Wedding Marquees - Top Tips

A marquee is the perfect solution if you want to hold your reception at home or if your chosen venue has limited indoor space. Marquees can be decorated to fit the style and theme of your wedding, making them a great alternative!

Food for thought

Determine beforehand the number of guests and the type of meals you want to provide. Sit down or buffet?

Will you want the marquee company to provide the catering and equipment?

Do you want a dance floor?

Are you going to provide mobile toilets?

What colour do you want your marquee to be and what sort of lining do you want?

Top tips for wedding marquees

Marquees may require you to furnish them. You will need to consider hiring catering equipment, crockery, furniture and catering staff.

For a winter wedding, heating and insulation will be needed.

In the case of bad weather, you may want to think about connection awnings (walkways).

Optional extras will help you choose your exact requirements to suit your theme and budget and range from basic linings and lighting to luxurious wall panels and chandeliers! Marquees can be as fancy as you make them!

Consider menus carefully if there will be a restricted space for food preparation, cooking and plating. A barbeque or pig roast would be ideal or maybe serve a joint of meat to each table. One guest could always be designated as the carver and given an apron and chefs hat!

Get at least three quotes and check if the company is covered by public liability insurance.

Before paying a deposit ensure your contract includes a scale floor plan, an inclusive fixed price and agree dates and times for access, deliveries, decoration and dismantling.

Decoration Ideas

Decorating a marquee can be so much fun, especially when it is for your big day!  Whether you are using it for your ceremony or just the after party, there is a lot you can do to make it look beautiful.

You can use flower petals to decorate the floor, ribbon to cover the poles, buntings to decorate the walls… the list is endless. Try thinking of a theme and decorating it accordingly. Think classic vintage or winter wonderland- both of these could look great! We have a great selection of wedding stylists happy to help!

Five marquee styling ideas from Wedding Planner

1. Simple and affordable

Pick a colour theme and then buy napkins, bunting and table runners to match. Decorate the tables with flower petals and use the napkins in glasses to make pretty centre pieces. You could even buy ribbon, in the same shade, to decorate the chairs in the venue and anything that needs extra detail! Pastel colours work great for weddings, why not try baby pink and pale blue?

2. Vintage, rustic theme

Vintage weddings are becoming more and more popular and decorating your marquee to match couldn’t be easier. Think DIY, rustic and neutral. Again, a bunting for a vintage design is a great idea- this time in more neutral colours, greens and browns. Fairy lights entwined with delicate hearts, woven from wood, look beautiful and can really set the scene.

3. Sophisticated and classy

A marquee doesn’t mean that you have to embrace the outdoors. You can make your marquee look as sophisticated as you’d like! Perhaps think about keeping your colour scheme to black and white, picking out a signature colour for flowers and any other stand alone decorations. Green can look very fresh and classy, especially against black and white.

4. Pretty and girly

Think fairy lights, lanterns, hearts hanging from the walls, ribbon, personalised detailing, flowers, candles… all things pretty! If this is the look you are going for then try incorporating some of these ideas into your wedding marquee. Paler colours work better for this theme idea, pinks, purples and pale blues. Sprinkle the tables with glitter for a beautiful effect.

5. Exotic and ethnic

Bright, bold colours… warm oranges and fiery reds! Use cotton tassels in golds, colourful rugs and authentic lanterns to really set the scene. Think of a place you would like to try and replicate… India, Asia, Africa? Have a think about what really stands out about these places and bring as much of the culture, as possible, to your wedding marquee.