Marquee on family land? Help!

Congrats and welcome

I don't really have an input or any answers for you.. But I am thinking of doing the same thing so wanted to follow the thread

I can't say for sure, but I think hiring a marquee is around the same cost. Especially as it is on land with nothing else, so you would need toilets, generators etc etc.

Marquees aren't cheap either tbh but it's worth a look at as I think they'll be deffo cheaper than a barn and on your own farm you can definitely cut costs with things like Costco for alcohol etc.

We had a marquee in my Mum's garden.

If you're on a budget, you will almost certainly get a better deal at a venue rather than privately hiring a marquee and caterers. A venue doesn't have to be a hotel, think outside the box!

Our marquee was £6k, catering (one meal) £3k, a crepe van and cake was dessert. Toilets were part of the marquee package. Chairs, table clothes, plates, cutlery, glasses were another £700 ish. Decorations, lights and centre pieces were £500. Admittedly, we could have scaled back a bit, but we were far from OTT. Then the alcohol on top as well if you're providing it.

Also remember you'll have to pay to marry elsewhere. Room hire and registrars fees were another £1500.

Once I add the dress and accesories, suits, bridesmaid dress, bands, photographers, and extra bits like table plan, favours, post box etc I think our total wedding cost was getting on for £20k.

Marquee was 6k!? Bejesus! My friend had 2 marquees in her back garden recently, didn't think it'd cost that much!

That's the kind of price I was finding when I was thinking of having a marquee (proper one with sides, flooring etc). I think the cheapest I could find was about £4k. Then obviously, as Ducky says, there are all your other costs on top such as food and wine etc.

Welcome to hitched!

It can depend quite a lot on area and suppliers as to if it will be 'cheaper' or not.

I would start from scratch and figure out your budget and go from there.

*IF* our friends hadn't been the selfish beggars and sold up and gone to Spain we would have loved out reception at their place, with marquee etc as it makes it so personal BUT I think that our pub reception and accomedation has probably worked out cheaper.

Bottom line, what do you want / what do you want to pay?

Good luck.

Our marquee was around the £5k and that included lining, table, chairs, sofas, toilets, star lighting over the dance floor, powder room and catering tent etc. On top of that the catering, I found a company that provide a bar, staff, a kitchen, everything. We had a hot 3 course meal in the middle of a field, cooked fresh! Provided drinks during the meal all sourced ourselves from Majestic’s (very good company) this was served by the catering company any left over bottles were returned to the supplier and we were refunded.

For the reception including food and drink it was about £10k, which worked out cheaper than any venue for us and we could have the number of guests we wanted. I personally think the hidden costs are when you come to dress the marquee….. you have to remember it’s a blank canvass and takes a lot of hard work to make it something more then that.

My sister-in-law did this on our farm. It was not the cheap option as everything had to be brought in. I think the marquee was arounf £5K, then catering, flowers, tables, chairs, decorations and the bar on top of that oh and toilets. For her she had always dreamed of marrying on the farm so it was perfect but the hotel packages were cheaper. Although I have chosen a barn for our reception which is £3300 to hire and then everything else on top of that. If you're marrying in church thats a separate cost but mine is coming in at around £700 I think which is very reasonable.

Hello.

We are having a marquee on my parents land. Be aware that its not a cheap option - with the marquee, caterers and decorations - its coming in at about 11 grand for us!! And thats with us DIYing all of the decorations ourselves. Also as the day approaches, its getting a bit if a stress because rather than just being in touch with one venue, I am having to go back and forth between suppliers. Yesterday I was sending emails about electrical usage and water supply! Glamorous!

I wouldn't change my choice as I wanted it at home for sentimental reasons rather than budget, but in hindsight, I really didn't realise it would end up so expensive.

I think much like everything, it depends so much on who you use, and what you actually want.

Marquee can mean anything from the old 'Village Fete' canvas thing, with just grass on the floor, through to an amazing marquee, with lighted dance floor etc.

Needless to say, one end is very cheap, the other significantly more expensive..

Make sure that when you tot up the costs you remember to add the costs of toilets, as you don't want 100 or so guests traipsing backwards and forwards through the house!

Please, please do also make some contingency for rain! I had a marquee wedding where it absolutely poured down all day long. Needless to say, in a Marquee, this is not quite such a pleasant experience as being in a barn.

On the plus side, I did have a client, who camped out, along with all their friends on the night before and the night of the wedding. It was a really wonderful day, because everyone started off together and it had a wonderful feel to it.

Pete x

Another idea if you have a farm available to you...

Would it be possible to empty a barn? you can hire marquee lining for a couple hundred quid and that can look fab. That way you have the structure and you will only need to hire tables/chairs etc.

We are having an informal garden party. Our marquee is 20x 50 due to the size of the garden, with lining, standard floor 15 trestle table, wooden chairs, 2 chandeliers and this cost £2000. Our caterer is doing canapes, BBQ, salads, pudding and cheese and crackers for 65 for £2000. We have done it cheaply (no extras). This doesn't include alcohol and we don't need portaloos.

Marquee and catering will be biggest costs so get some quotes for this before deciding either way.

Ducky on here did this. Find her wedding report it is amazing!!!! I am sure she could answer a few questions for you too if you ask nicely x

Marquees can vary loads in price. For our home party on PIL's (non-working) farm, we hired lining cloth and carpet and lined a barn which was emptied (well, all the junk shoved to one end!).

Not a great picture, but here's an idea:

THe lining, carpet, dance floor and twinkle lighting for over the dance floor came to around £1,200 I think. As it was only our home party, we just had a hog roast, which was £4.95 per person. We got salads, potatoes etc as well as canapes from a local hotel owner who we have a good relationship with, plus he lent us the tables, chairs and linens all for free (just had to pay for cleaning). Toilets were £300-400 if I recall correctly. We had a pay bar, but spent around £1,000 on welcome drinks and an hour's open bar. Dessert was cake (our present from SIL) and a cheese tower (a couple of hundred pounds) plus sweets (£40ish from the local cash and carry). I didn't keep track of all the little decoration bits.