Hey there, fellow event planner.
How was your last breakdown? Did you get out of there at a decent hour, or were you that person loading a SUV at midnight, praying nothing falls out when you open the door?
I’ve been there. Too many times.
After a decade in this chaos, I’ve learned that what happens after the guests leave matters just as much as the party itself. And honestly? It all comes down to one thing we don’t talk about enough: storage.
Not sexy, I know. But stick with me.
The Bag Situation
Let’s start with something small that drives me insane.
You know those clear plastic zipper bags that comforters come in? Save them. Every single one.
Here’s why: linens are the enemy. They’re awkward, they wrinkle if you look at them wrong, and they somehow multiply overnight. If you’re throwing tablecloths into bins without bagging them individually, you’re creating problems for future you.
I bag every linen by itself, write the size and color on a piece of paper, slip it inside so you can see it through the plastic, and then stand them up vertically in the bin like files.
No digging. No unfolding ten white napkins to find the one cream one that got mixed in. Just grab and go.
And yeah, some of these bins live at my storage unit over at A-Affordable Storage. I’ll be honest, I picked them because they’re close to the highway and I can roll a hand truck right up to the door without climbing stairs after a 14-hour day.
The Empty Box Lie
I used to break down every single box after an event. Flatten them, stack them neatly, tell myself I’d recycle them. Then I’d need a box the next week and have nothing but flattened cardboard that won’t hold its shape.
Now I do this instead:
I keep five or six really good quality boxes in my storage unit at all times. Not flattened. Taped on the bottom, ready to go. Same size, same brand, so they stack nicely.
When I’m breaking down an event, anything that needs to be packed goes into those boxes immediately. No “I’ll find a box later.” Later never comes.
The rest of the cardboard? Straight to recycling. No guilt, no stack of useless flaps taking up space.
The Midnight Inventory
At 11pm, after eight hours of setup and four hours of breakdown, your brain stops working. You’ll put things anywhere just to be done. You’ll swear you’ll remember where you put that box of votives tomorrow.
You won’t.
I learned this the hard way. Spent two hours once looking for a client’s custom signage the morning of their walkthrough. It was in my car trunk. I had put it there at midnight, driven home, and completely forgotten.
Now I have a rule: one photo, one note, before I leave the storage unit.
Pull out my phone, snap a quick picture of what I just put away, dictate a voice note: “blue tote, back left, bottom shelf, votives and candles.” That’s it. Thirty seconds.
When I’m scrambling later, I check my photos first. Game changer.
The Overflow Reality
You’ve probably got stuff in your garage, your mom’s basement if she’s nice enough, under your bed, and maybe a corner of your office if your boss doesn’t notice.
I did that for years. It was fine until it wasn’t. Until I needed something from mom’s basement at 8pm and she was asleep. Until I had to drive to three different locations to gather stuff for one event.
Eventually I got real with myself and consolidated everything into one proper space at A-Affordable Storage. And yeah, it costs money. But you know what costs more? The gas, the time, the frustration of hunting down one item across four locations.
Plus now everything’s climate controlled. No more melted candles in summer. No more musty linens in winter.
The Racking Decision
I’ll keep this short because everyone’s budget is different, but get shelves.
I fought this for so long. Thought I’d just stack bins, save money, use the floor space. And then I spent a whole afternoon moving twenty bins to get to the one on the bottom.
Bought two metal shelves the next week. Now everything is visible, everything is accessible, and I don’t dread going to my unit anymore.
Bottom shelf is heavy stuff. Glassware, metal centerpieces, random hardware. Middle shelf is everyday bins, labeled on the front and the top because sometimes you’re looking from above. Top shelf is seasonal stuff I rarely touch.
Works for me. Might work for you.
The Charger Stash
This is a tiny one but it saves me constantly.
I keep a small tote in my storage unit labeled “oops.” Inside: extension cords, power strips, phone chargers (iPhone and Android because you never know), batteries in every size, a hammer, a box cutter, and gaff tape.
When I’m loading out and realize something needs a battery change or a quick fix, that tote is right there. I’m not running to the gas station at 10pm. I’m not borrowing from the venue staff.
Just open the unit, grab the oops box, fix the thing, move on.
The Seasonal Swap
Here’s something I started doing last year that changed everything.
Twice a year, I do a full unit reset. Spring and fall.
Everything comes off the shelves. Sweep the floor, wipe down the bins, check for anything that’s damaged or not worth keeping. Then I reassess what stays where.
Summer stuff goes to the back or top. Fall stuff comes forward. It keeps my brain fresh on what I actually own, and weirdly, it feels good. Like cleaning out a closet.
Plus I find things I forgot about. Last spring I found a whole box of mercury glass votives I’d bought two years ago and never used. Put them in rotation for fall weddings and they were gone by November.
The Honest Truth
Look, storage isn’t glamorous. This job is hard enough without making it harder on yourself.
Find a system. Stick to it. And if you’re local, swing by A-Affordable Storage and check it out. We keep it clean, it’s safe, and honestly? Sometimes I just sit in my unit for five minutes before an event. Quiet. Organized. Everything in its place.
It’s the calm before the storm.
And we all need a little of that.
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