called: Serialized item, Tracked unit

Placing and assembling stock at the venue before guests arrive. It takes crew and time, so a booking that includes set-up is priced and scheduled differently from a drop-off.

Also called: Install, Build

Where the bookings for a date need more of an item than you have available. Caught early, it can be covered by buying or sub-hiring; caught on the day, it becomes an apology.

Also called: Shortage, Conflict

How RentWeave handles it

A scaled drawing of an outdoor site showing where the marquee, generators, toilets, parking and access routes go. Used to check fit and to brief the build crew.

Also called: Site map

How RentWeave handles it

Going to the venue before the event to check access, ground, power, measurements and restrictions. Saves arriving with a tent that will not fit through the gate.

Also called: Recce, Walkthrough

A short code that identifies one kind of item, such as CH-CHIA-GLD for a gold Chiavari chair. Faster to search and harder to confuse than a name.

Also called: Stock-keeping unit, Item code

A fitted stretch cover pulled tight over a chair or cocktail table for a clean, modern line. Made for one table or chair model, so the wrong size simply does not fit.

Also called: Stretch cover, Lycra cover

Raised platforms for speakers, bands and top tables, built from risers with steps, skirting and sometimes a roof.

A post, chrome or brass, joined to the next by rope or a retractable belt, used to guide queues and mark off VIP areas and red carpets.

Also called: Queue post, Barrier post

Counting what is physically in the warehouse and comparing it with what the records say. Differences are investigated, then accepted into the records.

Also called: Stock-take, Physical count

How RentWeave handles it

A named area of the warehouse where an item lives, such as "Bay 3" or "Linen room". It shortens picking and makes counting by area possible.

Also called: Bay, Bin location

How RentWeave handles it

Taking everything down at the end of an event and packing it for collection. Often happens late at night or under a strict venue deadline.

Also called: Breakdown, Teardown, Derig

Hiring items in from another rental company to cover a shortfall. You still deliver to your customer; the items just are not yours, so they do not add to the stock you own.

Also called: Sub-rental, Cross-hire

How RentWeave handles it

An invoice a supplier sends you, for stock bought or items sub-hired. Matched against the purchase order before it is paid.

Also called: Vendor bill, Accounts payable

How RentWeave handles it

A narrow strip of fabric along the centre of a table, over or instead of a tablecloth. An easy way to bring an event's colours in.

Plates, bowls, cutlery and serving dishes hired by the piece or the place setting, usually returned dirty and washed by the rental company.

Also called: Crockery, Dinnerware, Flatware

Any temporary fabric shelter for an outdoor event, from a small canopy to a large structure. The main families are pole, frame and clear-span tents.

How RentWeave handles it

A raised or laid floor inside a marquee, from interlocking plastic tiles to a levelled timber subfloor with carpet. It turns a wet lawn into a dance-ready room, and it is often the heaviest part of the load.

Also called: Subfloor, Decking

Panels hung around a tent's edge for weather, privacy or looks: solid, window or clear. Hired by the run and easy to under-order.

Also called: Sidewall, Wall panel

A large, ornate high-backed chair for the couple, celebrant or guest of honour. Hired by the piece, usually in pairs, and fragile in transit.

Also called: King and queen chair

Every unit of an item the business owns, whatever its state. Available, out on hire, damaged, in maintenance and missing all add up to it.

Also called: Owned quantity

How RentWeave handles it

A modular aluminium lattice frame for hanging lights, screens or banners, or for building a free-standing arch or stage roof. Rated for the load it can carry.

Also called: Lighting truss

How long an item needs between hires to be collected, cleaned, inspected and made ready. Linen and tableware need the most.

Small lights placed on the floor to wash walls, drapery or tent fabric with colour. Battery-powered units save running cable across a venue.

Also called: Uplights

The share of the time an item spends out on hire rather than on the shelf. High utilisation means the stock is earning; persistently low utilisation means it is tying up money and space.

Also called: Utilization rate

How RentWeave handles it

A van or truck the business owns or hires in for deliveries and collections. An owned vehicle cannot be in two places at once; hired-in transport is not a limit in the same way.

Also called: Van, Truck

How RentWeave handles it

Where the event happens. Its access, loading times, floor and rules decide how a job is delivered, built and collected.

When and how a supplier can get into a venue: the hours allowed, the entrance, any lift or stairs, and how close a van can park.

Also called: Load-in window

A customer who collects and returns the stock themselves rather than having it delivered. Cheaper for them, but the counting at the counter matters even more.

Also called: Self-collect, Will-call

Running the building where stock lives: where each item is stored, how it is picked, counted, checked in and repaired.

Also called: WMS

How RentWeave handles it

A bundle priced for a wedding of a given size, typically seating, tables, linen, tableware and décor. It speeds up quoting and lifts the average booking.

How RentWeave handles it

A light, portable stand that holds a printed graphic upright, used for signage, sponsors and directions at events.

Also called: Banner stand, Pull-up banner

The outdoor storage and loading area beside the warehouse, where tent frames, ballast, generators and vehicles live and where vans are loaded.

Also called: Depot

Charging delivery by area rather than by exact distance, such as a flat fee for zone 1 and more for each zone further out. Easy to quote, and fair as long as the zones are drawn honestly.

Also called: Delivery zones