How do you choose the correct size marquee? This is a conversation that I have with our customers frequently. The short answer is base it around the number of guests that you are having. Sometimes it isn’t that easy. Of course, not every event is a formal sit-down occasion. A bit of guess-work may need to be involved. For example, the marquee may be used to house stalls for a Christmas fayre or a marquee for a summer garden party.
Here are some my top 5 tips when considering the correct size marquee for you event…
1, Are all the guests going to be seated?
Consider the number of guests that you’re inviting to the event. If it is a marquee for a wedding, you may have a guest list for the daytime and then more guests will join for the evening (usually this is the case). Not all the guests in the evening will need to be seated. My tip to every customer who wants to encourage dancing, is not to seat everybody.
Sticking with the example of the wedding for a moment. It would be likely that all the daytime guests will be seated. The traditional seating layout in a wedding marquee would be a long top table for the bride, groom, best man and parents. The rest of the guests would then sit at round tables.To put a spanner in the works most people are opting for a festival style marquee seating plan, consisting of stretches of trestles and benches.
You may choose not to seat all the evening guests, after all the key to a great party in a wedding marquee is not to seat everybody. This encourages people to dance. However, if some of the evening guests are elderly or less mobile, make sure that there is some extra seating for them.
2, What else is going to take up space in the marquee?
This is something to consider for any marquee event. At a formal event in a marquee you may have a band, a dance-floor, cake cutting area or even a bar. Are you going to ample thoroughfare for serving staff? If it is a wedding is there going to be a top table? What about space for flower arrangements? Some of our customers play oversized games (connect 4 etc). This adds a bit of fun to the occasion, will there be room for things like that? There are some free event floor planning tools available on the internet, using one of these would really help you decide on the choosing the correct size marquee.
3, Where are you holding your marquee event?
This may be stating the obvious, but the amount of space available for the marquee will determine the size of marquee you can have. In an ideal world from a marquee hire perspective, there would be an acre of land and it would be as flat as a bowling green. This is hardly ever the case. You may be holding you event in a garden at home. This will almost certainly have an affect on the amount of people you can invite. If you want to have a marquee in the garden it might be an idea to have a site visit first. Then invite the guests based upon the size of the marquee that will fit in.
4, What is the expected footfall of the event? (e.g. marquee for a Christmas/Summer Fayre).
This one is quite difficult to determine. I mean, trying to guess how many guests are going to be in the event marquee at the same time is a tough task. The weather has a massive effect on footfall. Bearing in mind that we only find out an accurate weather forecast 4-5 days in advance, makes the task all that more difficult. Consider ticketing the event, it could help when estimating your numbers.
5, Is the marquee the central attraction?
This is only applicable for events such as festivals or concerts and the likes. The marquee may be used as a dining area or as a bar tent. In this case it would be silly to have too big. There is one main calculation that has to be made. How many people are expected to be in the structure at any one point?
Other things to take on board…
These tips will get help you on your way when deciding which is the right size marquee. The best way to establish all things surrounding your marquee event is to arrange a free site visit with a marquee professional. At the site visit all of your ideas can be put across. It is also the perfect time for any questions to be asked by both parties. The two main questions that I get asked at a site visit are; when with marquee be delivered, erected and dismantled? and what is the payment terms? i.e. do you pay deposit and pay the balance later. Always make sure that these are stated clearly. Also ask if there are any extra terms and conditions that you should know about. Most reputable companies will have a copy of their terms and conditions that they can email over to you.#
The site visit is great for weighing up whether you want to do business with the marquee company. From a marquee hirer’s perspective when I conduct a site visit, I like to see it as a way of both parties getting to know each other. Take people along with you to the visit, the more the merrier. After all your friend or family member may ask a question that you haven’t thought of.
If you would like any more information on site visits from The Party Tent Company or some friendly email or over the phone advice please click here to get in touch!
