Sound and lighting for a marquee wedding

The marquee is a blank canvas

A marquee gives you a room the size and shape you want, then leaves it plain. White linings, a pale floor and a dark night outside mean the lighting has more work to do than in a building: without it, the room disappears after the sun goes down. The good news is that the same blank canvas takes colour and warmth beautifully.

Lighting the lining and the dance floor

• Wireless uplighters on the floor or fixed to the legs wash the lining in your theme colour without a cable run.
• Festoon or warm points of light at head height make the marquee feel furnished rather than lit from above.
• A front wash for the band and a separate dance-floor look stop the whole tent being one flat colour.
• Keep the light off the tables during the meal and bring the dance floor up gradually as the evening moves.

Sound inside a tent

• A marquee has no walls to absorb bass, so the low end travels further than it would indoors.
• Point the speakers into the room, not out towards the fields or the nearest houses.
• Two speakers on stands cover a seated wedding; a sub is optional and often unnecessary for speeches.
• Agree a finish time with the venue and the neighbours before the band is booked, not on the night.

Power and generators

A marquee may have mains power, a generator, or a single socket for the caterer. A band, a bar, a fridge and a lighting rig on one supply is how breakers trip mid-set. Tell us what is available and we will plan the load, the cable runs and the RCD protection. Battery uplighters remove the largest lighting load from the supply, which is often the difference between a workable setup and a generator.

Weather and timings

Set up before the florist and the caterer need the space, and keep the dance floor clear of the route to the bar. Rain on a marquee roof is loud enough to stop conversation, so plan the speeches for a quieter moment and keep the sound reinforcement close to the top table. In winter, the marquee needs heat before guests arrive and the lighting should warm the room rather than make it look colder.

What it costs

Six wireless uplighters are £70 for the event; ten are £100. Festoon is £1.50 per metre of run per day. The plug-and-play party PA is £115, or £140 with local setup, and includes a microphone for the speeches. Where there is a live band, the live music atmosphere package is £460 including setup, programming and pack-down, covering the band lighting and the front-of-house tops; the band brings its desk and monitors. The quote sets out the exact figures for your dates, power and access.