Planning a marquee wedding at home
This wedding season has once again seen us plan some incredible marquee weddings at family homes in and around the UK and whilst choosing to host a wedding at home gives couples the perfect opportunity to design a truly unique celebration, it is definitely a more complicated event to manage and can often be rather overwhelming for lots of couples and their families. With this in mind, many couples decide to hire the services of a professional and experienced wedding planner for support and guidance in managing the logistics and navigating the complexities of building their own wedding venue.
Needless to say, we would always recommend hiring a wedding planner, especially for a marquee wedding and we do genuinely believe that an event planner who is experienced in marquee weddings, is a wise investment for the smooth running of a wedding at home. A marquee specialist will ensure that couples and their guests enjoy every moment of the special day, without having to worry about the build, the setup, the logistics, any on-the-day curve balls that may be thrown their way, as well as the dismantling and clear up after the event.
Hosting a wedding celebration in the gardens of a family home or country estate certainly offers couples the opportunity to design the most unique celebration, as well as the flexibility to transform a blank canvas into the most beautiful and often very unique event space, but it is essential to ensure that all of the logistical and planning considerations are taken into account ahead of the big day. It is also imperative that all of the wedding suppliers that are booked as part of your wedding team, are not only fabulous at what they do, they look after your home like it’s their own & respect your property and your privacy.
A marquee, yurt or tipi wedding is quite literally a unique venue built especially for you, enabling you to plan and design a truly bespoke event space. You can include stunning ceiling installations, exquisite dining spaces, relaxed chill-out areas and even hidden nightclubs. The options for the structure itself are also plentiful; from white frame marquees, traditional pole marquees, framed clear-span designs, giant tipis, yurts, pavilions, glass structures or geo domes. Whichever structure you hire, you need to consider the location, and the views and make the very best of both the indoor and outdoor spaces.
We have planned hundreds of marquee weddings since 2007 and there is no denying that hosting a wedding at home can be quite intrusive, but if every detail is planned (for perfection!) it really can be the most incredibly unique day for everyone. We love the creative freedom that a marquee wedding gives couples and if you plan well, allow the time that you need in case of any unexpected challenges and appreciate that there is a lot more to consider when you have a marquee wedding at home, it really is the most personal & very special day.
Top tips for planning a marquee wedding at home
From the initial site visit at the beginning of the wedding planning journey to the dismantle at the end of the event, it is imperative to discuss all of the aspects of the build and dismantle in detail with your wedding planning team. Logistics and planning are key when organising a marquee wedding and listed below are our top ten things for couples to consider when planning a wedding at home;
It is vital to use a trusted marquee company, after all, they are literally building your wedding venue in your garden! At Planned for Perfection we have a team of reliable companies that we work with to ensure your perfect team.
Consider how long the build and dismantle will take. Suppliers will be on site for all this time and some families feel this is an intrusion a week or so before the wedding. Having someone to manage this on your behalf means you don’t have to worry about a thing. We always recommend that the marquee build is completed at least a few days before the wedding, because not only do you need time for snagging, you need time to beautifully style the marquee.
The location of the build - is the marquee site flat? Do you want to use coir matting as flooring or will you need a solid wood floor or perhaps you will need to build a cassette floor if the marquee location is on a slope?
You will also need to consider the foundations of the build area and if there are there any underground water pipes or electricity cables before securing the marquee into the ground.
Can everything be delivered to the site easily? Consider the size of the lorries for the build, the toilets, the kitchen equipment and the generator, as well as the smaller items including cutlery, crockery and glassware.
What size satellite catering kitchen do your chosen caterers require and is there a water supply close by?
Do you require a green room for your band and a staff room for your team or do you have a secure room in your house that you are happy for suppliers to use?
How many toilets do you require - you may want to consider having one for guests and suppliers if you don’t want everyone using the same ones!
Is there enough parking on site (again, for guests and suppliers)? Can everyone park close to the marquee or do you need to arrange a shuttle bus from A to B, especially in inclement weather?
Don’t forget that the British weather isn’t always on our side, so do make sure you have a wet weather contingency plan for all aspects of the day. If you need to bring the drinks reception inside if it rains, is there enough space in your marquee
Marquee weddings are really special and anything is possible if you are organised, and prepared and surround yourself with the very best team, led by a marquee wedding planning specialist to look after every detail of your wedding day.
If you are looking to plan a marquee wedding, book a meeting with us to discuss more about your wedding day.
