Flexibility Triumphs: dry hire vs all-inclusive event venue hire
The life of an event planner can be a tricky one. Between the multitude of decisions to help bring an important event to fruition, one of the first you are likely to come across is deciding whether a dry hire venue or all-inclusive events package is more suited to your needs.
A dry hire venue gives you full creative control when it comes to every detail of your event, although this naturally comes with a far more complicated planning process as you will be responsible for the handling of every aspect of your event.
Conversely, a venue that offers everything helps to simplify the planning process due to the venue being your sole supplier. While this can help from an operations and logistical standpoint, it means you’re unable to source anything you may need from other suppliers and are limited in what you can change within the event space.
However, who said event planning must be so black and white? We believe taking the best aspects of both to offer a truly bespoke solution is often the answer. Here’s why.
The right amount of flexibility
A lack of flexibility is often cited as one of the biggest pain points for event planners when negotiating with venues. Skift’s global survey found that 42.6% of event planners surveyed said venues ‘not being flexible enough on contract terms’ was one of their biggest frustrations – something that can become an issue when opting for an all-inclusive package.
A dry hire venue might be your initial go-to as they typically provide greater flexibility in what you can do with the space. However, too much flexibility can also be a challenge, leading to choice paralysis which will only slow down the decision-making process. Factor in that event planners are having shorter and shorter lead times meaning less time overall to prepare, having to work with a totally blank canvas venue might not help.
Ideally, you need a venue that already provides everything you need for a successful event but also has that level of flexibility that lets you input some of your creative flare to truly make your event shine. From the AV to the catering, to everything in between, the Royal Society of Chemistry at Burlington House provides everything an event planner needs, and our events team is always on hand throughout the planning process should you require anything extra within the event space.
What’s more, having an in-house team to help ensures peace of mind that they know the event space and how to utilise it effectively, as well as how best to overcome any challenges should they arise.
Managing event design
Wowing your delegates with exciting and inventive event design is one of the key ways to help make your event a memorable one, yet both fully dry hire and all-inclusive venues have their own share of limitations when it comes to designing your space.
With dry hire, event planners are faced with the difficulty of designing a space and injecting personality into it completely from scratch. A fully decorated venue on the other hand faces the opposite issue – how can event planners make their mark and add their own touch if they have an event space they can’t change?
Having a room that already has a personality as a starting point is great, yet event planners still need to have the ability to tailor it to their liking. Our rooms are all built to be full of personality, with their own stories to tell, but with the ability to give event planners all they need to also help craft new stories as well.
For example, The Council Room’s event design offers both charm and class with its combination of ornate features and antique artwork, yet is still flexible enough to allow you to turn it into your own storytelling space.
Costs and budget
When it comes to dry hire and all-inclusive venues, you might assume that dry hire venues are the most cost-effective option due to you having one upfront cost to use the event space then the ability to budget accordingly. However, as previously mentioned, this does require you to handle every individual aspect of your event, and if not budgeted effectively, could see costs spiral or important requirements for your event overlooked or forgotten.
With costs and budget, we ensure we always give event planners the transparency and flexibility they deserve. That’s why you’ll always know exactly what you’re getting with our event spaces, while also having our dedicated and professional team on hand to help you source anything you may require in addition to our offerings, to help make your event extra special.
We believe event planners should receive the best of both worlds without any of their drawbacks. For more information about our event spaces and our offerings, view our venue pack.
Host an event at Burlington House
In the heart of London’s Piccadilly, the Royal Society of Chemistry at Burlington House is a prestigious event venue full of discovery, offering stories around every corner.
