Shades Wedding – Clare & Ramsay

Published on 10th October 2017 by Jenny Mason

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When Clare & Ramsay chose their wedding venue in Northumberland, they knew they wanted a marquee that was a little bit different. Shades’ Aurora Sailcloth Tent fitted the bill perfectly, and here they tell all the details about their special day..

Here at Shades we’ve had a fabulous year of some absolutely beautiful weddings and parties across the UK. Take a peek at Clare & Ramsay’s celebrations from earlier this year, why they chose Shades and some of their top planning tips!

1. Had you always wanted a marquee for your wedding/what made you choose to hold your wedding in a marquee?

We wanted a venue that was very DIY and one which was not typically a wedding venue making it extra special. We found a totally unique venue in a walled garden in Northumberland, there was no inside space and so we needed a marquee.

2. Did you find planning and co-ordinating the venue and suppliers easy to do?

Paul’s team were exceptionally professional from start to finish. We really had a good feeling about them from the moment we met Paul. He came to visit the site shortly after we contacted them despite it being in Northumberland and Paul was very prompt in replying to many of the endless emails I sent to him which definitely helped lessen the inevitable stress surrounding preparation for a wedding. They were very accommodating of any requests we had and open to trying things new, even including helping fix hundreds of paper lanterns to the ceiling of the tent! Sorry about that!!

3. What made you choose the Sailcloth from Shades?

The marquee was one of the things that we spent the most time looking for, it was so important to us to have this perfect as we would be spending most of the day in there. We did originally look for a tipi but felt that something was missing and having been to many tipi weddings already we again wanted something a bit different!

We went to a wedding fair in York and Paul’s tent really stood out and caught our eye. All the marquees we had seen so far were not very aesthetically pleasing and although the windows were clear they were not totally transparent and it was still quite dark inside. Our venue was so beautiful we wanted to feel like we were sitting outside and needed a marquee that didn’t overshadow the natural beauty of the venue.

Paul’s marquee was stunning both inside and out, it was incredibly clean and the pristine transparent walls gave it exactly the feel we were looking for.. Being able to have these clear walls throughout the tent and roll these up fully if the weather was good enough was a deal breaker. We had not seen anything like it before and it definitely fitted the bill.

4. How was everything on the day?

On the day the team were fantastic, helping not only with putting the sides up and down on the tent, altering the lighting etc, but even helped put out some lanterns for us for the evening guests, which was definitely beyond their job description. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite what we hoped for so it was even more special to have such a beautiful clear tent with transparent walls and it didn’t bother us at all as we still felt like we were experiencing the beautiful views.

5. What advice would you give to anyone else planning a marquee wedding?

I could not recommend both the aurora tent and Shades enough. It is hard to beat such a beautiful tent and such a reliable and excellent supplier is a hard find!