Planning a Wedding in the Pittsburgh Area?

Windswept has been providing brides to be with the knowledge and wedding rentals they need to make their wedding fantasies a reality since 1991. Let the staff at Windswept use their wealth of wedding planning experience to guide you through the planning of your wedding. Whether you are planning a tented wedding, or having your wedding in a banquet hall we have the rentals you need to take your wedding to the next level. Choose from our thousands of different linen, tent, dishware, chair, and entertainment options to ensure that your wedding is uniquely you. If you would like to learn more about how Windswept can help you give us a call at 724-539-1009, or visit it us on the web at www.windswept.com

The Proper Tent For Your Event.

So you have decided to have an outdoor event for 250 people. You know you need a tent but have no idea how large of a tent you will need for 250 people. This is a very common problem that customers come to us with here at Windswept Entertainment & Events. When customers ask us how big of a tent they need we figure it out by asking them questions about what they will be doing under the tent and then plugging that information into the formula below to get a square footage size of the tent they will need to accommodate their guests.

How many guests will be at the event?........................ 250
Seating:
Theater (chairs in rows)= 6 sq ft/person .................... No
Classroom (tables and chairs in rows) 6 sq ft/person......... No
Banquet Seating:
Rectangle Tables 8 sq ft/person.............................. No
Round Tables 12 sq ft/person................................. Yes
Cocktail Parties:
All Standing 6 sq ft/person.................................. No
Some Seated 8 sq ft/person................................... No
Activities:
Dancing 2-4 sq ft/person..................................... Yes
Bar 100 sq ft................................................ Yes
Buffet 100 sq ft per table................................... Yes 4 tables
DJ 100 sq ft................................................. Yes
Band 240-400 sq ft........................................... No

Now that all of our information is in the tent sizing formula all we have to do is add up the total sq footage. In this example the total sq footage would be as follows:

250 people seated at round tables 250 x 12=...................3,000 sq ft
250 at the event with dancing 250 x 3=........................ 750 sq ft
Bar .......................................................... 100 sq ft
Buffet 4 x 100=............................................... 400 sq ft
DJ............................................................ 100 sq ft
Total sq footage needed=......................................4,350 sq ft

Now that we know that the total square footage of tenting we will need for your event is 4,350 ft we can pick a tent that is the right size. The style of this tent will be determined by the size of the property it is going to be put on, and the budget you have allowed for your tent.

So how do you determine how many sq ft a tent is considering they are not listed by square footage size? To get square footage we multiply the length times the width of a tent. Most rental companies tents will be listed in sizes like 20' x 20' or 40' x 60' so if you multiply those numbers together you will get the square footage of a tent.

Example: square footage for a 40' x 60' tent is 40 x 60 = 2,400 sq ft.

For our example event of 4,350 sq ft we will need to go with either a:
50' x 100' clear span tent = 5,000 sq ft
40' x 120' frame tent = 4,800 sq ft

This formula is a great way of getting an estimate on the size tent you will need, and the cost of the tent, but we recommend having a trained professional come out to look at the site before booking a tent. If you would like to schedule a site consultation please give Windswept a call at 724-539-1009.

The QB Blitz

Everybody loves to throw a football and pretend they are an NFL quarterback. Whether its a birthday party, post prom, or corporate event your guests won't be able to help themselves from throwing the old pig skin at the target and pretending they are completing a long touch down pass to win the big game. To learn more about the QB Blitz or any of our other equipment visit our website or give us a call at 724-539-1009.

Maintenance Time

January and February are very slow months in the Party rental industry, so what do we do to keep busy you might ask? This is the time of year where we maintenance all of our inflatables, tables, chairs, and simulators. Our trained ride operators will go over all of our equipment sanitizing it and checking it for areas that are showing wear. Any equipment that is showing wear is either fixed in house or sent back to the manufacture to be fixed depending on the severity of the problem. This is also the time of year were Windswept Entertainment and Events sales team gets to go to the IAPPA show to look at all the new inflatables that the manufacturers have came out with, and purchase any new rides that they feel will be popular with our customers in the following years. This year we purchased the Boulder dash obstacle course, a new mechanical bull, and a lot of new tents. One of the most important things we do at this time of year is go over all of the industries ride safety procedures with our ride operators and test them on these procedures.

Summer entertainment and party rentals

Now is the time to book your summer entertainment. Whether your having a graduation party, birthday party, 4th of july party, a wedding, or any other type of event that you need party rentals or entertainment for you need to be booking these events now. I can't tell you how many times people call in June to set up there child's birthday party for the upcoming weekend and we have to tell them we are sorry but we are sold out for that day. There is no worse feeling for us not only do we hate to turn down business but you can feel the disappointment of the person planning the party over the phone and that is hard for us to take, considering we pride ourselves at www.windswept.com on customer satisfaction. So please book your next event early so you can ensure all the equipment you will need is available to you.