Some weekends involve travelling backwards and forwards between venues, late-night collections and repeatedly returning to the unit to unload.

This weekend was different.

We installed five dance floors at five venues in one day, then collected all five the following morning. The venues, installation windows and collection arrangements fitted together unusually well, making it one of those rare weekends when the logistics worked almost perfectly.

The five bookings consisted of:

• Three white starlit dance floors
• One black starlit dance floor
• One parquet dance floor
• Five different venues across Worcestershire, Warwickshire and the Cotswolds

Two installations had specific setup times. The other three gave us generous windows during the day, allowing the route to be planned around the timed wedding turnarounds.

Loading the first two dance floors

The first two installations were both close to Worcester and only around ten minutes apart.

The van had been loaded the previous day and taken home overnight. That meant I could leave home on Saturday morning and travel directly to the first venue without going to our unit beforehand.

The first installation was at Stanbrook Abbey, approximately ten minutes from home.

A 14ft × 14ft white starlit floor at Stanbrook Abbey

The first dance floor was a 14ft × 14ft white starlit floor in the Pavilion at Stanbrook Abbey.

This was a straightforward installation in the usual position beneath the Pavilion’s sound ceiling.

We sometimes recommend a slightly larger dance floor for this room, but the 14ft × 14ft size was adequate for the number of guests attending and provided a clearly defined dancing area without taking up unnecessary space.

With the first floor completed, it was only a short journey to the second venue.

Our first visit to the Fox Inn at Bransford

The second installation was at the Fox Inn in Bransford.

Despite regularly driving past the area on the way to the Bank House Hotel, I had never worked at the Fox Inn before and did not realise it had a separate function room.

We could not access the room until 10am, which fitted neatly with the 9am installation at Stanbrook Abbey.

The Fox has a small built-in wooden dance floor. The client wanted this covered with a white starlit floor to give the room a brighter, more distinctive evening look.

The DJ was setting up towards the rear of the existing wooden floor, so I began building our dance floor in front of him and extended it forwards into the main function space.

Access was fairly easy, and I could use the trolley to move the panels into the room. With the first two venues so close together, both Worcester-area installations were completed early in the day.

A sensible break in the schedule

The next installation was at the Saxon Mill, but there was no need to go there immediately.

It was a birthday party rather than a wedding, so the function room was not being used during the daytime. As long as the dance floor was ready before 7pm, I had a generous installation window.

The following two wedding installations could not begin until later in the afternoon, so I went home for a couple of hours and had some lunch.

This also gave me the opportunity to split the van loading into two stages.

I could technically have carried all five dance floors from the beginning of the day, but there was no benefit in driving around with three additional floors in the van when my later route could conveniently pass our unit.

On the way to the Saxon Mill, I stopped at the unit and loaded:

• A black starlit dance floor
• Another white starlit dance floor
• A parquet dance floor

With the next three bookings loaded, I continued towards Warwick.

Black starlit dance floor at the Saxon Mill

The Saxon Mill received a 12ft × 12ft black starlit dance floor.

Twelve feet square is the size we typically install in its first-floor function room, so the floor itself was a very familiar and straightforward setup.

The more challenging part of working at the Saxon Mill is often getting the equipment from the van to the room.

It was a busy Saturday afternoon and the car park was full of people and vehicles. I managed to get the van close enough to unload the panels near the stairs, but then had to move it to the back of the car park and find somewhere that would not block anyone in.

Once the van was parked, I returned to the equipment, carried everything upstairs and completed the installation.

With no wedding breakfast or room turnaround to wait for, the setup was quick and uncomplicated.

A parquet floor at Mickleton Hills Farm

The first tightly timed installation of the day was at Mickleton Hills Farm.

The room used for the evening party is also used for the wedding ceremony. During the time between the ceremony and wedding breakfast, it can remain an important route through the venue, so we cannot begin building the dance floor until the guests have gone into the wedding breakfast.

It had been a long time since our previous visit. We first installed a floor at Mickleton Hills Farm in 2013, returned in 2015 and had not supplied another one there since.

The room has a traditional flagstone floor. Although it suits the character of the venue, an uneven flagstone surface is not ideal for every type of dancing.

High heels can catch on the joins and anyone planning ballroom, salsa or another style involving controlled footwork will generally feel more comfortable on a smooth, level surface.

For this wedding, the couple had therefore chosen a large parquet dance floor.

The original booking was for an 18ft × 21ft floor. Lengthwise, the room could accommodate it comfortably because it is a long space. The restriction was the width, as the doors still needed to close properly during the evening.

Rather than forcing the original dimensions into the room, we reconfigured the panels into a longer, narrower arrangement. This provided a similarly generous dancing area while respecting the door clearance and leaving plenty of room for the band.

The band had not arrived when we completed the installation, but their allocated setup area remained completely clear.

Access was reasonably convenient. We could drive around the back of the venue, past the horse stables, and park approximately 20 to 30 feet from the room. The panels still had to be carried individually because there was no practical trolley route, but there were no major access difficulties.

The floor was completed by approximately 5.30pm.

Finishing at Hotel du Vin Stratford-upon-Avon

The final installation was a 12ft × 10ft white starlit dance floor at Hotel du Vin in Stratford-upon-Avon.

This was the second booking with a room-turnaround time.

If the Mickleton Hills Farm wedding had run significantly late, it could potentially have affected our arrival in Stratford. However, we always allow some flexibility when planning several installations in one day.

We also knew this would be a smaller, quick installation. The panels can be taken into Hotel du Vin on a trolley, and the 12ft × 10ft floor does not take long to assemble once the room is clear.

I arrived at around 5.45pm, but the guests did not leave the room until approximately 6.20pm. In practice, the earlier installation therefore had no effect on the schedule.

Once we could begin, the setup was extremely straightforward.

That was the fifth and final dance floor installed.

No late-night collections

We had originally expected to collect a couple of the floors during Saturday night.

After speaking to the event coordinators at each venue, however, it became possible to leave all five in place until Sunday morning.

This made an enormous difference to the weekend.

It removed the late-night collections and avoided repeatedly travelling between venues and our unit. More importantly, the full collection route could be completed in one continuous journey, with all five floors fitting into the van together.

Collecting all five floors on Sunday morning

The first Sunday collection was at the Saxon Mill at 7.30am.

From there, I travelled into Stratford-upon-Avon and collected the white starlit floor from Hotel du Vin.

The next planned collection was Mickleton Hills Farm. I knew access should be available from 9.30am, but the first two collections had gone so smoothly that I arrived at approximately 9am.

Fortunately, the venue was already open. With nobody else around the room, I could dismantle and load the large parquet floor without working around other suppliers.

The next stop was the Fox Inn.

The pub does not open until 11am, so there was no benefit in arriving too early. I reached it at around 10.30am and found one of the chefs, who opened the function room for me.

Judging by the state of the room, it looked as though it had been a very good party. The dance floor itself was collected quickly and loaded onto the increasingly full van.

The final stop was Stanbrook Abbey.

Nothing else was taking place in the Pavilion, although members of the wedding party were removing their decorations. Several of their vehicles were parked around the usual loading area, making it slightly more difficult to position the trolleys, but it was only a minor inconvenience.

The final white starlit floor was dismantled, loaded and the weekend’s collection route was complete.

When dance floor logistics work perfectly

By the end of the morning, the van contained all five dance floors:

• The black starlit floor from the Saxon Mill
• The white starlit floor from Hotel du Vin
• The parquet floor from Mickleton Hills Farm
• The white starlit floor from the Fox Inn
• The white starlit floor from Stanbrook Abbey

Five different dance floors, collected from five venues in one continuous run.

Weekends do not always work this neatly. Room turnarounds can run late, access arrangements can change and nighttime collections can involve considerable additional travelling.

This time, the two Worcester installations sat conveniently together, the Warwick and Stratford-area venues formed a sensible route, and the flexible setup windows gave us enough time to work around the two timed wedding installations.

Being able to collect everything on Sunday morning then completed the weekend without a late Saturday night.

It was a good example of the planning that happens behind the scenes of dance floor hire. Installing the floor is only one part of the job. Loading, route planning, venue access, wedding breakfast timings, room turnarounds and collection arrangements all have to work together.

This weekend, they did.