As wedding planner with a passion for creating magical outdoor weddings, I'm excited to share with you my top tips for planning your dream marquee wedding. This is an exciting yet challenging adventure, and I am here to guide you through every step. As you create your wedding venue from scratch, there are several factors to consider to ensure your big day is nothing short of amazing. See my tips below on planning your Marquee Wedding:
1. The Ultimate Location
Finding the ideal location for your marquee at your wedding venue is a crucial step. Make sure your marquee company does a site visit so they can assess the ground and overall space. For most large clear span marquees they can add flooring so a completely flat surface isn't essential, but with open marquee styles, you will need to find adequate flat ground. Also just to warn you about the great British weather - you will need to have space for your suppliers and guests to be housed inside the structure if it decides to rain.
Don't forget the logistics for suppliers when it comes to planning space around the outside of your marquee. Your suppliers will need space to park and unload near the venue and will even need space at the back for things like a refrigerator truck, generators and parking spaces.
2.Choose the Perfect Marquee Style
When it comes to your marquee wedding, it's all about reflecting your unique style. I help you explore the wide variety of marquee styles on offer, from classic pole marquees to elegant sailcloth tents. Whether you're dreaming of a boho or festival vibe where tipis and yurt will work well, to grand and luxurious celebrations where a clear-span marquee might be just what you're looking for - I'll help you pick the style that reflects your venue and personal style. There's a marquee out there for every size and vibe so you will find your perfect match.
3. Don't forget about the Toilets
They're probably not top of your list and let's face it are not the most fun part of planning, but you need to make room in the budget for it. You have a variety of toilet styles to choose from but the most popular ones are toilet trailers as they offer more space and have running water and mirrors. When choosing the positioning for the toilets, think about what your guests will see first when they arrive, so maybe put them to the side or back of the marquee out of the way slightly!
Top Tip: Most toilet trailers will need to be towed a large car like an SUV or van so check make enough space at the back or side of your marquee to accommodate this. And also check the access width to the site will be suitable for the width/ height of the trailer or any vehicles coming in.
4. Consider your Catering
Get in touch with your catering team to ask them how much space they require for the service tent. Remember if you are having a large number of guests with plated 3 courses, that's a lot of plates so therefore your caterers will need a lot of room! Plated meals vs sharing boards will differ in the size of add-on space you will need to allocate to your caterers - so just keep this in mind. Also they will need tables in the service tent to so work off, so check if this is something they provide or will the marquee company provide them.
5. Logistics and Power
You may want your marquee to be an enchanting space with twinkling fairy lights or disco lights for the dance floor - but this doesn't happen without a power source. Your marquee company will tell you all the details about how and where the best place to set up the generator will be, so it can power the sound, lighting, catering and toilets. You will need to keep to make sure the generator is out of sight of guests too!
6. Dreamy Décor
This is where your creativity takes centre stage! Your marquee is a blank canvas on which you can add your personality, style, unique colour scheme and literally anything you want! From transforming the dance floor, to hanging millions of fairy lights on the ceiling to installing large floral installations, fabric drapes and furniture pieces - the sky is the limit to how you decorate inside your marquee. And I am here to offer guidance, advice and creative direction, if needed.
Your journey to planning your marquee wedding will be fun and exciting, but with many choices and options to choose from. As an experienced marquee wedding planner, I can help you pull it altogether, you can reach out to me at Hello@yourstoryevents.co.uk or use my contact form here. I can't wait to hear from you!
Photo Credits: Ferri Photography and Heather Jackson Photography