DIY Wedding & Event Marquee Advice | Five Star Marquee Hire Kent

Love the idea of planning the ultimate marquee DIY wedding or event?

To plan a marquee DIY wedding or event, at Five Star Marquee hire, we believe all you need is a love for planning special occasions and an outdoor space big enough to accommodate your guest numbers (and any activities such as catering and dancing).

Having a marquee DIY wedding or event at home, in your parent’s or friend’s garden, or, with the owner’s permission, in a field, woodland or in an orchard, can be a great way of planning the perfect English country wedding or event. Marquees enable you to locate your wedding or event wherever you want.

Marquee DIY weddings and events have certainly grown in popularity and we offer a wide range of marquees of different shapes and sizes, to help you realise your dreams. Depending on the number of your guests and the nature of the site, we will help you to choose the right size structure to accommodate everyone and a configuration that makes the very best of your location.

Five Star Marquee Hire aluminum-framed marquees are especially adaptable, as they can be supplied with clear window walls enabling you to take in the view when inside the marquee.

Also, because marquees are light and airy, through your own styling, they can be completely transformed to enable you to create a wedding that is truly personal to you.

But, when considering your perfect location, don’t forget that finding somewhere with a great view, might mean access can be limited. So if you have found your perfect location, please ring us to book a site survey, to ensure we can help you with the practicalities to make the most of that view, both day and night!

Why should you consider obtaining permission from your local authority for a Marquee DIY wedding or event?

Once you have agreed on the perfect location for your marquee for your DIY wedding or event, before getting down to the fun part of styling the marquee (which we will cover in other blogs), there are a few formalities you will need to consider. Firstly for your temporary event you should consider obtaining permission from your local authority and secondly, consider taking out insurance.

You should consider approaching your local authority to obtain a Temporary Events Notice (TENs). They are inexpensive and not difficult to obtain, but they give you peace of mind when planning a Marquee DIY wedding or event, as the last thing you want is a neighbour complaining – for example about the noise – and you not having the necessary paperwork in place. It can be a costly mistake and could at worst, lead to imprisonment!

You will need to apply for a TEN if “licensable activities” are taking place . “Licensable activities” include:

any playing of recorded music
a performance of live music
the sale of alcohol (either at a cash bar or as part of a ticket price)
serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am
a performance of dance
entertainment of a similar description to live music, recorded music or dance
the performance of a play (this means any piece where a dramatic role is acted out)
an exhibition of a film (this means any display of moving pictures)
an indoor sporting event
boxing or wrestling entertainment.

Of course, if you are not planning on playing recorded music, your bar is free of charge, you have a cold buffet and you haven’t charged an admission or ticket fee, then there is no need for a licence. But, for events that take place “for a consideration or with a view to a profit”, for example, if you are hosting a charity event and expect guests to pay for tickets and or make donations, you will need a TEN.

For your information your local authority is actually not the decision making body when it comes to approving TENs. Only the Police and Environmental Health have the power to object, and they must do this within three working days of receiving the application. They can only object if they think your event could:

lead to crime and disorder
cause a public nuisance
be a threat to public safety
put children at risk of harm.

What do you need to do in order to secure a Temporary Event Notice, for your marquee DIY wedding or event?

Don’t panic, as we said before, it is actually really easy to apply for a TEN, under The Licensing Act 2003. Assuming you do decide to apply for a licence, then:

the person applying must be 18 or older
be aware that your event must have fewer than 500 people at all times (including the staff or event organisers)
go to the website of your local borough / district council, locate the Temporary Event Notice application form and complete (it’s fairly straight forward but can take time)
submit to your local authority along with the fee. Make sure you apply in good time. You must submit your notice to the local authority at least ten working days before your event date, but you must also submit your forms to both the chief officer of police and the local environment health authority. So at Five Star Marquee Hire, we recommend allowing around 30 days
await their confirmation of receipt (they normally send you back a stamped copy of the form).

Why should you consider taking out insurance for your marquee DIY wedding or event?

When you hire Five Star Marquee Hire for your wedding or event, to assure you, we are professionally insured. However, our cover only includes damage to the marquee and public liability. It does not cover your event.

Taking out insurance for your wedding or event – whether you are getting married at an established venue or in your perfect private location – is not a legal requirement, but you are responsible for the safety of everyone at your DIY wedding or event. Your insurance should cover you for:

accidental loss e.g. for your wedding rings and dress
theft e.g. of your wedding gifts
malicious or accidental damage
suppliers letting you down and you are not able to claim back your deposit
fire, storm and a flood
public liability – In case of third party property damage or injury due to your negligence.

(For example, if a guest slips on a spilt drink on a dance floor and breaks their ankle the injured guest might hold you responsible, on the grounds that you failed to prevent the accident from happening as the spillage was not cleaned up or the appropriate signage put in place)

employers Liability – This protects you against your legal liability in case of injury due to your employees. An employee is anyone that is working for you whether or not you pay them, so a volunteer is in effect an employee
cancellation cover – You can either cover your event costs or, if relevant, the revenue from the event. The eventualities which can be insured will depend on the type and details of the event, and can include; cancellation due to adverse weather, death or illness of a person on which the event depends and the unavailability of the venue due to fire or flood.

How do you arrange insurance cover?

To arrange insurance cover there are plenty of specialist temporary event insurance companies such as John Lewis Finance, Debenhams or check out compare.com.

With your location agreed and your paper work in place, you can now start on the really exciting part – planning how your marquee DIY wedding or event might look and feel. Watch out for our next blog on marquee styling, Party On!