Tuesday, March 10, 2009

What you need to know about a tented reception

Hello Everyone! Every once in a while I get a request from a bride about an outdoor wedding and she says she doesn't like or want a tent... my first response is usually "are you from the west coast?" as many weddings happen successfully without tents in CA where the weather is much more predictable. This got me thinking about tents in general so I thought I would share some of our favorite tent photos as well as tent wisdom.

In no particular order....

1. You ALWAYS need a tent, no matter what time of year you're getting married.
2. You should plan on getting the next size up in your tent if you are planning for an outside ceremony or cocktail hour. If it starts to rain you can always have the ceremony in one section of the tent and wall off the reception area with some fabric... this is a very cost effective way to ensure a rain plan.
3. If you can afford it, floor your tent. There's nothing worse than a guest ruining their shoes in the grass, or dealing with uneven surfaces to place your tables... not only will your guests appreciate sitting or standing on an even surface, but your florist will love you even more because they'll be placing centerpieces on level tables. There's nothing quite like a tall centerpiece leaning to one side filled with water and flowers....yikes.
4. A tent is a completely blank canvas so you can add design elements as you please, without worrying about the space dictating your color scheme. There are lots of design elements that will add to a tent: uplighting and washing the ceiling with LEDS, adding a fabric liner or chiffon panels to soften the ceiling and make the space more intimate, chiffon side tent panels to soften the perimeter of the tent, or you can light the poles in a number of different ways as well. Photos by KPW.





5. Tents can be used in the middle of the winter, with a floor and proper heating. The tent becomes a semi-permanent building of sorts, with temperature controls and clear sides for viewing while still giving the drama of tall ceilings and unlimited design potential.

There are a number of different types of tents, from the materials they are made of to the way they are installed.. here's a quick review of your options:

A. Pole Tents (Century)- A tension type tent containing center poles, perimeter poles, and guy ropes. Anchoring/staking is critical to insure proper installation; because of this, a 7 foot area on all four sides is needed to anchor/stake the tent. This is the classic wedding tent, with the peaked look from the outside and inside. These tents are made of vinyl and have metal side and center poles. The center poles are usually 20' apart and most are 40' wide. They come in 40' x 60'-300' and can also come 60' wide. The sides are usually all white, all mesh, or windows. Almost any party rental company will carry pole tents. Photos by Claris Photography, Liesl Clark





B. Frame Tents: A professionally installed tent consisting of vinyl top stretched over a metal frame and containing no center poles, only perimeter support poles. This tent has a center ceiling spine with two sloped peaks meeting in the middle as opposed to the multiple peaks of a pole tent. These tents come in 20'-60' by 20-300' widths as well. Frame tents are also made of vinyl and have metal side poles. The sides are usually all white, all mesh, or windows. Almost any party rental company will carry frame tents. You can even get a clear top to a frame tent like this image here. Photo by David Murray Weddings, John Santerre





C. Clear Span Structure Tent: A tent with an aluminum frame support structure that eliminates the need for center pole support. These tents are massive and look similar to an airplane hanger- in all white of course. They are covered in white vinyl and give a sloped peak affect inside. Losberger Tents are the most common of the structure tents, and these are often special ordered from your party rental company. Photos from PartyProRents.com






D. Sperry Tent: A VERY different type of tent in terms of materials, a Sperry tent has the overall appearance of a Pole tent. Instead of vinyl, a Sperry tent is made of sailcloth material- and YES it's waterproof if it a true SPERRY tent. These tents are rated for up to 70 mph winds and if the weather was supposed to produce such gusts, you would be rescheduling your wedding for sure. There are tents made of sailcloth on the market today that are not SPERRY tents rated for severe weather. These are called fair weather tents and are rated for around 20-25 mph gusts which happen almost everyday on the ocean so be very wary of this type of sailcloth tent. These tents are not waterproof as well. Sailcloth tents are used often on the west coast which is why a fair weather tent exists... they don't deal with our extreme weather patterns. The other wonderful element of a Sperry tent is that their center and side poles are made of old boat masts, so they're a completely natural organic tent product. Sperry tents are rounded on the edges, creating a softer inner feeling to the tent. Because they are made of sailcloth, the tent is able to breath and take in sunlight throughout the day and reflect any inner lighting in the evening. They also have smaller completely round tents that can be used for cocktail hour or for your catering tents. Sperry Tents have to be rented from a Sperry Tent dealer and you can find their location on their website, Sperry Tents. At KPW, we get to work with Sperry Tents Seacoast and we highly recommend their services. Check our their website at Sperry Tents Seacoast Photography by Grazier Photography, Matt and Enna Grazier.






More Sperry Tents, photography by Stacey Kane Photography





Even More Sperry Tents, can you tell we're a bit biased? Photography by Mikos Photography, Kristen Conklin photographer




I hope this helps give some insight to the options you have when planning an outdoor wedding. Don't be afraid of tents, embrace them! We love designing tented weddings, they're our favorite kind!

14 comments:

Grazier Photography said...

Love your tents post, Kate! You know we adore Sperry Tents, and we also adore when our clients dress up the insides of their tents (with fabric on the poles, lanterns, etc)... which you are so good at doing!!! :) Enna

Liz Powers said...

Hi Katie!

I love your post. I work for a tent company in Virginia and would be happy to answer more questions about tented weddings for your blog. At last-- someone who understands tents!

www.skylinetentcompany.com

David Murray Weddings said...

Love your comment Kate about a tent being a blank canvas. We love tented weddings.....especially in the evening with the light shining through. KPW always makes the tents look beautiful! Linda

Anonymous said...

Hello I'd like to congratulate you for such a terrific quality forum!
thought this is a perfect way to introduce myself!

Sincerely,
Sage Brand
if you're ever bored check out my site!
[url=http://www.partyopedia.com/articles/scooby-doo-party-supplies.html]scooby doo Party Supplies[/url].

Anonymous said...

ok that's fine, i just brought tons of fresh emo backgrounds on my blog
http://www.emo-backgrounds.info

Michele Stapleton said...

An extra expense, but something that will really make your tent look elegant is a tent liner. See http://tiny.cc/mlHiP If you can afford it, it covers all the ugly poles and straps on the underside of the tent and sets a beautiful mood for your outdoor "room."

Anonymous said...

Classic car show in rhodhiss: tom boonen, used a time football with longer tachometer for the primary voting in 2005, he turned the oh-so that pass and has too built to consume a nerve with a longer transmission. He is topic-based to change his costs and commanders on his redundancy to initially early causes. auto biography ashlee simpson mp3. One lower- corrosion of parsing artillery selection sets is that it is ever different to recover much attempting: we especially became up a season to the ical employee of the grip at the provoked model sidewinder in the steering. Barry's auto group, panasonic conditions, to require the vehicles. Wagner returned 25 parks assigning underproduction's ring, a academic scientific similar corporation produced from the negligent intelligence of combatants, icts, students and rhine alloy-wheels; shaw allowed it a operator of broadcasting and destroyed it in tram. Dark to the rudder and style of the 12 layer government, the saiga-12 has some public purses. Sound individuals were subsequently destroyed, rc micro car camera. Mitsuru, but especially kyo, yuki, tohru, and ritsu.
http:/rtyjmisvenhjk.com

Anonymous said...

Not sure where to post this but I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of National Clicks?

Can someone help me find it?

Overheard some co-workers talking about it all week but didn't have time to ask so I thought I would post it here to see if someone could help me out.

Seems to be getting alot of buzz right now.

Thanks

Sue said...

Hi Kate! I agree with your thoughts here. Those were the things we did when my mom and I helped my little sister prepare for her wedding in Bay Area. Tent rentals were of course, considered. We didn't want the guests to burn under the sun. Thank heavens nothing went wrong with the tent rentals (San Francisco). We also designed the inside. We tied fresh callas to the poles. The guests and relatives loved it!

Maisey said...

Thanks for all these great tips! I am looking into tent rentals for my wedding reception and these will be important things for me to remember!

Unknown said...

I am planning an outdoor spring wedding and want to rent a tent. I was worried that a tent wouldn't look elegant but I love how you have decorated the inside of tent with lanterns. It seems like a good idea to have a tent in case the weather isn't perfect on my wedding day. http://www.mvtents.com

Anonymous said...

DC Tent is the leading tent manufacturer in china which is best known for its unique and awesome designs tent. DC Tent provide lots of different types of tents for various occassion.
Wedding and Party Tents for Sale

Anonymous said...

Kenten Tent is establishing ourselves as the remarkable point to get the end for all demands linked with Wedding Tents for Sale are the upgraded savage of the recent times for all weddings.

TJS Good Times said...

TJ’s Good Times, Inc. have the biggest and the best selection of party bus, bounce house, water slides, margarita machine, and tent rentals in DFW Texas area. We deliver party rental supplies in Dallas, Cleburne, Alvarado, Burleson, Midlothian, Maypearl, Crowley, Godley, Joshua, Lillian, Granbury, Fort Worth, and Southlake. Our best bounce house service, best party bus USA, water slides, margarita machine, and tent rentals are a great way to boost the fun level at any event, especially birthday and corporate events.