Wedding Blog

Dearest Esther,

If your heart is set on a tent wedding, you should go for it. They’re absolutely gorgeous. But you should know that tenting is a big giant pain in the arse. Or, at least, it has been for me. Mostly because it’s expensive — you’re creating your own venue out of thin air, so you need to provide everything a normal indoor space would — lighting, heating/cooling, protection from the elements/insects, furniture, and a floor.

Go with a reputable rental place — look on your local Knot boards or get a referral from another of your wedding vendors — and make sure installation and break-down is included. (Raj Tents rents nationwide, incidentally).

Martha Stewart provided a good primer in her Fall 2005 Weddings magazine. You can read a version on her website here: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel1629&catid=cat451&navLevel=3

To give you an idea of the cost, my tent fits about 125 people, and is $3,000. The lighting is an extra $1,000 or so. The heaters are $100/each. I’m also doing a lining. With the dancefloor and various accoutrements, it’s coming out to about $8,000. This does not include the rental cost of linens, tables, and china. If your venue is relatively low cost, I think it all ends up evening out in the end.

Good luck! And be sure to send pictures!

just for comparision:

our costs are - tent for 120, linens, tables, and china, dancefloor, lighting, fans, walls.

approx $3800

Nice toilets!

THANK YOU SO much for all your great advice!
My caterer just has been really unresponsive. He would basically take care of setting up the tent and including it in the price of the meal per person, but he WILL NOT RETURN my calls! I am getting very frustrated so i was thinking about doing it on my own, going through a tent company and finding a separate caterer. We’ll have to see if it will work out…Thanks again ladies!