How much does a marquee wedding cost?

I just had a discovery call with a gorgeous couple. They had the most wonderful wedding plans: Using their aunt’s Oxfordshire farmhouse garden and outbuildings, they pictured an outside ceremony in the rose garden, with drinks on the lawn, a marquee for a seated wedding breakfast for 120 guests, and turning one of the barns into the evening party venue. Their budget: half of what I estimated all of this would cost.

It's frustrating for everyone, but most of all for you, first time (and only time!) you’re getting married, trying to guess the cost of a marquee wedding at home. I’m tired of the gatekeeping around marquee costs and weddings at home. Yes, of course there are big variables here, like number of guests, the suppliers used and how you want the finished product to look and feel. But some guidelines will benefit everyone planning a marquee wedding! So, let’s break down the barriers, and talk about what a marquee wedding will actually cost.

The Marquee

First of all, you will need to choose your type of marquee. The most common types of marquees are the following:

1.     traditional pole tents

2.     clearspan (or clear frame) marquees

3.     tipis

4.     stretch tents

Traditional Pole Tent

Clearspan Marquee

Wedding Tipi

The cost varies slightly between them, with the pole tent being on the higher end, and the stretch tent on the lower end of the scale. Saying that, most of my couples opt for the traditional pole tent, as they tend to look most at home within a countryside setting.

The suppliers of traditional pole tents will deliver these with a PVC-like marquee canvas, or with a sailcloth finish, with the former being significantly cheaper. It can be hard to spot the difference in photos, but if you see the mention of “Wills marquees” anywhere, you will know that it’s an authentic sailcloth marquee.

The next consideration is size. For approximately 120 guests, with a bar and space for a band/DJ and dancefloor, you need – as a guideline – a 27 x 12 meter marquee. And yes, yes, I know the burning question remains: How much does this cost?

For the marquee shell, you need to set aside £4000-£8000.

Not a bad start, right? Particularly when you compare that with a wedding venue hire. But this is when I need to deliver the hard truth. Because here we only have a shell, and we need quite a lot more to get your wedding off the ground. And this is where I’m heading next: We’re going to build your marquee from the ground up.

Marquee Essentials

Therefore, we’re going to start from the bottom – you need some form of floor. The classic and ever-popular coconut (or coir) matting is your cheapest choice, and here you can get away with it costing around £1500.

If you’d like a solid floor underfoot, then a subflooring needs to be laid, with new carpet on top, and then you need to set aside £3500-£5500.

You will also need a bar: £600-£1500

And a dancefloor: £600

Plus stage: £300-£800

Furniture

And yep, you’ve guessed it, we also need tables and chairs. Tables are roughly £15 each, and chairs approximately £6 each. So, for our 120 guests, we need to allow around £1000.

But our marquee is looking pretty good now, right? We’ve got a lovely marquee up, a floor, stage, dance floor, bar, tables and chairs, all for around £10500. What more could we possibly need? Well, let me tell you.

Logistics

Much of the success of your marquee wedding will depend on items that can be filed under logistics. They won’t really be noticed by your guests, unless something goes wrong. Because oh boy, if they go wrong, they are more than noticeable! I therefore urge you to not skip, or skimp (please, for the love of all that is mighty!) on the following:

First up are lights. Lights that are both pretty and functional. Often this involves festoons on the outside, and fairylights or festoons and uplighters on the inside. Don’t forget the dimmer switch for the evening party vibes! Set aside £300-1000 for this.

First dance in marquee

Marquee festoon lights

Wedding Saxophonist

Next up are the loos: These come in between £1000-£1500

You will also need a kitchen, which comes in the form of a functional catering tent attached to the back or side of the marquee. These are roughly £1000-£2000 (depending on size and finish – your caterer will stipulate what they need).

The actual kitchen equipment would normally be hired in by your caterer, so I’m leaving those items off this particular tally, but you’re usually responsible for refrigeration, particularly if you’re serving your own drinks. The smartest way of handling this is with a refrigerated trailer, which can be hired for around £500.

Power

And finally, the most important item of all: Your generator and power distribution. Do not, under any circumstances, trust mains electrics pulled from a house or outbuilding. I can’t stress this enough. Even the most solid set-up will quickly fail with the load of the entire wedding venue you’ve built in your garden. Without power, nothing will work in your beautiful marquee. So, play it safe, get the big generator suggested by your marquee provider, and know that the £1500-£2500 is worth every single penny.

If you’ve been following so far, and adding as you go, you will see that we are now at an average total of £15’500.

 You’ll be forgiven for thinking I’m now at the end. But there are two more things you’ll find on your marquee quote. I will talk you through those next.

Damage Waiver

In addition to the above, you will find a line at the bottom of your marquee quote called a damage waiver. This is normally set at 5% of the overall figure. The damage waiver covers you in the case of accidental damage to the marquee, and all equipment provided by the marquee company, while it’s your responsibility on your land. But please note, the damage waiver does not cover negligence, wilful neglect, and in some instances theft. So please take out suitable marquee wedding insurance!

Delivery

And finally, you will have a line covering delivery and installation. Again, this varies significantly, and sits somewhere between £300 and £1500.

You’ll be relieved to know I’m now at the end! And if your maths is following mine, we are roughly at £17500 for your marquee, but over £25000 for a higher spec and finish.

Now that we’ve got your marquee figured out, I’d like to mention a few other considerations when estimating how much your marquee wedding will cost.

The Marquee Wedding Budget

As a result of being in a field or garden, in your temporary marquee structure, the cost of catering will be significantly higher than your average wedding venue.

Your caterer will be hiring in every single piece of equipment, plate, cutlery, glass, tray and tablecloth used on your wedding day.

You’ll be wise to set aside £150-£300 per person for your food and drink, and those practical items required to prepare and serve your food and drink at your marquee wedding. And do factor in another £500 to cover any breakages and missing items from all the hired equipment – a few broken glasses are standard, there is always a tablecloth that can’t shift the candlewax and those tea spoons have a habit of going walk-abouts!

(If you ever find yourself in a position where you’re scoffing in anger over a venue corkage charge for bringing your own drinks, I can inform you now that the cost of hiring in the glassware, equipment and staff, plus buying the ice and ingredients, works out more expensive per bottle than a corkage fee!)

An average – not super-snazzy - catering quote for canapés, a three-course meal plus a lighter evening snack will be around £17500 for 120 guests.

Furthermore, a key component of making that beautiful marquee of yours look just right, is the addition of flowers and foliage. £5000 is a starting point – think scaled-back, understated items - £10000 will give you the option to add an entrance arch or larger ceiling installations, in addition to your tables and church/ceremony flowers.

All other items in your wedding budget won’t be higher due to being a marquee wedding. Things like photography and videography, invitations and on-the-day stationery, hair & makeup, transport, accommodation, entertainment, and all of your lovely extra touches, will be the same as if you were in a purpose-built wedding venue. A safe amount to set aside for these items is around £15000, but you’ll likely end up nearer £20000 if you want a band. (I won’t go into the breakdown here in detail, I think your heads might be hurting enough at this point!)

The Total

In summary, your average starting price for a marquee wedding at home sits somewhere around £57’000.

This is before you add on a planner or coordinator fee. For full planning, you’re looking at an extra 10%, so calculate £62’700 for the above, for on-the-day coordination an extra £2’500, so almost £60’000.

And to finish off, I’m going to reveal the budget of the lovely couple I spoke to earlier today. Bear in mind, that in addition to what I’ve outlined above, they wanted the ceremony at home, which comes with an additional 120 chairs plus celebrant, and finish an outbuilding for an evening reception. They had a lot of money. A lot of money set aside that they had worked hard to save, set aside and were willing to put towards their wedding. But, even with an incredibly respectable £40'000, I knew they had a hard road ahead of them to achieve their dream. So let’s all be more transparent with marquee wedding costs. And I hope that the next couple I speak to have been able to start their wedding plans with a really good idea of what goes into a marquee wedding at home!