Should you buy or hire table linen? Our table setting experts weigh in!

Long story short? Hire.

Wait, you wanted more detail? Well, we suppose we can explain more…

At Table Art, nothing makes us happier than seeing your event (be it a wedding, birthday or any other function) come to life. And a good, high-quality table linen is essential.

You’ve got a solid idea of your ideal fabric, pattern and colour. The only question left: whether you should buy or hire table linen!

Our table styling experts outline the pros and cons of buying your linen for an upcoming event vs. linen hire.

Buying vs hiring linens

To buy, or not to buy… that is the question.

While most people focus on colours, patterns and materials, equally important is the decision to buy or hire table linens.

If you ask us, hiring table linen is the superior option for the majority of events and functions. But why?

Hiring table linen is more cost-effective

Far too often the budget has the final say over what you can do with your event styling and decorations.

And unfortunately, for many events and functions, buying table linen outright is simply too expensive.

When you buy linen, you’ll be paying for:

The right materials and fabrics
An appropriate dye
Their seamstress or seamster
Delivery services
Design and manufacturing time

By contrast, hiring table linen simply eliminates almost all of these expenses.

After all, the linens are already made – you won’t need to pay for materials or manufacturing costs, leaving you more flexibility in the budget for the other aspects of your event or function.

Table linen hire saves you time

Buying table linens doesn’t just cost money, either – in many cases it can also be a major time-sink!

That’s because in many cases, buying table linens outright may involve having to plan around production timetables – especially if your supplier doesn’t presently stock have the sizes, material or volume you require.

All of this means that in many cases, buying table linen needs considerable lead time – and this is assuming absolutely no hiccups occur during the process!

By contrast, table linen hire is as simple as choosing a linen from our catalogue and waiting for it to arrive. All you’ll need to do is choose a material, size, and quantity, and tell us what date you need it for.

Hiring table linen saves space

Let’s face it: who has the space to store 10+ table linens indefinitely?

Take it from us – table linens can take up a surprising amount of space.

Frankly, most of us simply don’t have enough space to permanently store dozens of table linens on the off-chance we might use them again in the future.

When you hire table linen, you won’t need to worry about folding, hanging or storing any table linens.

When your event’s over, all you’ll have to do is send it back to us – we’ll take care of everything else for you!

Looking for the perfect size?

If so, hiring table linen is your best bet!

When most people buy table linen, they tend to gravitate towards cheaper options like Kmart or even online from sites like Etsy or eBay. There’s just one problem with this: you won’t always get the right size!

Most cheap tablecloths you’ll find, particularly online, won’t be able to accommodate larger or more unique table sizes; basically, anything more complicated than your average dinner table.

Another thing to consider is the question of width. Ideally, table linen should drop a minimum of 45cm down the side of a table. The problem is that most premade tablecloths aren’t wide enough for that.

Hiring table linens, on the other hand? Now, that’s a different story!

Linens are part of our core business, so it stands to reason we’d stock a variety of different linens in a wider range of sizes than the ones you’d get at Kmart.

And as part of our custom table linen service, we create table linens specifically for your tables. Send us your table height and width, and we’ll put something together for you that covers your table and has a visually-pleasing amount of drop.

Speaking of custom-make…

Need something unique? Table Art will create custom table linen!

Of course, when it comes to custom table linen, you can’t exactly hire!

Table Art is proud to offer a custom linen service for companies who wish to create totally bespoke linen to match their logo or slogan.

Whether it’s a major event that you’re sponsoring or an exciting rebrand, custom table linen can bring your event – and your company – to life!

Our custom linens are all pre-tested for:

Shrinkage
Colour fade
Stain removal

This ensures we create custom pieces that you can easily manage yourself. Best of all, you can use them time and time again for all kinds of corporate events!

Interested in bespoke table linen? Contact Table Art today!

Turn your table settings into works of art

A good table setting does more than set the mood – with the right table linens, accessories and design, it can be a legitimate piece of art.

And we’re here to make it happen.

Our team of table linen experts does more than just renting out table linens – we help you decide on the perfect colour, theme, and fabrics for your event, whether you’re hosting a: