A Quick Go-to Guide of Important Things to Consider for Anyone Planning a Marquee Wedding

Location, Location, Location…

We’ve listed the 6 things we think are the most important things to consider when hosting your wedding in a marquee.

1. Access

It’s really important that there is good access to the site. Think how much you'll need for the vans and lorries to bring in the marquee, the catering equipment, the loos, everything. Is there space for suppliers such as florists and caterers to have space to operate and most importantly is there good and potentially separate access for your wedding guests on the big day, so that they don't have to wander through the catering tents.

We choose our venues carefully with this in mind, so you can rest assured that all the ones we represent have sufficient access. However, if you're hiring a Canopi marquee, don't forget that we offer a complimentary site visit anywhere in North Wales, no matter whether you choose one of our venues or not, so we'll make sure that you have the room that you need, regardless.

2. Even Ground

For the marquee to be steady and your drinks (and guests, no judgement) not to roll off the tables, it's important that the ground you are working with is as flat as possible. We are able to use our Dandy Dura Coir Matting to help with this, which will smooth out slightly uneven ground and has a rustic elegant finish to it.

Alternatively, if the ground is slightly undulating we can use hard wooden flooring with a carpet colour of your choice.

If you are on a little bit of a slope you don’t need to worry too much but to test it, try sitting on a chair at various different points around your potential site, to see how it feels to sit at all angles on the slanted section, and if you’re comfortable.

3. Parking

An obvious one perhaps, but is there a space for people to park and leave their cars overnight? This could be a field close by or your venue may have a car park. If the parking is slightly further away you may want to consider a shuttle service to take your guests from the car park to the marquee.

Some of our venues even have sea access which is always fun... (Our venues).

4. Running water and electricity

If your potential location is a well-located field, it’s nonetheless possible that you won't have a power source nearby. We are yet to establish an effective way of harnessing the moving power of a brilliant wedding to create actual power. We're working on it. Until that happens, Canopi can supply generators and, depending on the size of wedding, have a back-up generator to make sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed and the speakers still work no matter what so everyone can still hear the best man affectionately humiliate your beloved.

You mainly only need water for the catering and bar team. They can bring in a bowser if you don’t have running water as they don’t need huge amounts and in some cases can clean dishes/glasses back at their base but it’s worth checking all of this before the wedding to avoid frustrations on the day.

5. Caterers and loos

Making sure you have space for the loos and caterers is vital. With marquee weddings, it's not a guarantee that there's a loo nearby that can handle the number of guests, and obviously, you need to feed your friends. Again, the Canopi venues are all checked for this necessity, but if you have your own site and are choosing a Canopi marquee, during your complimentary site visit we will measure it out for you and ensure that you have the room you'll need. Very often, a small pagoda on the edges of your entertaining area will do the trick to house the caterers without interfering with the dance floor.

6. Accommodation

Again, potentially really obvious, but this still makes the top 6. Make sure you have good availability for accommodation nearby and that it's accessible easily from your venue. If it’s a marquee wedding a lot of guests will need hotels or B&B’s to stay in, unless you're cool with them all passing out in your marquee (again, no judgement). If the wedding is at the height of the summer many places will get booked up quickly, so make sure you check your venue is close to some good accommodation, and that there are sufficient transport options if needed. Remind your guests that not everywhere has Uber, so taxis need to be pre-booked.

Hit us up on Instagram or Facebook if you have any funny stories to share about these points. We have some experience of not having appropriate accommodation for example, and waking up in the marquee the following morning with the sun streaming in and the heaters all still on and everyone as dehydrated as desiccated coconut. It wasn't pretty. Everyone looked like a slightly green prune...