The best venues to hire in London

We know that finding a venue the old-fashioned way (where you trawl the internet, contact 10 venues or set your heart on one, only to find that they're out of your price range and not even available on your dates) is a pain, and there are a few pitfalls between you and booking your perfect venue in London. Getting the venue-finding process down to professional art is what we’ve made our mission ever since we took on the events industry. We often get asked the same questions, so here's what we recommend to quickly and easily hire a space in London.

So you want to hire a space for an event in London, but you don’t know where to begin. It’s a common experience – after all, it’s not every day you need an entire venue to yourself (unless you do, in which case, fair play). Thankfully, we’re pretty good at the whole London hire thing, and we have some tips for you. Start with the budget – Money is the most important thing to consider when looking for a great venue in London. Every decision you make, from the exact location to the number of guests, to whether you’ll have food or not, will impact the overall cost of your event. Chances are, you’re going to want to push your budget as far as it will go. To get the most out of it you can opt for things like dry hire, non-central venues and off-peak event dates. Which brings us to…

If you can, have a few dates in mind – It’s a well-known fact that lots of London venues will already be very busy on popular dates. The chances of getting the most in-demand spaces on a Saturday night are about as high as walking into a busy London restaurant and asking for a table for 30. Not great. Being flexible with your dates will ensure the London venue has the most leeway in finding you a time slot. If you can, hold your event on a weekday, these are always less competitive and the venue may even give you a discount to ensure your business.

Find out who’s going – The guest list is of utmost importance in planning a London event. Getting the figure set down is key for both you and the venue. The venue will be able to work out how much space you need, and you can start figuring out how far your budget will go. Establishing the cost per head is a great way of visualising the individual experience of each of your lucky London guests. Plus, you can work out who you don't want to attend – it’s your event, after all.

Get setup – This is crucial for seating events. There are lots of different styles, from cabaret to theatre, with each being suited to a certain event type. Getting the seating perfectly aligned with the kind of event ensures no one will be facing the wrong way when the presentation starts.

Make sure everyone is able to attend – A truly great event planner thinks about how every single guest will get to the venue. Not everyone drives, so consider the public transport links, (and the possibility of a train strike) alongside things like parking and safe bike lockups. You should also think hard about the accessibility of the venue itself. Some disabled guests will require alternate access to some venue spaces, and you want it to be as comfortable for them as possible. Empathetic event planning is something we love at HeadBox, and it’s something your guests will love, too.

Themes, moods and the rest – This is the fun bit. There is such an amazing wealth of event spaces in London that you can pretty much fulfil any theme or mood. From dimly lit bars to breathtaking historical venues, the sheer variety of spaces makes anything possible. Themes are a great way to make things memorable, too. Go with a classic like picking a decade, or get weird and wonderful with unique theming – things you’d find in a school Lunch box theme, anyone?

Match the mood with the location – Certain London boroughs are known for certain types of venues. Chances are, if you’re looking for a hip bar, Shoreditch might be your shout. For historic venues, Westminster is normally good. That said, we bet we can find you the right space, no matter the place in London. Just try us.

Think about the extras – So, a space is a good start but you may want to go beyond. Think about things like audio-visual facilities, natural light, breakout rooms and catering. Having these requirements in mind will help you quickly root out ill-fitting London venues, and there won’t be any last-minute surprises when you realise your Mayfair rooftop party is taking place in a Camden basement.

Get a sneak peek – Site visits are the industry term for taking a look at the space before the event is going. It’s a great way to really visualise what your London event will be like for your guests. Whilst an in-person site visit is great, it can be difficult to schedule, especially if you and the venue are busy. We offer virtual site visits, using the latest technology with certain venus – and it won’t cost you a thing!

Make sure you really have the space to yourself– Double check to see if you’ll have the whole space to yourself. Sometimes venues will partition off spaces to accommodate multiple private events. If this doesn’t bother you, then brilliant – but it’s always best practice to check in advance.

What’s the cost of hosting an event in London?

The hard truth is that it’s difficult to put one single number on a London event. All the nuances and permutations of your individual needs will affect the overall cost. That said, there are a few golden rules for pricing a London private hire:

Looking for an affordable venue? Cheap venues in London are not exactly forthcoming in one of the world’s most expensive cities. There are, however, a few pointers. Hiring a space in a pub, bar or community hall is normally a good way to keep costs down. The spaces in these venues tend to be more affordable than your Grade II listed buildings or penthouse party pads.

Blank canvas is a term we use to refer to an event space that just gives you the space. This means no extras like catering, entertainment or serving staff. It’s just the space and what you make of it (hence the term blank canvas). It’s a great way to keep costs down and maintain control over the kind of event you’re throwing in London.

Knowing London is the key to working out price points. Our figures show that the further away from the centre you are, the cheaper the hire fee will be. A hall in Bow will be a lot cheaper than a hall in Westminster. Bear in mind, though, that the further out you go, the bigger chance you run of the event being more inaccessible. It’s all about the balance.