Dance the night away!

Tips for evening party marquees

Furniture:

• Unlike marquees furniture is often too expensive to buy so hiring is usually the best solution
• For a formal atmosphere use larger round tables (5ft for seating 8/9, 5ft6in for seating 10)
• Use a mixture of smaller tables to create an informal atmosphere (see this article on seating)
• You can get away with fitting more people in a marquee for a party than for a wedding, a wedding requires more space but you can squeeze people up a bit at parties.
• A marquee can hold more people standing than seated (generally around 1.5 times the number seated) but it's always worth having some seats in rows against the sides of a marquee even if you are leaving the middle completely clear for standing (or using it as a dance floor area)
• For formal seating remember an easel for table plans (or two for larger functions)

Dance Floors:

• Do you want your party to be mainly about the dancing? In which case put the dance floor in the middle so it is very much the centre of attention. If you want it as an option then put it at one end.
• Like furniture dance floors can be prohibitively expensive to purchase to hiring or making yourself (18mm plywood screwed to battens and stained) are the most common solutions
• Alternatively if your marquee is to cover part of a patio or decking area that can be used as a dance floor

Other:

• Set the marquee up several days in advance and test the lighting and heating (if applicable) at the time of your function just to make sure both are sufficient.
• People (mainly blokes) will always congregate around the bar. For this reason always position it near the evenings entertainment to avoid having two parties. Always aim to keep everyone in one place to maintain the atmosphere so avoid putting the bar in the house or a separate marquee
• Always have lighting on a dimmer, this gives you the flexibility to supply lighting to eat by and mood lighting to dance by
• In October to April you will need to heat the marquee - have the heating on for an hour before people arrive to ensure they walk in to a wall of warmth
• In May to September you might need a heater just to take the chill off in the seating area later in the evening
• Think of how your guests will arrive - a simple path of carpet with flower pots makes an attractive and inviting entrance to the marquee
• Think of how your guests will leave - it's likely to be dark so some form of lighting will be needed to guide people back to their cars
• You would normally allow one toilet per 40-50 guests. If you don't have enough available then consider hiring in a luxury toilet unit
• Give neighbours plenty of notice especially if you plan on partying until the early hours
• Notify the police, it may sound extreme but it allows them to give informed responses (such as finishing time) to any complaint rather than come knocking on your door

We are always happy to offer more customised advice especially Tips for Wedding Marquees events, please contact us giving a few details of the event you are planning (type of event, space available, number of guests and diagrams/photographs of the site if possible) and we will be more than happy to advise on your options.

If you would like to use or quote any part of this article please contact us for permission or licencing.