Marquee vs Venue

Hi Lauren

I would say that, in general, a marquee wedding is more stressful for bride and groom. Not only is there potentially more stuff to book (see below) - there's not nessecarily anyone one "in charge" on the day, and I often see a family member (usually mum or dad) running round on the day dealing with any little problems that arise.

A few things to consider, just from my experiences in the past. Some / all probably really obviously things you've already thought about but here goes:

You will need adequate power for everything going on on the day. Your caterers will probably have the biggest demand for power - hot plates are the worst! But also your entertainment and obviously lighting will all need to be catered for power wise. Not always an issue as marquee companies usually include this but some people decide to go it alone and underestimate generator wise!!

Toilets! Again your marquee company may sort this for you. But, if not, it's another job for you! You'll also need someone to go ahead of your guests before their arrival to make sure they're unlocked! (You can tell I've seen all these things go wrong before ?)

Access. If it is really wet, people need to be able to actually get across the field and into the marquee. Would it be possible to situate it near to hard ground so in the worse case scenario, at least your guests and suppliers wouldn't have too far to wade? Think about your caterers / DJ / musicians. They will need to get reasonably close with their vehicle where you're planning to situate?

I guess the main factor weather wise would be, how much would it bother you if it was very wet? Obviously your marquee wouldn't be raining in (hopefully!), but your guests might be wellie-clad, so high heels may be a no no. I did a tipi wedding last month and it was VERY WET! Wellies galore!! But the bride and groom were really laid back out everything and we had a ball!!

James

Forgot to say, I've written a marquee wedding guide which may be helpful. It's more entertainment orientated but should still be worth a read:

http://wedding-blog-uk.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/marquee-wedding-guide.html

Also, check out my instagram for some pics of the welly wedding

https://www.instagram.com/the_wedding_singer/

Agree with everything James has said.

I'm having a marquee but its not in the middle of a field. Its at the side of a pub, and right by the car park so I don't have to worry about the muddy ground situation.

One thing I would personally suggest is you make sure your getting wood floor put under your carpet in the marquee. If not your floors not going to be balanced, and also if people take off their shoes and it is raining then their feet will get wet etc. I would also imagine its hard to balance on properly in big heels?

Our marquee is costing 4.5K, thats for a marquee suitable for 150 seated guests and upto 180 guests in total in the evening. It includes lining, furniture, dance floor, lighting, and generator. We aren't having toilets (pubs next door, people would have to go outside to portaloo's anyway so they might as well go out, walk 2 minutes, and use the nice toilets in the pub).

We decided on a marquee because we wanted the whole ivory floor / walls / blank canvas do up as we wanted. No hotels matched, with their red carpets etc!

However, it has slight downsides. We will be dressing the marquee ourselves, and on the day its our responsobility. Besides from food / drink, I don't know how much more the pub can / will assist on day to day running so we are likely to have to put someone in charge of managing our day (announcing speeches, etc). You can get around this by hiring a toast master though!

I guess the hardest thing at the moment is that you can't picture your venue like you could if was already up and you were able to visit it etc! I know a marquee is a marquee but the person hiring can decide where windows go, where dance floor goes, how drapes hang etc, so they can differ! I also can't go and test out how are decorations will look etc. There is also a slight concern re weather - if its too hot etc!

I wouldn't change my decision to have one though.

Wise words from the other posters here, I have seen that by the time all is added up that somtimes it is no cheeper to have a marquee than have it at a hotel.

But people who go for marquees are not doing so because of costs. Marquee weddings have their own informal relaxed family "feeling" to them which fits in with the Bridse and Grooms feelings.

The wedding below was tipis with the church where they were Wed in the background.

Yes, definitely not a cheaper option, at all!

Hi,

My daughter wanted the blank canvas of a marquee to base her Alice in Wonderland wedding theme on in September. It was fantastic, but they opted for a venue which had a permanent marquee with furniture, staff etc joined to the gorgeous building. Best of both worlds. It was Drayton old lodge in Norwich, Norfolk. Would highly recommend it.

Lynne

Before I start I have to say I was one of the lucky ones…. We had the hottest and sunniest day of the year in 2012, the week leading up was perfect too.

A marquee certainly isn’t necessarily the cheaper option; it was for us because of our numbers, we had 150 to the day and a further 100 in the evening. We wanted a high standard of venue with plenty of room for everyone not possible unless we had loads of money; a marquee covered that and was really our first choice anyway.

It is a lot of work I’m not going to make it sound like it is a piece of cake but there are so many companies out there that specialise in this sort of thing that they will really help you make the day perfect. Our Marquee Company where amazing, nothing was a problem, they also sorted the toilets (super posh), they could have sorted the generator too, but we found hiring one ourselves was much cheaper.

Catering – again we were lucky and found a company that ran the whole day for us, they provided the bar, table clothes, napkins, cutlery, china, glassware, staff… everything needed. They also included a master of ceremonies, who basically did exactly what you would expect from a venue.

The months before the Wedding I said many time that I would never do it again, it was hard work, but it really was all worth it, and in all honesty there is not a single part of it I would change….

BUT on another note, there was some friends of ours who got married 2 weeks before us who had the tipi’s, the weather was that bad that they were flooded and they couldn’t hold any part of there reception in the tipi’s. So in all honesty a marquee is amazing and so personal but there is one big risk that goes with it

Another option I have seen is where just the inside part of the marquee (the very thin silky part in the background in the below picture) is put up inside a village hall and looked brill and you have the loos and power and dry and the looks and should be cheeper as only 1/2 of the marquee is being put up.

As someone above said, I also have a venue with its own marquee so its best of both worlds. The meal etc is in the marquee but its open into the actual hotel if that makes sense so bar and dancefloor are in the proper building with seats and tables in the marquee. I like the fact I have a blank canvas of the marquee to decorate but the security of the venue. Its Hogarths hotel in Dorrige but im sure there are a few venues that offer this xx

We didn't have an actual marquee for our home blessing, but we had PIL's (massive) barn lined with marquee lining.

If you're organised and have an eye for a bargain, it can work out cheaper, but you do need to plan ahead and shop around.

Catering - we only had a hog roast and there were plenty of outside power points at the barn that they could make use of, but if you're planning on serving a three course meal, then the caterers will not only need space to prepare, but also plenty of power points.

Toilets - we hired posh portaloos, which was a doddle, but obviously something to think about

Furniture hire - luckily, we hired tables, chairs and linen from a local hotel owner, who we know through work, and he did this for us for just the cost of cleaning the linen. It would have been a good few hundred pounds to hire from a furniture hire company or via the marquee people.

Band (sound, lighting etc). Our band would have brought their own amps and stuff, but that's it. Again, who you know is important, and we have some friends who are techies in the local theatre, so they brought us a stage, lighting and a sound board for the band and the disco later on.

Bar - we hired a mobile bar and almost had a disaster after the marquee lining was put in as the bar wouldn't fit inside the barn due to the low ceiling!

Serving and clearing up - obviously the hog roast was self serve, but I'd completly forgotten about cutting the cake, and our cheese tower. Our poor mothers were cutting up the cake and handing it round the tables! We spent hours clearing up the next day.

My parent have lived on the same farm for years and now i have a little cottage on the same land, i have so many happy memories there i wanted my wedding there, so i am having a church wedding and marquee in the field, luckly we have power and toilets in the stables near by but i had a price for mine with lining tables dance floor bla bla for 6k i am going to get another price

if its what you have always wanted dont chnage your dream