Your Marquee/Tipi Wedding By Holly Evans, Wedding Coordinator
Written by Holly
With incredible views of the Gloucestershire countryside sweeping through the River Leadon valley, Pauntley Court lends itself to a marquee or tipi wedding with the house and beautifully kept gardens as the backdrop.
Marquee/Tipi weddings offer endless options to create the wedding of your dreams. A blank canvas ready to be painted with your personality, style and story.
Planning an outdoor wedding where the marquee or tipi is the main reception area for all of your guests, can strike couples with fear at the thought of having to organise everything themselves. Fortunately, I have organised many marquee weddings and as Pauntley Court's wedding coordinator I am here to share all my tips, tricks and recommendations. All couples at Pauntley are offered my services as part of their wedding weekend.
Pauntley Court has the most wonderful flat lawn with stunning scenery all around, making it the perfect place for marquee or tipi companies to create your pop-up venue! What makes Pauntley even more special is it has its own church on site where couples are able to marry, after attending 6 services at the church before their wedding. Alternatively, in the main house at Pauntley, the ballroom is licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 50 people. Most couples choose one of these options and then follow on into a marquee or tipi of their choice for their wedding breakfast to continue their wedding celebrations into the evening.
At the end of your wedding day for you the magic continues along with the guests you have chosen to stay in our luxury accommodation, sleeping up to 24 guests. Wake up together the next day reminiscing on the most magical wedding day you had here at Pauntley Court and enjoy brunch under the tentickle stretch, amongst the hornbeam arches or in the flower room, with your close family and friends who are staying with you on site.
When planning a marquee/tipi wedding, it is correct that there are certain practicalities that must be considered before saying ‘I do’ to a marquee/ tipi wedding.
Fortunately for you, we have taken out the stress of some of those practicalities by putting in place clear access for the suppliers. This means your chosen marquee/tipi company will be able to easily access the marquee lawn and there is plenty of space for suppliers and guests to park.
You will need to hire a generator to power your marquee/tipi, your chosen company will be able to hire this for you or point you in the right direction if they do not supply this themselves. They will also be able to provide you with luxury toilets for your guests. We have recently put in gravel paths and lovely wooden steps down from the gardens to the luxury toilets, creating easy access for your guests.
Once you have chosen your marquee/tipi company, designing the inside of your marquee/tipi is one of the most exciting aspects and there is lots to choose from! You can choose whatever dance floor, flooring, lighting, windows you would prefer. Of course you will need to choose if you would like round or long rustic tables. This will set you with your plan of the marquee, ready to start thinking about the finer details with your florist, stylist and caterers. Ask your marquee company for their catalogue of items you can hire; you really can tailor make your marquee or tipi to suit exactly what you want.
Choosing the right company to supply your marquee or tipi is important. Take a look at our recommended suppliers list, available from myself or Melissa. Their Instagram accounts, websites and reviews are also very useful. We can personally say we have worked with them all and they will provide you with the best service.
Once you have decided who you would like to contact to get quotes, you will need to provide them with the following information. Luckily, they will have already been to Pauntley so know the site well, so you will only need to give them dates, type of marquee/tipi you are looking for and number of guests.
Each marquee company provides different styles from clear span, stretched tents, traditional celeste pole to clear roofed or you can have a traditional tipi.
In a nutshell, these are the main things to consider when planning a marquee wedding, scary to some but with the right advice and support from us, we can help you create your perfect wedding, which at Pauntley Court is your wedding weekend, not just a day.
Holly x
Wedding Coordinator
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Having recently visited Pauntley for our first wedding anniversary, I was reminded just how magical a place it is.
James and I celebrated our marriage with our closest family and friends over three days in August 2024. Spending both the night before and day after our wedding with our nearest and dearest only enhanced our celebrations; Pauntley’s beautiful bedrooms and cosy communal areas greatly facilitate being able to have all of those you love in one place for an extended period. Waking up in the bridal suite greatly reduced the stress on the wedding morning; the Elinor Fettiplace was the perfect setting for bridal preparations.
We knew it was the venue for us when we walked into the ballroom on our first viewing and I burst out crying (happy tears); those tears were present again when I walked down the aisle (ironically outside) the following Summer.
Everything about Pauntley makes it the picture perfect venue - from the indoor furnishings to the beautiful gardens outside. A special touch are the beautiful flowers that Melissa's mother (the flower fairy!) collects from the gardens and arranges in the communal areas and bedrooms; she even treated our guests to a tour of the grounds on the Sunday.
We took full use of all of the spaces - firstly by hosting a grazing table, English sparkling wine and real ale welcome supper in The Flower Room on the Friday, complete with “s’mores” for our flower girls and page boys on Pauntley’s fire pit. On the day itself we had welcome drinks under the stretch tent; said “I do” alongside a string quartet amongst the quince trees; enjoyed canapés, fizz and acoustic music in the sunken garden; had our cake cutting, wedding breakfast and speeches under the hornbeam arches (complete with Melissa’s chandeliers!); took photos down by the boathouse; poured our champagne tower in front of the beautiful staircase and danced the night away with our band in the ballroom before collapsing in front of the fire in the main sitting room after our “light stick” exit in the courtyard. The morning after the night before was spent preparing for our send off BBQ on the terrace.
The stunning setting is only complimented by Pauntley’s true highlight: its team. Melissa could not have been more friendly and helpful from the first time we met her until our wedding weekend itself (and beyond!). The list of recommended suppliers provided was especially helpful given I had no knowledge of local hairdressers, make-up artists, florists, caterers, etc; all of the vendors that we chose were wonderful. Our wedding coordinator, Mel, put this type A bride to shame with her efficiency and organisational skills, all delivered with a smile and a wealth of industry knowledge. A special mention to Pauntley’s head housekeeper Rachel who took excellent care of us and our guests throughout with delicious breakfasts and a yummy BBQ on the Sunday. The whole team are warm, welcoming and ensure that you never feel like just another couple; they are all truly invested in making your wedding day the best it possibly can be.
As we are London based, we chose to stay on the Thursday and Sunday nights and I would highly recommend that option to future couples. Being there the night before - just the two of us - allowed us to sort various Waitrose / butcher / crockery deliveries and get ready before our friends and family descended for our welcome supper the following day. Equally, we enjoyed strolling around the gardens as husband and wife on the Sunday after everyone had left; an opportunity to reminisce on the best weekend of our lives in truly beautiful surroundings. We struggled to leave on the Monday morning!
We couldn’t recommend Pauntley enough and can’t wait to visit again on our second anniversary next year.
Thank you Melissa, Mel and Rachel for everything.
Image by Siobhan Beales Photography