Wheelin' in the Warehouse Party

by Bettsy
(Portland, Oregon)

The roller derby girls pulling the horse buggy

We filled the party entrance with balloons

This was the set up before the event started

Everyone got creative with their rolling!

This fall, we found ourselves with access to a HUGE empty warehouse that used to hold auto parts, and we decided it would be the perfect place for a party. Coming up with a theme was a challenge, but every time we visited we wished we had on roller skates, so we decided to host a party on wheels.

We called the party "Wheelin' in the Warehouse" and asked everyone to bring something that rolled. Our friends turned out to be way more creative than we ever imagined, and some of the things they brought included scooters, golf carts, motorized ice coolers, unicycles, tandem bikes, skate boards, shopping carts, and even a horse pulled buggy cart!

To decorate, we stayed with a warehouse motif and used construction colors of orange, yellow, black and white. We went nuts with the balloons, and used construction cones and hard hats as anchors for table centerpieces. Because the space was so big, we had to kind of focus our decorations on the table area. In the other areas we set up road courses for all of the different wheeled things that would be arriving at the party. For this we used colored flag banners, roadside barriers, and flashing construction lights.

We wanted to make sure everyone stayed involved in the fun, so we also set up some entertainment for the night. We hired a live band for dancing, and we rented a photo booth where people could dress up and get their photos taken as party keepsakes. We also rented some giant trikes, pedal racers, and a huge interactive arcade style driving game. There was a lot to do.

Another highlight of the party was a visit by some of the girls from The Rose City Rollers, our local roller derby team. They were super outgoing and helped spice things up.

We had the food and drinks catered and kept things relatively simple. There were burgers, sides like potato salad and baked beans, and a salad bar. We hired a beer truck to come serve a few different tap beers, along with three different wines and lots of water! (Turns out that rolling around all night is very dehydrating!)

This party was fun, unique, and luckily pretty injury-free. If you have the space, a warehouse party on wheels is a great way to go!