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This season we have seen a rise in people opting to use their own land and gardens for their sailcloth tent event. This has been fantastic and is very personal to each event we've done. Here's some tips on hosting a marquee at home.
Building your wedding or party in a sailcloth tent gives you full control over the look and feel of your day.
There is certainly a romantic and charming element of turning your home and garden into your own venue so here we are going to look at some practicalities to make this possible.
There are plenty of logistical planning elements to consider which is both incredibly exciting but can be a little daunting if you’ve not done it before.
With a few logistical top tips and passed down knowledge we hope to make this a happy and smooth process for you.
If you want to create a wedding that is truly individual to you then a marquee allows you to do just that.
A sailcloth tent is a true blank canvas where you can make it a real reflection of your own style and personalities.
You can pick the suppliers you want because you love them not because they are on your venues preferred suppliers list.
We will always come out and look at your site before we build any sailcloth tent. We can check if there is access to the sailcloth tent site for all suppliers and their vehicles. Any issues can be ironed over way before your event and there should always be a solution.
Jobs to consider in the run up to the wedding might be some maintenance to do on your land or garden. There will be suppliers onsite cleaning up in the days afterwards with the take down. Someone who know the land should be available onsite a few days before and you have a team of friends lined up to help with questions regarding your home and garden.
We will quote for lighting, flooring, hanging points such as floral hoops and your back of house area for suppliers such as your caterers. We will check your site is flat and you can choose carpet or matting.
We always suggest providing a toilet trailer for your guests. We work with some luxury ones in the North of England and beyond.
These are delivered ready to go including all the toiletries and sometimes even music inside!
Once your event is finished the trailer is picked up and removed from your site leaving you with zero cleaning to do. We can advise on the size of the toilet trailer depending on how many guests are coming and organise this for you.
To provide your sailcloth tent with a power source, this will come from a generator which we will order and have delivered, linking the power to everywhere that needs it.
We like to place the generator a little bit away from your tent for noise reasons and run the power inside. When we do a site visit to your home we can choose where this will be placed.
A few other things to consider when thinking about how feasible it is to turn your home into a wedding venue are where will your guests park?
Is there nearby accommodation for your guests?
Would you like a member of our team to be onsite to manage the sailcloth tent temperature, turning on heaters or rolling the sides up if its too hot? We offer this service to all our clients and enjoy seeing the day in full swing!
We are happy to be put in touch with your suppliers and we will liaise with them directly.
Your caterer will have requirements for the dimensions of the catering tent, access timings power requirements.
The same applies to your florist who might want to hang a floral installation and will need to know when they can get in decorate the tent and make it look amazing!
These things will all impact on the feel of the day and your guests experience. Once you have all of that in hand it’s time for the fun design part.
We will chat through with you what style of wedding you are planning.
Would you like long and impactful tables, or would you prefer round guests tables?
Are you going big on your band and will you need a stage and a huge dancefloor or are you planning on a chill out area near the bar? Or both!
Once we have quoted you for your sailcloth tent we can happily send images and answer any questions if something doesn’t make sense. We have planned so many marquee weddings and parties before, so we want you to lean on us for all the support and advise you need. Get in touch for an informal chat about the event you are planning.
Image credits:
@damianslowphoto
@marcgartlandphotography
@lucybedfordphotography
@iballphotography