Stop Searching. Start Choosing.
Top5.nz

Best Event Hire in Napier and Hastings

We assessed 8 event hire companies in Napier and Hastings and ranked the top 5 on their public review record: rating quality, review volume and how recent the reviews are. The 8 listed below hold 289 Google reviews between them. No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Last updated 29 August 2026. How we rank →

lightbulb

Before you hire

No licence or register covers event hire in New Zealand, so the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 is what protects you: hired gear must be fit for purpose and of acceptable quality, and no contract term removes that for a private booking. A marquee over 100 square metres, or one up for more than a month, needs a council building consent, so ask who applies for it. Get delivery, set-up, pack-down, the hire period and the bond or damage waiver terms on the written quote, and ask what happens if gear arrives short or damaged.

Top 5 Event Hire in Napier and Hastings

The top 5 event hire companies in Napier and Hastings are #1 Look Sharp, #2 Flagship Events, #3 Mardigras Event Hire, #4 Evalasting Play, and #5 Intense Productions, ranked by Top5 score. Scroll for our take on each, plus what to ask before you book.

  • 1

    Look Sharp Store Hastings

    ★ 4.4 147 reviews Top5 Score 153
    5★ 87 4★ 44 3★ 8 2★ 4 1★ 4

    Look Sharp stocks costumes, balloons, birthday banners, and party decorations across a wide price range that draws repeat shoppers planning events on a budget. Turnaround on custom items like printed banners can be as quick as five days, and staff have been known to stay past closing time to get last-minute costume needs sorted.

    location_on Bay Plaza, 221 Russell Street North, Hastings

    map Map Is this your business?
  • 2

    The Flagship Events Hire Company - Hawke's Bay

    ★ 5.0 25 reviews Top5 Score 141
    5★ 25

    Flagship Events coordinates marquee hire across tent styles including the Manhattan, Cape Cod, Boston Round, and Carolina, along with dance floors, lighting, furniture, and bar setups as a complete package. When a thunderstorm threatened one couple two days before their wedding on a public holiday, the team erected a marquee at short notice, and multiple reviewers describe last-minute changes handled without friction.

    location_on 402A Avenue Road East, Hastings

    map Map Is this your business?
  • 3

    Mardigras Event Hire

    ★ 4.5 47 reviews Top5 Score 140
    5★ 32 4★ 11 3★ 2 1★ 2

    Mardigras Event Hire covers marquees, tables, chairs, and bridal party arrangements for weddings and workplace gatherings, with multiple reviewers noting the team went out of their way to tailor setups to specific needs. Pricing sits at reasonable to slightly above mid-range, and the hire stock arrives in good, sturdy condition.

    location_on 508 Queen Street West, St Leonards, Hastings

    map Map Is this your business?
  • 4

    Evalasting Play - Kid's Party Hire Hawke's Bay

    ★ 5.0 21 reviews Top5 Score 139
    5★ 21

    Evalasting Play brings soft play sets, ball pits, trampolines, and hoppers to children's birthday parties, with equipment sized to suit babies through to school-age kids. Christel and the team handle full setup and pack-down on the day, so parents arrive to a ready-to-go space and leave without packing anything away.

    map Map Is this your business?
  • 5

    Intense Productions, New Zealand

    ★ 4.8 18 reviews Top5 Score 134
    5★ 16 4★ 1 3★ 1

    Intense Productions runs the full technical side of corporate conferences, weddings, sporting competitions, and public events, covering sound systems, lighting rigs, staging, and live streaming in one crew. Jono and the team have a track record of absorbing last-minute changes, including a full venue switch booked with under 48 hours notice, without disrupting the event.

    location_on 42 Holden Street, Onekawa, Napier

    map Map Is this your business?

Before you book an event hire company in Napier and Hastings

Drawn from 184 customer reviews collected for this page. The first answer is what it costs.

What does hiring marquees, furniture and party equipment typically cost in New Zealand? expand_more

Marquee hire is priced by structure size, with a basic 6x12 metre frame marquee for a weekend running roughly $800 to $1,800 including delivery and pack-down. Larger structures for 100 or more guests can reach $3,000 to $8,000 once flooring, lighting, and liners are added, at a rate of $15 to $40 per square metre for the structure itself. Delivery and setup are usually a separate line item, often $200 to $600 depending on distance and site difficulty, so check whether any quoted figure is pick-up only. A refundable bond or damage deposit of $200 to $500 is standard, and weekend or long-weekend bookings often carry a minimum spend.

How is an event hire company held accountable if the gear turns up late, damaged or unsafe? expand_more

Event hire in New Zealand is not a licensed or regulated trade, so your main protection comes from the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, which requires hired goods to be of acceptable quality, fit for purpose, and matching any description given, with repair, replacement, or a refund of hire fees as remedies. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 also requires a hire company to supply gear that is without risk when used as intended and to provide correct information about safe use, a duty that sits alongside your own obligations as event host. A marquee is exempt from building consent under Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004 only when it is both 100 square metres or less in floor area and in place for no more than one month; exceed either threshold and you need a consent from your territorial authority. The Hire Industry Association of New Zealand is a voluntary industry body rather than a regulator, but membership signals a company has agreed to a code of practice, and disputes up to $30,000 can be taken to the Disputes Tribunal without a lawyer.

How do I know a marquee and hire package is the right size for my guest numbers? expand_more

A seated dinner needs 1.5 to 2 square metres per guest just for tables, chairs, and basic circulation, so a marquee sized on head count alone will run short once you add a dance floor, bar, catering area, or stage, each of which adds meaningful floor area. A dance floor sized for roughly 30 to 40 percent of your guest count is a practical starting point, and for a 100-person seated event you should budget for 250 square metres or more once those extras are included. Reviews from local hire companies show that site visits and measured plans are how competent suppliers confirm access, ground conditions, and levels before quoting, so treat any company that skips a site assessment for a larger event as a risk.

What are the warning signs of an event hire company you should not book? expand_more
  • –No written confirmation of what was booked, including item counts, delivery window, set-up and pack-down times, and hire period length.
  • –Gear described differently at delivery than in the original quote, such as a different marquee style, furniture condition, or item count short on the day.
  • –Staff who are uncontactable over the weekend when your event is actually running and something goes wrong.
  • –Bonds or damage waiver amounts withheld after return without photographs or an itemised claim showing what was damaged.
  • –Extra delivery, fuel, or pack-down charges appearing on the final invoice that were not in the original quote.
  • –A refund process that requires significant effort from the customer for a product that arrived faulty or not as described, as flagged in at least one local review.
What should you ask before booking event hire? expand_more
  • –Ask for a written quote that itemises every item by count, the exact delivery window, who carries out set-up and pack-down, and the full hire period including any extra-day rate.
  • –Ask what the bond or damage waiver covers, how damage is assessed, and what photographic evidence the company uses before making a claim against it.
  • –Ask whether your marquee size and the length of time it will be up take it outside the building consent exemption under Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004, and if so, confirm in writing who applies for consent.
  • –Ask whether a site visit or measured plan is carried out before delivery, and who is responsible if the marquee cannot be pitched where planned due to ground conditions or access.
  • –Ask what happens if a booked item becomes unavailable close to the event date, and what the wet-weather contingency process looks like if your layout needs to change.
  • –Ask for the full cancellation and date-change terms in writing before paying any deposit, since no statutory cooling-off period applies to a hire booking in New Zealand.

Event Hire ranked 6 to 8 in Napier and Hastings

They scored below the top 5 on the same public review record.

  • 6

    Empire Event Hire

    ★ 4.9 13 reviews Top5 Score 131
    5★ 12 4★ 1

    Empire Event Hire fits couples wanting marquees, decorative arches, wine barrels, native wood tables, and bench seating sourced and installed by one familiar contact rather than a faceless hire company. Barnaby handles drop-off, builds items like arches on site, and returns the following day for pickup, with flexible timing that larger hire operations rarely accommodate.

    location_on 430 Kereru Road, Maraekakaho

    map Map Is this your business?
  • 7

    A Touch of Elegance

    ★ 5.0 8 reviews Top5 Score 126
    5★ 8

    A Touch of Elegance takes on weddings and birthday parties where couples or hosts hand over creative control, translating loose theme ideas like cottagecore pastels or romantic fairy light schemes into fully realised setups covering decor, tableware, and hire items. Claire and the team coordinate directly with other vendors on the day, so the overall look comes together without the client having to manage moving parts.

    location_on 299 Willowbank Avenue, Meeanee, Napier

    map Map Is this your business?
  • 8

    Define Event Hire

    ★ 4.4 10 reviews Top5 Score 113
    5★ 7 4★ 2 1★ 1

    Define Event Hire pulls together clean, working hire stock across a solid range of items, with Sandy known for finding solutions that come in cheaper than competing hire companies. After-hours drop-offs are available when timing demands it, and Sandy steps in with suggestions when clients are unsure what they need.

    location_on 202 Southland Road, Hastings

    map Map Is this your business?

Related Napier and Hastings rankings

celebration Wedding Venues restaurant Event & Wedding Caterers photo_camera Wedding Photographers All Napier/Hastings rankings arrow_forward

About this ranking

How are the top event hire companies in Napier and Hastings chosen? expand_more

We build this page from Google Maps results for event hire companies in Napier and Hastings. Each one is scored on its public rating and review record. Businesses outside the area, or whose reviews describe a different line of work, are left out. See how we rank for the full method.

How often are rankings updated? expand_more

Every category and city is recrawled on a rolling cycle, about every two months. This page was last checked on 29 August 2026.

Can a business pay to appear in this list? expand_more

No. Top 5 and Also Recommended positions are merit-only and cannot be purchased. Verifying a business is free. A subscription adds a website link on the card, a public profile page, and competitor and ranking history in the owner's dashboard, none of which affects ranking position. See what a subscription includes.

Why isn't my business listed? expand_more

We build this page from Google Maps results for event hire companies in Napier and Hastings. The usual reasons for missing out are a Google Business category that does not match, too few reviews to score near the top, or an address outside the area we cover. At the last update, the smallest review count among the 8 businesses listed here was 8. Check where you rank or read how rankings work.