Marquee Tent Wedding

FutileBreadMachine

FutileBreadMachine

FutileBreadMachine

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Anyone had any experience going to or having a marquee tent wedding? Are they alright? Better than renting a restaurant? We're thinking of having one next year. I'm not keen on paying London prices to rent out a restaurant, would rather be out somewhere green in Surrey.
 
I've been to at least one, possibly 2. They were perfectly fine and formal. But I think it's a lot to do with the weather because you still get the impression that it's outdoors.
 
Last wedding i went to was a marquee and an old converted barn.

It was excellent, food was superb and drink was plentiful. Was a splendid venue.
 
I've shot/been to a few in the past year.

They both have been good. Things I've noticed compare to a venue.

The floor is not level, and you need extra grounds outside for the guests to mingle.

You need to provide toilets facilities.

You need to hire caterers.

You need to get a bar too, and may be a DJ but not a necessity, one wedding they basically had a playlist from their iPod for the night with some rented lights and speakers.

The atmosphere is as you and the guests make it but overall is good.

The downside, is that it might cost as much as a venue. Renting a marquee is expensive, then adding the rest of the cost above, and even renting he grounds for the marquee itself.
 
Here you go, photos from the one last year. Was in the grounds of some rather large English house.


















The photos from the marquee wedding I shot last month is not quite finished and I am not home atm, will show you that when get home if you like and that one took place in the bride's dad's back garden! It took up 80% of the garden so it was rather tight squeeze.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
I've shot/been to a few in the past year.

They both have been good. Things I've noticed compare to a venue.

The floor is not level, and you need extra grounds outside for the guests to mingle.

You need to provide toilets facilities.

You need to hire caterers.

You need to get a bar too, and may be a DJ but not a necessity, one wedding they basically had a playlist from their iPod for the night with some rented lights and speakers.

The atmosphere is as you and the guests make it but overall is good.

The downside, is that it might cost as much as a venue. Renting a marquee is expensive, then adding the rest of the cost above, and even renting he grounds for the marquee itself.
Click to expand...

To add to this, I've been to a few as well, and if it's a hot day it will be unbearably hot in the marquee, so get some air conditioning systems hired or something similar.
 
Dr. Pain said:
Sounds er.... classy.

Dont forget the Karaoke machine and the coloured lights.
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I went to one where the Bride's mother kept horses and happened to own a few acres of land.

They had a Marquee for the ceremony by the house and another marquee the other side of a small wooded area in a large paddock they usually use for the horses.

A big festival sized marquee in the country side on a really nice day last summer, live band, great food, open bar, hog roast later on in the night... lots of people sat round a bonfire at 3am etc..

Was much classier and a lot more fun than the usual renting some generic run down stately home or some conference rooms in a dull no name 4* hotel.
 
I think a marquee is a much better idea than a hotel/restaurant/pub function room. However, if it's crap weather then I don't think it would work as well. Horizontal rain, gale force winds and sleet plus a marquee won't put the new wife in very good post ceremony sexual spirits!
 
Thanks guys, from what I've researched online, there are some fantastic locations you can set a marquee up at, and the tents look really good too. At the moment I'd really prefer it to hiring out a stuffy old hotel with bad food and expensive drink. It seems to be a lot more work though - like teaboy5 said, you have to hire cutlery, a generator, chairs, tables, toilet etc. etc.

(of course there are plenty of good restaurants/hotels available for hire, but they are very expensive)
 
Raymond Lin said:
I've shot/been to a few in the past year.

They both have been good. Things I've noticed compare to a venue.

The floor is not level, and you need extra grounds outside for the guests to mingle.

You need to provide toilets facilities.

You need to hire caterers.

You need to get a bar too, and may be a DJ but not a necessity, one wedding they basically had a playlist from their iPod for the night with some rented lights and speakers.

The atmosphere is as you and the guests make it but overall is good.

The downside, is that it might cost as much as a venue. Renting a marquee is expensive, then adding the rest of the cost above, and even renting he grounds for the marquee itself.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much everything... Friends had a lovely wedding in a marquee this time last year. They did say it would have been cheaper to have it in a place that had the infrastructure already... such as the toilets and catering etc...

Also don't forget that "portaloos" just won't do... You wouldn't want the bride with a long train having to sit in some skanky portaloo :p (on a side note my friend hired some really nice loos... super posh with music to boot!
 
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I was at a marquee wedding on Saturday. The only minor problem we had was actually getting into the field as we'd walked down from the church and cars going through the gateway had churned up the mud. They sorted that with some carpet pretty quickly though so we could walk across. My girlfriend still moaned that she'd ruined her heels though..

The actual party was well done, it was warm in the tent, they had some fancy portable toilets outside and a barbeque on the go outside later on. I think it was a good job the weather held off though otherwise the field around the tent could have turned into a bit of a mud bath!
 
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