Are you looking for something magical for your next big event? Hiring a traditional canvas will give your event the real wow factor. More and more people are choosing to hire traditional canvas marquees due to their versatile nature. Hold your event at a place special to you, in a beautiful location, with the freedom and flexibility to bring your theme to life.
At White Horse Marquees, we are experts in helping you plan an event to remember and that all starts with our marquees. Here, we have put together a guide on traditional canvas marquees including the benefits of hiring one and why you should choose us for your next event.
What is a traditional marquee?
Traditional marquees provide an elegant place to host an event such as weddings and parties. Traditional canvas marquees have a very high ridge line with central poles and dramatic sloping roofs. The outside valance is often decorated with piped castellations or scallops.
Canvas is a 100% natural material which can breathe so does not suffer from condensation in the cold and has a nice cool atmosphere on a hot summer day. Our marquees have white guy ropes on the side that are neatly tied off, with matching green guy blocks and dollies on the side poles. We know that this rare attention to detail makes all the difference when you hire a marquee and that’s what makes our traditional marquees different from others.
What size are traditional marquees?
To give you some idea of the range of our equipment, the largest traditional marquee we annually provide is for a lunch for 700 and the smallest would be more suitable for a dinner party for 30-40 guests. We have a 40′ diameter, round marquee, which can also make round ends for larger marquees. As you can see, our traditional marquees are very versatile and can accommodate different numbers of guests.
Can traditional marquees be decorated?
Of course! This is one of the benefits of using a traditional marquee, is that it’s your blank canvas to create a unique event that suits your style.
The marquees can be lined with flat ivory roofs which provide the perfect blank canvas for your flowers and decorations. The walls can be lined or left unlined displaying the varnished wooden side poles for a more shabby chic look. For no extra charge, we have a selection of window walls, allowing for a large window down to smaller windows, available in a large range of designs.
What events is a traditional marquee suitable for?
Marquee hire is available across a range of sectors including weddings, parties such as birthdays, other celebrations such as christenings and even corporate and charity events. Our marquees are suitable for a range of party sizes, from small events to medium and large events with many guests.
If you have a celebration or an event coming up that we haven’t mentioned here, please contact us as we are happy to provide marquee hire for any event, in a suitable location.
Why choose a traditional marquee for your event?
There are so many reasons why more people are choosing to hire a marquee for their events rather than hiring a venue like a function room or hotel, and here are some of them:
- More freedom and flexibility to hold your event in a place you want
- It’s something a little different that is guaranteed to wow your guests
- A blank canvas to decorate however you like
- A versatile space that can be made to suit you and your event
- Add-ons available such as toilets, generators, heating, a bar etc so you’ll have everything you need to put on an event to remember.
A traditional marquee wedding
Having a marquee at your wedding means you have full ownership over the look and feel of your wedding, giving you free rein to design the wedding of your dreams. Marquees are blank canvases that you can use to design a wedding that is perfectly unique to you, which isn’t always possible in pre-made venues.
All you need for a marquee wedding is a patch of grass that you have permission to use and the rest of the hard work is done for you. This means you can choose a location that is beautiful and scenic, outdoors and something a little different and somewhere special to you. No two marquee weddings are the same so you can guarantee that your big day will be different from any other wedding you or your guests have been to before.
Design your marquee however you like, with the help of hired furniture, fairy lights, accessories and even flooring to create a whimsical, classic, contemporary, traditional or totally unique feel to your special day. You get to make your marquee completely your own.
Finally, whilst there are so many reasons to choose a marquee wedding, perhaps one of the most appealing is that your wedding has more room for flexibility. For example, a wedding venue can only hold a certain number of guests, whereas you choose the marquee that best suits not only the number of people but your style too.
White Horse Marquees: who are we?
If you’re looking for a marquee company for your next event, look no further than White Horse Marquees, run by Bertie and Francie Grotrain, who will be able to guide you through the bewildering array of choices and help you to create the perfect event.
Bertie was an Army officer before taking over White Horse Marquees more than 20 years ago. He is calm under pressure and has a reputation for being utterly reliable ensuring that each marquee is delivered on time and immaculately finished down to the last detail. He has a huge depth of knowledge about what makes a great wedding or party.
Francie worked for an interior design company in London. She has recently been involved with the organisation of several large charity fund-raising events using our marquees. She takes over the management from the wonderful Angie who was with White Horse Marquees for many years and who still pops in from time to time to keep us on our toes!
Working tirelessly in the background our head foreman, Ryan, makes sure all the right equipment is delivered clean, tidy, efficiently and safely. He is a perfectionist. Ryan has over 30 years of experience putting up marquees and his knowledge of marquee erecting is unrivalled.
The rest of our marquee team are carefully chosen for their commitment to delivering the highest standards in a friendly and helpful way.
Learn more about us and contact us to enquire about hiring a traditional canvas marquee.
Hire a traditional canvas marquee with us
We do more than just traditional marquee hire, we have a range of other services that will really help to bring your event to life. This includes:
- Furniture and extras– our ‘weathered oak’ French cross-back chairs were carefully chosen for their quality and look (they do vary elsewhere!). For a smart or more formal wedding, the lime-washed Chivari chair is both comfortable and elegant. For a more rural look, we offer a wood folding chair with or without an ivory pad. We have a large range of tables, both round and rectangular.
- Lighting and heating– good lighting is critical for the right atmosphere and we pride ourselves on being rather good at this! Our range of background lighting will create a flattering warm feel. In addition, we can supply. some stunning decorative lighting.
We work across a number of locations including including Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Hampshire but feel free to contact us about other locations too.
Have a look at one of our videos to get a sense of what it looks and feels like to hire one of our fantastic marquees.
What are the benefits of hiring a traditional canvas marquee?
To summarise, the main benefits of hiring a traditional marquee are that you get to choose a stunning location, your marquee is a blank canvas to decorate however you like, they’re versatile to suit different events and event sizes and they help to provide the wow factors for you and your guests.