12 Tips To Planning A Marquee Wedding

12 Tips To Planning A Marquee Wedding - Eternity

12 Tips To Planning A Marquee Wedding

28th September 2023

Marquee weddings have definitely evolved over the years, and they are super stylish.

To be honest, most South Asian households usually have a marquee up during the wedding week, especially for most of the pre-wedding events; but recently, couples have been evolving to plan the marquee wedding for their wedding ceremony itself, as well as, a switchover into the reception. This goes for at-home marquees or venue marquees too.

In our opinion, there is something so special about an at-home wedding, if it’s a viable option for your guest list; especially if it’s the exact home you’ve grown up in.

That being said, there are tons of logistics & extra bits and pieces that you need to keep in mind. We sat down with Sheleena, from Coco Blush Events, for her top tips to consider when planning a marquee wedding.

ABOUT COCO BLUSH EVENTS
Coco Blush Events is here to create your dream luxury occasion. With experience in, and a huge passion for events, Sheleena & her team work closely with you to design and deliver a truly bespoke and memorable event. They specialise in luxury marquee weddings, Essex weddings & Mauritius weddings.

Find the venue

So, if you’re set on a marquee wedding, the first step is to find the venue. Will it be at your house? At a venue’s existing marquee? At your fiancé’s house? Most of the time, if you’re considering a marquee, you probably have a bit f an inkling about where you want it to be, but it’s good to start discussing this with your partner & families first.

There may be extra logistics if you choose to do your marquee wedding at home, as opposed to a permanent one that’s already set up at a venue – so be mentally prepped for this (or hire an expert!).

Hire an expert

Like we said, hire an expert.

Coco Blush Events Wedding Planners & Coordinators are experienced and qualified on marquee weddings, and understand all of the logistics behind it. If you are considering your options, it’s worth speaking to them to understand the pros and cons for your situation.

Think of some more logistics

Similar to a traditional wedding venue, for your marquee wedding, you will need to consider some of these things:

● Number of guests

● Size of garden

● Accessibility for suppliers

● Accessibility to toilets

● Guest parking

● Access to a power source

● Access to running water

● Where will you dispose of post-wedding waste?

Understand the no. of events

If you are putting up a massive, bespoke marquee in your house, then try and understand the number of events. This will definitely help when you look at your budget, to see if it makes more sense for you to stick to a marquee for all of your events, or if you should mix & match between marquees and venues.

Once you know the number of events, this will also give you a better indication of the switchover times for decor, caterers, production etc.!

Define your vision

Always the most fun aspect of wedding planning – decide your vision. Once you know your events, it’s good to put together a moodboard for each event. This will determine what you do with our next tip!

Choose the right marquee

The type of marquee you choose can significantly impact the overall atmosphere. Your options include traditional, clear-span, or stretch marquees. Each has its unique charm, so pick one that complements your vision.

With that, you also want to consider the rough layout – do you need tables (how many?), will they be circle tables or long tables? Are you having a dancefloor? What lighting did you have in mind? So many great questions to ask yourself.

Weather contingency planning

After all, we do live in the UK! Depending on which wedding date you have chosen, this will also determine any seasonality extras e.g. will you need aircon if you’re having a summer daytime wedding in the peak of summer? Or will you need blankets & heating if you’re having a new year’s day wedding?

There are so many ways to incorporate fun & personalised elements into this: personalised fans, dance flip flops, or blankets!

Hire the right suppliers

Alongside hiring an experienced marquee wedding planner and coordinator, you want to hire wedding suppliers who also understand the logistics behind a marquee wedding. Especially your production team, caterers & decorators.

In case you have any queries or concerns, be sure to ask all the questions in each of your meetings, to ensure you are in the loop on everything.

Think of your guests experience

Wedding venues are used to taking care of couples and their guests everyday, but if you opt for an at-home wedding, there is definitely more you will need to think of with your wedding planner.

Try to map out the entire experience, from start to finish, to understand your guests’ experience. It’s small things like having the right directional signs, to where will your guests queue up for food without causing disruption, to where will any drinks / dessert tables be serves etc.

Understand the health & safety

This is where your wedding planner & suppliers experience will come in extremely handy! Understand the different health & safety concerns for each of your events, especially if any religious ceremonies involve a fire pit etc.!

Tell your neighbours

This one’s just good wedding etiquette. Be sure to inform your surrounding neighbours about the wedding, so that they can be aware of any loud music, car parks being blocked, suppliers access etc. Make it clear how many days your events will last too.

Enjoy!

As with any wedding venue, make sure you really enjoy the process. The perks of a marquee wedding are really the amounts of personalisation that you can do, so soak it in and see your vision come to life.