Marquee in own garden for the reception

One of my closest school friends had a marquee in her parents garden for her wedding reception and it was brilliant. They didn't hire toilets but they did have a downstairs loo that guests were able to use so that wasn't a problem.

We had our engagement party in our garden too. A big party tent, BBQ food, music through an ipod with speakers, 2 infra-red patio heaters, an LED light strapped to the poles of the party tent and battery operated fairly lights dotted about the place. It was great!

I think it's a lovely idea.

We have two downstairs toilets, but we're currently working on 110 guests for the full day and a further 37 in the evening (not factoring in non-attendees and obviously subject to change in the next year or so), so I think we may have to hire some. I can't believe that the thing I'm obsessing about at the moment is toilets! So unglam.

I have photographed loads of marquee weddings and I have to say that I think that they are the very best (and possibly potentially the worst) weddings. You get such a personal day and a fantastic sense of family and atmosphere but........the planning can be a massive headache. I have arrived just before the wedding to photograph the bride serenely doing the last bits of hair and make up only to find here screaming at her Mother and laying tables in the marquee!

I would seriously suggest thinking about hiring an experienced wedding planner if only to get you started in the right direction - they will save you many boring hours researching and agonising over toilets, types of marquee, flooring, drainage and electricity supplies. In all probability a good planner will also be able to save you some cash as well. You don't have to have one to organise the whole day - just the time consuming marquee bits to get you started.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Hi Chale,

We have played in some amazing marquees and if you can have the reception in your garden it's of course really personal to you both. The receptions have always been really fun and it feels really special.

Most of the couples hired in a professional wedding planner who will have built up their contacts and will save you lots of stress! The big bonus is that you can be in charge of everything if you want to be!

Just make sure the marquee company supply a powerful enough generator for a. The Kitchen and b. The Band!

Happy planning!

James x

Whilst we're not having a marquee on our own land, we have just hired some land and some tipis for our wedding and have had to organise everything from scratch- from loos to catering to making sure we have power on site and so on.

I've loved every minute of it and wouldn't have considered hiring a planner for a second. I think it does very much depend on your own skill set & what you enjoy doing. I've relished the research, the option to personalise every little detail, to source suppliers exactly to my choosing and budget with no restrictions what so ever. I can't imagine doing it any other way. Of course, i'm sure the lead up to the day itself will be (organised) chaos, but again, if you're the sort of person that will thrive in that environment jump right in

What I would recommend is an on the day co-ordinator, so that on the day itself any issues can be dealt with by someone else. You wont have to be clock watching, or chasing suppliers or any of that nonsense.

Usually your marquee company will be able to supply everything you'll need in terms of flooring, tables etc and if they can't supply themselves, they'll often have a trusted associate who can.

If you have any questions about the whole DIY marquee thing, let me know and i'll do my best to help

Similarly to PavonePhotography, we hired a big walled garden and set to work on making our DIY wedding. Researching & arranging was no problem really. Marquee company (we had Capri tents as they were a lot cheaper) sorted out posh loos (which came with toilet-themed music to the delight of everyone), flooring, lighting, etc. We had access to power onsite already and everything else came from the caterers. If I were to do anything differently, I would've got in a day coordinator or just more hands on deck for the decorating which took an age because we love detail! Happy to pass on details if you need any recommendations depending on where you are.

Similarly to PavonePhotography, we hired a big walled garden and set to work on making our DIY wedding. Researching & arranging was no problem really. Marquee company (we had Capri tents as they were a lot cheaper) sorted out posh loos (which came with toilet-themed music to the delight of everyone), flooring, lighting, etc. We had access to power onsite already and everything else came from the caterers. If I were to do anything differently, I would've got in a day coordinator or just more hands on deck for the decorating which took an age because we love detail! Happy to pass on details if you need any recommendations depending on where you are.

Congratulations on your engagement!

Me and my husband were in a similar predicament and ended up going with a marquee in our parents garden, and I would definitely recommended it. Your completely in control of the whole event and can make/ personalise it to meet your version for your perfect day. The marquee company we used was Oakleaf Marquees, and were incredible. There ability to produce the venue of our dreams was second to none, and the expertise in other services such as catering, entertainment and flowers made our life a lot less stressful. If your after ideas or advice check them out.
If you need any specific help don't be afraid to drop me a message.

All the best

Emily x

Wow, this thread is a blast from the past! We quite quickly abandoned the idea of a marquee in the garden because it would have been too much faff, and our garden probably wasn't big enough anyway. Plus the thought of the amount of organisation required frankly made me feel a bit sick. This was back in the day when we thought we could do everything for £5,000...thank you, everyone, for all your input, though!

I wrote a Wedding Marquee Guide blog post a few years ago from my experience with working in marquees at home weddings. Mostly from an entertainer / DJ's perspective but might be helpful - http://blog.theweddingsinger.uk.com/2009/08/marquee-wedding-guide.html

James

I wrote a Wedding Marquee Guide blog post a few years ago from my experience with working in marquees at home weddings. Mostly from an entertainer / DJ's perspective but might be helpful - http://blog.theweddingsinger.uk.com/2009/08/marquee-wedding-guide.html

James

Hiya

We had a marquee wedding in our back garden summer 2015.

If im honest the amount of planning and work involved is crazy but at the end so worth it.

It really is budget dependent. Can you afford a wedding planner, staff to do the set up of tables, clean up. Theres lots to think about from hiring toilets, hiring bins to throw rubbish, bars, then crockery and linen hire.

I underestimated the cost of a marquee and in the end it costed far more than a venue BUT we had no restrictions. Suppliers could be on site any time they wanted to, friends and I stayed up all night setting up decor in advance, we partied till we wanted to.

To make it worth while I'd suggest doing a pre wedding event and even a post. Our marquee took 1 week to build then we had it up for a 1 week wedding then another week to take it down. We had 4 events which made it so worth while.

We used Bees Marquees and cannot recommend them enough.

Which area of England are you getting married in?

If you need any more advice feel free to message me!

Thanks

My sister in law had a marquee in a friend's garden and it was brilliant. There was a lot of planning, but I don't think she found it too overwhelming. They hired their furniture, lights, bunting and dancefloor from the marquee company, so that was all just delivered and set up together with the marquee. They had a hog roast and lots of salads, which I think were provided by a local cafe. She hired crockery etc from them I think as well, and her one regret was that she didn't pay extra to return it dirty! Washing all those dishes was not fun (although if you're on a budget, it was completely fine, just a bit of work to do the day after). Toilets were just the nice hire ones, I think there were two men's and two ladies' for 110 people. It does add up, especially the marquee itself, but their budget was not massive at all and they saved loads by not having overpriced hotel food and buying their alcohol themselves. I'd say go for it, so much more flexibility and opportunities to make it personal! I would really hate for some hotel staff to tell me what to do on my wedding day... ?

Oh hold on, I just realised this is a really old post! How did this crop up??