Hiring a stunning and beautiful venue to host your wedding will often be the biggest factor in the experience and the success of your big day – a marquee can often be the perfect place to host your wedding reception in such beautiful surroundings.
It goes without saying there’s a big price difference between a 50 seated wedding and the 250 seated wedding, as the marquee size and infrastructure will increase with high guests numbers. If you are considering hiring a marquee at a venue you will have to factor in the venue hire costs to your wedding budget, which can range from £1,500 to £10,000, depending on location.
View More Wedding Marquee Hire Services
Hiring a Field for your Wedding Venue
There are various “fields” and land you can rent that have been set up as places to hire out a marquee. There are lots of online search platforms out there which show you your nearest potential wedding locations. Expect to pay anything from £1500-£2500 for the exclusive rights of just the land itself.
When budgeting for, you may have to hire in generators and toilets, too. Adding these would add another about £1,500 to your budget. If you are hiring remote location in a field for example, you may require a catering tent which would add around about £500 to the budget. Your caterer would also have to bring in cooking equipment within the catering tent and you’ll need to speak to your caterer themselves as these costs will change depending on the catering choices that you’re thinking of bringing in.
Hiring a Designated Wedding Venue
Designated and purpose built venues such as stately homes & manor houses will have far greater hire costs in comparison. These can range from £2000 to £10, 000 depending on where they are and their position in the market.
We work closely with Nortonbury Spa, near Letchworth. They are situated in a nice wooded area and exclusive rights to their large private garden for weddings start at £1500. This includes the use of their toilets & power that is permanently installed there – which provides a fantastic saving. They can be found here.
Nortonbury Spa, Letchworth is a beautiful yet very cost effective wedding venue.
Ballpark Costs of a Hiring a Marquee
To help you give a rough ballpark cost with starting prices for the marquees, I would suggest a starting cost of £25 – £30 per head for wedding-based, specification marquee.
For example, a 100 guest wedding will cost around about £3,000 including the marquee, flooring, carpet, linings, and chairs and tables.
Adding in items such as dance floors, bar infrastructure and lighting systems may push your prices to around £30 – £40 pounds per head.
If you’re wanting more of a luxury finish, then prices will start from roundabout £65 per head.
Cost of Catering
There are obviously other suppliers involved to help make your wedding day a huge success. Your other largest cost of your wedding will also be your caterer. If you’re considering formal seated catering the cost of the catering tend to be very similar to the cost of the marquee itself which should hopefully give you a good indication of your overall wedding expenses.
If you’re looking for something a little bit more informal such as a food van or barbecue catering then budget a little bit less right about £10 – £20 per head.
Cost of Running a Bar
If you’re providing the alcohol for your guests all day I would also budget an additional £20 – £40 pounds per head. You may want to consider a pay bar during your wedding to help reduce your overall costs. If done correctly a pay bar can provide a small profit to contribute to your wedding budget at the same time your guests be paying considerably cheaper prices compared to paying venue prices. We amongst other marquee hire companies can provide all the infrastructure required to do this without the help of an external bar company to come in who would usually take the profit.
Going back to my car analogy from earlier you can buy a £10,000 car and you can also buy a £100, 000 car – you need to work out what you maximum budget is for the complete wedding and work backward from there. 70% of your overall wedding budget will be going to venue hire, marquee & catering.
The three largest factors in the success of your big day is the venue, marquee, and the catering. You do certainly get what you pay for with both marquees and catering so do your research when looking at prices as there are event companies positioned at various ends of the market.
When doing your research take a look at the reviews and case studies as well as images of their previous work. You’ll be leaning on your marquee hire supplier and caterer a lot more than you think, so it’s important you get these two suppliers right.
Cost Breakdown of a Marquee Wedding
A very common question and it is very much like asking how much is a car? Much like a car, a marquee hire price all depends on the final size and spec of the marquee. There are other factors that affect marquee pricing such as time of year (May-September will be the most expensive!), location and how good transport access is etc.
To begin with, the foundational cost revolves around hiring the marquee itself. Let’s say your wedding has 100 guests formally seated, you’d need as a minimum, a 9m x 18m sized marquee. A basic 9m x 18m marquee with a hard floor, carpet and lining will start around £3500 – £4000 (inc VAT) including installation.
| 9m x 18m PVC Marquee | |
| Carpet | |
| Hard Flooring System, laid to ground conditions | |
| Pleated White Marquee Lining | |
| Installation & Delivery | |
| TOTAL COSTS | £3500-£4000 |
A basic 9m x 18m with a hard floor, carpet & lining should start at around £3500-£4000 depending on time of year and location.
Getting a Complete Cost from your Marquee Hire Company
To keep their pricing competitive most marquee Companies will hide some of their hidden costs which will be presented to you later on down the line. At Abacus we don’t believe this is fair on the knowledge that you likely haven’t hired a marquee before. A couple of these costs include:
Damage Waiver
A damage waiver is an insurance policy to insure the hired goods whilst out on hire to you. This is typically 4-5%+VAT of the total hire costs. Nearly all marquee hire companies will ask for this. If you have your own wedding insurance you may be able to add this on to your own insurance and you won’t need the marquee hire companies’ damage waiver. However the cost of this is fairly similar to the damage waiver.
Most companies leave this off the total quotation price and may present this to you later on down the line. We don’t feel that’s very transparent!
Generator Diesel Usage
If you do require a generator for your event, most marquee companies will bill you after your event. Where you thought you have everything paid for, you’ll be presented with a £300 deisel bill afterwards!
In all of our pricing we have included 10 hours of fuel within your generator price which is more than enough to see you through for your event. The generator comes with an additional 10 hours of fuel as a fuel reserve with us, so you know you have more than enough fuel in case you do need to use it for a little longer (with us, this would then be a charged for cost)
What Impacts a Price of Your Marquee
There are several factors a marquee hire company factors into your quote, which include:
- Time of year (demand is at its peak during June/July)
- Travel distance (travelling with several vans/HGV’s incurs higher transport costs)
- Distance between where a marquee company can park their vehicles to the marquee site
- Size of Marquee
Size of Your Marquee
For most weddings, the seated section of the marquee is mostly redundant after the wedding breakfast part of the day has finished. 80% of your guests will remain standing for the evening festivities afterwards.
To keep your marquee costs down you could consider moving some of these chairs & tables out of the way (your caterer should be able to do this for you) which will then create some more space for standing.
By doing this you keep your marquee size and therefore marquee costs to a minimum. The below CAD layout shows the difference between keeping your marquee size to a minimum in the first example. It would be likely for this set up you would want to move the first row of tables nearest the bar/dance area at the very least to then provide enough room for most of the guests to be standing after the breakfast & speeches have finished.
Location Expenses
Location plays a pivotal role in determining the overall cost of a wedding. You may be lucky enough to have parents or know someone where their own property has a garden/grounds/field large enough to host your wedding. It’s also quite nice for some who have grown up in that property to get married there too!
For others, where you would really like a wedding you may have to look elsewhere and look to rent private land or opt for dedicated wedding venues. Rental costs for private lands or dedicated venues can range from £500 to over £5000, depending on the venue’s exclusivity and amenities provided.
If you are looking to hire a field which has no infrastructure there for a wedding, expect to budget £1500-£2000 for generators, diesel & toilets to be brought in.
You may know a local farmer who has suitable lad for hire, where their costs to hire the field for the weekend would be something around £500-£2500. For more lavish, country hall estates etc you would likely be paying a premium for the exclusive use of the property and be paying north of £5000 for the land hire. Some of these venues also will say you have to use their caterers too.
Decoration & Furnishing
Beyond the structural elements, couples will need to factor in the costs of interior décor, furnishings, and tableware. This typically involves table and chair rentals, centrepieces, linens, and decorative items. For a wedding with 100 guests, the furnishing and decoration costs can easily lie between £750 and £1500.
Catering & Service
There are obviously other supplies involved to help make your wedding day a huge success. And your second largest cost of your wedding will be your caterer. If you’re considering formal seated catering the cost of this catering tends to be very similar to the total cost of the marquee which should hopefully give you a good indication of your overall wedding expenses.
Food and drinks are central to any celebration. The choices made in this domain heavily impact the budget. On average, formal catering costs can range from £75 to £150 per person. For a 100-person wedding, this translates to a span of £7500 to £15000. Again, much like the location option this really does depend on the caterer supplier you use in terms of their per head pricing.
If you are serving a hot 2/3 course meal you may require a separate catering tent for your caterer to be able to cook on site. Expect this to cost around another £500 for the catering tent. Your caterer is likely to hire in ovens, fryers and warmers etc which is likely to be built into their pricing. If you are having a hot 2 course meal, you will likely need the catering tent (£500) and a generator (£1000) to power their power hungry ovens, fryers etc – domestic electric power sources will not be substantial enough to power the catering tent.
More and more weddings are not putting so much emphasis on the catering aspect of their day and going for more informal food truck style catering to maintain budget.
If you’re looking to something a little bit more informal such as a food van or a barbecue catering then budget for another £15 – £30 per head.
You may also want to consider budgeting for bar staff DJs and bands, event photographers, florists and perhaps evening catering for the guests the evening part too. If you’re providing the alcohol for your guests all day (and footing the bill) I would budget an additional £20 – £40 per head. You may want to consider a pay bar during your wedding to help reduce overall costs. If done correctly, a pay bar can provide a small profit to contribute towards your wedding budget – you can view this article here.
This article explains that your marquee Company could provide the infrastructure for a pay bar (bars, fridges, bar staff, tills etc). You provide the alcohol and you will be able to make a small profit (£1000-£2000) to contribute to your overall costs of your wedding.
And at the same time guests will be paying considerably cheaper prices. We amongst other marquee hire companies can provide all the infrastructure required to do this without the help of an external bar high company who’d usually make the profit.
Going back to my car analogy from earlier you can buy a £10,000 car – you can also buy a £100,000 car. It would all depend on your taste and experience that you’d like to give your guests. The two largest factors in the success of your big day is the marquee and the catering.
You do certainly get what you pay for with both marquee hire and catering. To do your research looking at prices other as there are event companies positions at various ends of the market.
When doing your research, take a look at reviews and case studies, as well as images of their previous work. You’ll be leaning on your marquee high supplier and caterer a lot more than you think!
How well have your marquee company/caterer presented their quote to you? If it’s on a simple email format, with not very clear pricing or lots of imagery showing the quality of their work – that for me is a good indication of where they sit in the market.
You will be leaning a lot on your marquee company/caterer during your wedding planning and choosing the right company for you is paramount for a stress free planning experience!
Additional Amenities
One of the unique aspects of weddings hosted with Marquees is the flexibility to customise the experience fully. Many couples opt for additional amenities like dance floors (from £300), stages (from £300), photo booths (£500), or luxury toilet facilities (£900). These amenities can range from £250 to £1000 each, contributing to the cumulative expenditure.
Entertainment & Photogrpahy
Entertainment is an integral part of the big day. Whether it’s a DJ (£600), a live band (£1500+), or a solo artist (£250+), entertainment costs can start from £400 and go upwards of £4000. Photography and videography, crucial in preserving wedding memories, typically cost between £2000 and £3500.
Contingency & Hidden Costs
An often overlooked aspect of wedding planning is accounting for contingency and unforeseen expenses. It’s advisable to allocate around 5-10% of the total budget for any unexpected costs. Moreover, couples should inquire about any hidden costs associated with the marquee or venue rental, such as permits, insurance, or cleanup fees..
How Much is Hiring a Marquee for a Wedding?
Cost Summary
To illustrate, consider a 100-person complete wedding:
| Marquee (Basic 9m x 18m with floor, carpet & lining) | £3500 |
| Decoration and Furnishing | £2000 |
| Catering and Service (£80 per person and staffing) | £8000 |
| Entertainment and Photography (£600 for DJ £1200 for photography) | £1800 |
| TOTAL COSTS | £15300 |
This would approximately equate to a total of £24000, though prices can significantly vary based on individual choices and preferences.
So it’s important to get these two suppliers (marquee & caterer) right. These are your two main suppliers who will play a pivotal role on the success for your event.
Whilst budget is of course an important factor when choosing the right Company for you, you want to have 100% trust in them – as you will be leaning on their experience a lot.
When doing your research into who will be the best Company for you, see below some things to look out for:
- Have they got reviews online from independent review sites (Google reviews, trustpilot etc)
- How well presented was their quote present to you? (Reflects how detailed focussed they are)
- Have they given you previous imagery/videos showing the quality of their work?
- How quick is their communication? Busy companies in the peak periods – you want to ensure you are working with an efficient Company who will get back to your queries once you’ve booked
Hopefully I’ve given you more of an idea of overall wedding costs.
So How Much is a Wedding Overall?
It does ultimately depend on your tastes – getting your budget set early so you can find the correct wedding suppliers within the market is crucial.
Hopefully I’ve given you a bit more of an idea of an overall wedding costs, and if you’d love a quote from the UK highest reviewed event company, and start designing your perfect day with that interactive quote below and get in touch on 01462 262011.
Get an Online Quote within 60 Seconds!
Our online quote calculator will work out what size you need for your event, you can choose your interior options and you’ll get your quote emailed & Whatsapped to you within 60 seconds.
