LUXURY MARQUEE WEDDINGS

Marquees come in all shapes and sizes, however, the space available in your garden or at your venue may affect the choice you have. Planning a marquee wedding starts with me visiting your location and carrying out a thorough assessment of the feasibility and logistics involved. This includes everything from the access, space available and nature of the ground underfoot, to the available power and water supply. There is always a huge amount to think about and usually more than a few challenges to overcome, but I will guide and advise you throughout.

Afterwards, I will recommend the best style of marquee for you, work with you to create a vision and budget for your event and recommend a team of expert suppliers to bring it to life.

This is one of many questions I get asked when planning marquee weddings and the answer is ‘no’. Wedding marquees are temporary structures and therefore planning permission is not required - phew!

The cost of a wedding marquee varies enormously depending on the style and quality of the structure you choose and how you decide to furnish and decorate it. Don’t forget there’s not just the main marquee to think about; you will also need a catering tent, generator and toilets. It is likely you will want to have your drinks reception in your garden too, so you will also want to consider hiring a separate tent in case it’s bad weather. I like to obtain at least two itemised quotes from different marquee companies as part of the budgeting process. As always, you will remain in full control of what you spend and I will be there to guide you.

It is not currently possible to get legally married in your garden at home unless it is officially licenced. Instead, most of my clients get married in a church or a civil wedding venue before continuing their celebrations at home. Another option would be to have an unofficial blessing ceremony at home and do the legal part separately.

Depending on the time of year, it is important to consider how the light and temperature varies during the day. In summer, it’s best to avoid guests being in the marquee during the hottest part of the day, so my clients typically have their ceremony around 3 pm. I like to allow at least one and a half hours for the drinks reception and, if the garden is not blessed with areas of natural shade, I hire parasols to protect guests from the sun and provide sun cream. We generally welcome guests into the marquee around 5:30 pm by which time it’s much cooler. If you’re getting married in peak summer (June-July) this means that it will be starting to get dark by the time you’re ready to party!