Marquee Checklist For Weddings
Establish a Suitable Date
This can be at any time of year, Winter or Summer, but to a certain extent will dictate the feel of the wedding reception. For example a Winter Wedding encourages a snug, warm marquee, intimate and cosy, whereas a Summer Wedding is likely to have a more 'open' feel, with reception typically on the lawn, an open sided marquee etc.
Marquee companies take bookings a long time in advance, sometimes two years or more from the wedding day, so ensure availability as soon as possible.
Of course, booking the church has to be by far and away the most important 'first step' given that there are key dates every year that, as with marquee companies, are booked up to several years in advance.
Locate an Appropriate
Venue
Your marquee supplier can advise you on the following issues relating to marquee use:
- Level and flatness?
- Parking - space and accessibility?
- Electrical Supply
- Water Supply
- Vehicle access - 7.5ton lorries/16 ton lorries
- Security - i.e. is it a public place
- Overhead/Underground Services
- Toilet Facilities
- Aspect - Is there a good view, and somewhere pleasant for guests to stroll onto if the weather is fine
- Noise - who will be affected by late night music?
Possible Suppliers Required for Marquee Reception
(companies listed in no particular order)
- Marquee
- Florist/ Plant Supplier
- Caterer
- Band (can they supply PA for speeches?) and/or
- Disco (do they own and provide dance floor lighting?)
- Other Entertainments (walkabouts etc)
- Toilets (luxury or standard)
- Security / Car Parking Services (including valet car parking)
- Electrical Power/Generators (if no mains power is available)
- Toastmaster
- Lighting - internal and external (if the marquee company do not own it)
- Furniture
- Bar Services (is a license required?)
- Balloon Decorator
- Cake Supplier
- Photographer
- Vehicle Trackway/Temporary Roadway (if the site is likely to be very soft/boggy)
Establish Your Layout
It is a good idea to establish as early as possible the likely numbers for your wedding, so that a marquee layout plan can be drawn up. This is an invaluable reference when dealing with all your potential suppliers and liasing with prospective marquee companies. It also helps more fundamentally to ensure that there is enough space!
A good marquee supplier will draw up scale diagrams of the marquee layout to ensure the right size of marquee is selected. There are many sizes, styles and shapes available, and each event has different requirements that must be met.
Electrical Power Supply and Distribution
Power supply & distribution around the marquee to all the equipment and plant needs to be planned. Thorough power audits of all the on-site power requirements should be undertaken well before the Big Day so that adequate provision of power and its distribution can be made by your lighting and electrical contractors.
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