Table linen is bought on a picture and judged on how it hangs. These four decisions are what decide the second part.

Format follows the room

Fitted throws for exhibitions: cut to the table, square all day, three-sided so staff can sit and store boxes underneath. Stretch spandex for stages and anything on camera, because tension pulls every crease and shadow out of the surface.

Draped cloths for banqueting and weddings, where a soft hang is the point. And runners where the venue insists on its own linen, which is more often than people expect.

The drop is the specification

A cloth is sized from the table dimensions plus how far it must hang. Full to the floor hides legs, cables and boxes and reads formal. A mid drop suits a working or buffet table where people stand close.

Get the drop wrong in either direction and it is visible from across the room: too short looks like a mistake, too long is a trip hazard and most venues will make you remove it.

Fabric weight decides whether it hangs or floats

The most common complaint about event linen is billowing, and it is always the same cause: fabric too light for the room’s airflow. Air conditioning lifts thin polyester all day.

A heavier weave costs slightly more per cloth and simply hangs. For stretch covers the equivalent question is the spandex content, which is what holds the tension.

Certification is a document, not an adjective

If the venue requires flame-retardant linen, it needs a named test standard and a certificate. ‘Fire retardant’ on a quote is not usable.

Specify inherently flame-retardant fabric rather than treated. A treated coating degrades with laundering, so a compliant cloth quietly becomes a non-compliant one, and nobody re-tests event linen.

What to send when you ask for a quote

Table length, width or diameter, and height. The drop you want. Format, quantity, artwork, and whether the venue needs FR certification. That is enough for a real quote and a mockup the same day.

A throw front is a wide, short canvas, so most logos need repositioning rather than scaling. We redraw free.