Marquee Weddings on a Budget: Affordable Hire & DIY Tips for Dream Celebrations

Congratulations! If you’re reading this, you’re probably in full swing, wedding planning mode. It’s a fun and exciting time but equally there’s lots of things you’re probably trying to navigate for the first time. Well fear not, our event experts have put this wedding marquee hire guide together to help win you back two hours of your evening and cut right to what you need to know. 

In this article we’ll aim to cover all of the key questions about marquee hire for your wedding. Central to all of this will be transparency about cost, what options you have available and where things sit on that budget scale. We understand the importance of your day and want to help you understand the choices available!

How much does it cost to hire a marquee? 

This depends on three main factors: Size, type and additional extras. Size is considered in metres squared (m2), the type of marquee refers to options like stretch tents, traditional marquees, tipis, saddlespan tents and more whilst additional extras are costs that are usually added on to the cost of hiring the marquee itself and covers things like tables & chairs, dance floors, decorations, loos, lighting etc. 

We’ve written an ultimate guide to marquee hire which goes into lots of details about the cost of each marquee type by size and some average pricing for additional services. To keep things quick, we’ll give you a sense of variation based on what we see at a typical wedding. A traditional marquee that needs to seat 100 guests at round tables and has enough space for a dance floor will require a space of 140m2. To hire a traditional marquee of this size will cost around £1k ex VAT and probably be a 12mx12m shape. At the other end of the scale, a 30mx12m marquee will cost around £2.5k to hire.

How much does it cost to hire additional services?

You’re probably reading the above thinking, “well that’s pretty reasonable, I’ve heard of friends spending £5k+ on a marquee!”. At this point it’s important to bear in mind that you’ll be standing on the grass and have no tables and chairs.

So taking our example of 100 guests, here’s how much you can expect to pay for the interior decoration, lighting, dance floor. All prices are ex VAT.

• Table and chairs - £500

• Wooden floor - £500

• Plastic floor - £400

• Inner lining and decoration - £400

• Dance floor - £150

• Lighting - £400

• Loos - £300

With all of the above, we’ve considered options where budget is a real consideration. We’ve seen lighting options alone that go well over the £1k mark and lavish loo options that do the same. 

So all in with the marquee cost of £1k and the extras coming to £3650 ex VAT (£4380 inc VAT).

What about the DIY marquee? 

With a cost coming in at £4.3k, people planning a wedding at this point often start looking into the cost of buying a marquee. But there are some important considerations here that we thought we’d shed some light on.

Firstly, marquee and/or venue cost is the most expensive cost when planning a wedding. So rest assured, your biggest outlay lies here and is probably the part of the planning you want to organise first, as it’ll determine the set up and access of other suppliers you’ll be looking to book. We have some price guidance on other parts of your wedding such as the cost to hire a wedding caterer, cost to hire a street food truck, cost to hire a mobile bar and general cost of a wedding. 

So is doing it yourself any cheaper? Well a quick google of 12x12 marquee, the size in our example above, will return results at the £1500-£2000 mark. 

In short then, marquee companies know what they are doing and the real thought comes into the additional services you’ll require to turn your marquee into a space fit to host a wedding. If you’re willing to get a little more hands-on then it’s definitely possible to bring down the decor cost, but there’s a price you should put on your time and your sanity.

House Of Tents and UK Tents would be our recommendations if you want to opt for this route forward.  

I’m ready to hire a marquee

Great news, you can find wedding marquees to hire right here on Togather offering everything from traditional set ups to stretch tents, tipis and even glamping for guests. Our team will be on hand to help support you through your wedding planning journey.