Guide
Marquee hire costs: what you are really paying for
Updated
Two marquee quotes for the same wedding can differ wildly, and it usually has nothing to do with the canvas. It is what is underneath it, how long it stands, and how hard the site is to work on.
What sets the size, and therefore everything else
Size comes from guest count and, just as importantly, from layout. Long tables seat more people per square metre than round tables. Add a dance floor, a bar, a catering tent, a chill-out area and a cake table and the footprint grows fast. Every extra square metre of structure brings flooring, lining, heating capacity and lighting with it, which is why the guest list is the most expensive document in the planning folder.
The structure itself
- Frame marquee
- A modular aluminium frame with a cover. No internal poles and no guy ropes outside the footprint, so it fits tight sites and hard standing. The workhorse of the industry.
- Traditional pole marquee or canvas
- Poles inside, guys and stakes outside. Needs more ground area and soft ground to stake into. Usually the look people picture, and usually the pricier option.
- Stretch tent
- Fabric tensioned over poles into a free-form shape. Fast to install, informal, and much less enclosed, which matters for heating in shoulder seasons.
- Clear span or temporary structure
- Engineered structures for bigger events. Higher specification, engineering documentation and often a longer build. This is a different market from garden marquees.
What is in the package and what is extra
| Item | Often in a package | Often quoted separately |
|---|---|---|
| Structure, cover and installation | Yes | |
| Flooring and matting | Sometimes | Hard flooring, raised or levelled floors |
| Lining, swagging and pole drapes | Sometimes | Premium linings and ceiling treatments |
| Lighting | Basic lighting | Festoon, uplighters, dance floor lighting |
| Heating | Rarely | Heaters plus fuel and attendance |
| Furniture | Sometimes as a bundle | Upgrades, linen, dance floor, staging |
| Power distribution | Rarely | Generator, cabling, distribution boards |
| Site survey and ground works | Survey usually | Levelling, trackway, ground protection |
Ground conditions are the quiet cost
- Slope. A sloping site may need a levelled or raised floor, which is a significant line on its own.
- Soft ground. Wet fields mean trackway for vehicles, ground protection and sometimes a rescheduled build. British weather makes this a live risk on any outdoor date.
- Surface type. Hard standing rules out staking, so a frame marquee with ballast is needed. Ask what the supplier assumes.
- Underground services. Stakes go into the ground. Services, drainage runs and septic systems must be identified before install, and that is your responsibility as the site holder.
- Access. Distance from where the lorry can park to where the marquee goes is crew hours, on the way in and on the way out.
Questions that make two quotes comparable
- What size and layout is this quote for? Get the dimensions and a layout plan showing tables, bar, dance floor and catering.
- How many days on site? Build, event, breakdown, all stated.
- What is excluded? Ask them to name the exclusions explicitly rather than reading them out of the silence.
- What is assumed about the ground and the access? And what happens, and what it costs, if those assumptions are wrong on the day.
- What is the weather and cancellation position? Deposits, balance dates and what happens if the site is unusable.
We do not publish marquee prices, because size, specification, region, season and site conditions move them too far for a published figure to help you. Use the form to get real quotes for your event and your field.