Planning A Wedding Reception In A Marquee

We may be in the depths of winter, but summer weddings are only six months away and we have lots of enquiries about wedding receptions in marquees in the summer (and winter!).

Here are a few of our ideas about marquee based wedding receptions from past experience.  These ideas are also applicable to events held in many permanent venues.

It's all about the flow

Your marquee company will be able to give you advice on how much space you need for your guests.  The ideal situation is to get everything set up before your guests arrive, including all of the sound and lighting equipment.

We recommend setting up the venue so that each stage flows effortlessly to the next. 

Most wedding celebrations start with a drinks reception which can be held outside if the weather is good.  Have you thought about where guests will go if there is some light rain or even a downpour?

Then the guests will sit down for the wedding breakfast.  Depending on your preference there will be speeches before, after (or even during) the wedding breakfast.  We can help out with microphones for your speeches.

Then it's our speciality, the evening entertainment.  We advise an early set up, so that we're ready to go.  Your caterers may well remove some tables to allow space for dancing.  This will all be planned in advance.

Making sure that everything runs on time

It's useful to have a sound system so that you can easily communicate with your guests.  A few polite but assertive words from your Best Man can mean that people sit down on time for the wedding breakfast.  This is normally appreciated by the caterers and means that you get more time dancing in the evening.

Dim the lights

Before your first dance we always like to dim the lights to a more romantic setting.  This helps with the flow of the evening and makes more of an impact.

Not all marquees have the facility to dim the lights, so it's useful to ask in advance.

Before the big day

We always recommend a site visit to the marquee by your DJ company a few days before your wedding.

It's really important that we know three key aspects:

• The location of the marquee

• The access point into the marquee

• That we have sufficient power at the working position to run sound and lighting equipment

We hope that this gives you an insight into some ways to keep your wedding reception running smoothly.  It's not an exhaustive list and your caterers or marquee company will also be able to offer advice.  If you have any other questions please get in contact. 

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