We shopped around at different companies, the same ones that rented out tables and chairs had dance floors as well, and we asked for quotes. This is when we discovered that dance floors are the most expensive thing to rent on the planet. Mostly because the companies that rent them out require them to be tented, and you have to rent the tent from them as well, which basically doubles the cost. The average price for a tent and dance floor the size we wanted was about $500. Since we had budgeted less than half that (based on doing absolutely no research on the subject), we wanted to check out some other options.
I started looking for dance floors for sale on craigslist, and David was trying to find out how to build one on a budget. He found a blog (I heard that's where all the greatest thinkers share their ideas and experiences now) with detailed instructions on building a floor using plywood, and after pricing everything out we decided that was the way to go.
Originally we were going to buy a bunch of 2x4s and build the base of the dance floor, but then I had the brilliant idea of just getting a bunch of wooden pallets and attaching the plywood to the top, essentially cutting the work in half. David found free pallets on craigslist pretty easily, and one day he rented a UHaul and picked them up, and the plywood as well. And then my basement looked like this:
For like, a while.
Finally we got everything we needed, and were ready to start putting it all together. First we laid out the plywood and painted it white. It took about a million coats, since the wood is so porous. I had the great idea of painting the LOVE image on it, which was a big job, since there were six pieces of plywood that needed to be broken up into the four letters, and we were drawing out the entire thing with just a pencil and a tape measure. We had to call in reinforcements. And thanks to Gretchen and Dan, it came out beautiful.
Then we stacked the plywood pieces against the house, and David arranged the pallet base.
Now, the idea was to space out the pallets so that the plywood overlapped them, making it sturdier once everything was nailed down. Unfortunately, someone (I will give you a hint: it wasn't me) didn't plan this out well, and the plywood ended up covering the exact same space as the pallets covered. It's hard to explain, but the end result was an uneven dance floor. We had to take pieces of other pallets and random pieces of wood and kind of Frankenstein up the underneath so that it was stable.
Finally we swept all the dirt and ants off of it, put on a top coat of polyurethane, and we were ready to go. I was kind of shocked by how beautiful it came out. So unique and special. Everyone commented on it - it was a hit! And it made our reception so much more special than some generic rented dance floor. Even better, I would say the total cost ended up being about $150, including the UHaul rental. Of course, now we have a pile of plywood and pallets in our backyard. But I guess it just serves as a nice reminder of the amazing time we had dancing the night away.
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