For a seated marquee wedding, allow roughly 1.2 to 1.5 square metres per guest for dining, plus space for a bar, a dance floor and catering. Eighty guests seated with a dance floor usually needs a marquee of around 150 to 180 square metres.
The marquee decision is really a site decision: ground conditions, level ground, access for a truck, power and how far the caterer has to carry things. Walk the site with the marquee company before you commit to a size or a style.
A marquee shapes the whole reception — the floor plan, the light, how the evening feels after dark. At a private property it is also a choice rather than a given: you can go open air, add light cover, or bring a fully enclosed structure. Worth understanding before you start comparing options.
Start with the floor plan, not the marquee
Marquee companies size from a plan, not a guest count. Sketch what you want in the space and the size answers itself.
- Dining. Roughly 1.2 to 1.5 square metres per guest seated. Long tables use space more efficiently than rounds.
- Dance floor. Around 0.5 square metres per guest, on the basis that not everyone dances at once.
- Bar. Allow real space in front of it, not just behind — a queue in a walkway ruins the flow of a room.
- Catering. Ask your caterer what service area they need. It is always more than couples assume.
- Everything else. Gift table, cake table, seating chart, a corner for the band and their cases.
For eighty guests seated with a dance floor and a bar, that usually lands somewhere around 150 to 180 square metres.
The three structures
| Type | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Sailcloth | Warm, romantic evenings; translucent roof that glows at night; mild months. | Internal poles affect the floor plan. Loud in heavy rain. Less enclosed in cold. |
| Clearspan | Weather certainty, easy lining and heating, no internal poles, any month. | Plainer without lining, which is an added cost. Needs solid, level ground. |
| Stretch tent | Informal shapes, uneven ground, cocktail-style receptions. | Open sides make it cold and wind-exposed. Harder to fully enclose. |
Ask each company to quote the structure, flooring, lighting, walls and heating as separate lines. Otherwise you are comparing three different bundles.
The site decides more than the style
Before you fall for a photograph, get these answered about the ground it would stand on.
Is it level? Marquees want level ground, and flooring makes it level where it is not.
Can a truck get to it? Installation crews carry heavy gear, so vehicle access close to the site makes the build quick.
What does it do when wet? Ask about the week before, not the day. Soft ground affects trucks, pegs and guests.
Where is the power? Distance to the supply determines the cabling your suppliers bring. At Adeline it is at the homestead, beside the marquee ground.
How far is the kitchen? Every metre between catering and the tables shows up in service.
Flooring, lighting, heating
Flooring is the upgrade with the highest return. It levels the ground, keeps heels out of the grass and keeps the dancing going if the paddock is damp. For a date between April and September, treat it as part of the marquee rather than an afterthought.
Lighting does more for atmosphere than any other line in the budget. Festoons for warmth, uplighting on the walls, and enough light on the bar and the path outside that people can see where they are going. Get it on a dimmer if you can — dinner and the dance floor want different rooms.
Heating for anything from May to August, and for April and September evenings too. Gas heaters, sorted at the start rather than in the final fortnight.
Easy to overlook
- Walls. Worth having available even if you plan to leave them off.
- A covered path between the marquee and the bathrooms, and between the car park and the entrance.
- Wind. More disruptive than rain at an outdoor wedding. Ask what the structure is rated to and where the shelter is.
- Bump-out. Confirm the collection day. With weekend access it is an unhurried Sunday job.
- Insurance. Check the company's public liability cover and give a copy to your venue.
Decide the reception style early. It sets the floor plan, the weather plan and the setup schedule, and everything else follows from it.
What the ground here gives you
There is a levelled marquee lawn with the paddock rolling out beyond it, vehicle access for installation, and power and water at the homestead.
You have four ways to go, and none of them is compulsory.
| Open air | No marquee at all. Plenty of couples celebrate this way. |
|---|---|
| One spider marquee | $1,000. Shade and some light-rain cover, subject to wind and weather. |
| Two spider marquees | $2,000. More covered area, same conditions apply. |
| Your own marquee company | Always welcome, for a fully enclosed structure or a particular style. No preferred list, no fee. |
Spider marquees provide shade and some light-rain cover. They are not fully enclosed all-weather structures, so if your date needs weather certainty, price an enclosed external marquee.
Because the property is yours from Friday, the marquee goes up the day before and comes down on Sunday. That single fact removes most of the stress from a marquee wedding.
Send us your sizes, or bring your marquee company out with you. We would rather tell you what fits than have you find out in the week of the wedding.
More on the ground, the layouts and cover options: outdoor and marquee weddings.
The short version
- Size from a floor plan, not a guest count. Around 150–180m² for 80 seated.
- A marquee is optional. Plenty of couples here celebrate open air.
- Sailcloth for atmosphere, clearspan for weather certainty, stretch for informality.
- The ground, the access and the power decide more than the style does.
- Flooring first, then lighting, then heating for any cool-month date.
- Install the day before. Friday access here means the wedding morning stays calm.
- Here you can go open air, add a spider marquee for $1,000 or two for $2,000, or bring your own.
Common questions
The things marquee companies wish couples asked earlier.
Does Adeline Estate have a marquee we can hire?
Yes. You can add one spider marquee for $1,000 or two for $2,000, which give shade and some light-rain cover subject to wind and weather. Many couples celebrate open air instead, and you are equally welcome to bring your own external supplier for a fully enclosed structure — there is no preferred list and no fee.
What size marquee do you need for 80 guests?
Around 150 to 180 square metres for a seated dinner with a dance floor and a bar. Allow roughly 1.2 to 1.5 square metres per guest for dining alone, then add the dance floor, bar, gift table and catering service area on top. Your marquee company will size it exactly from your floor plan.
What is the difference between sailcloth, clearspan and stretch marquees?
Sailcloth has timber poles and a translucent roof — beautiful, warm at night, best in mild weather. Clearspan is a rigid frame with no internal poles, the most weatherproof and the easiest to line and heat. Stretch tents are fabric shapes pegged at angles — informal, flexible over uneven ground, less enclosed.
Do you need flooring in a wedding marquee?
Not always, but it is the first thing to add if the ground is uneven, the date is in a wetter month, or guests will be in heels. Flooring is what stops a wet paddock ending the dancing early, and it is usually cheaper than couples expect relative to the marquee itself.
What should a marquee quote include?
It depends entirely on the structure and how much of the fit-out you take, so ask each company to quote the structure, flooring, lighting, walls and heating as separate lines — that is the only way to compare two quotes fairly. At Adeline you can also skip the question: celebrate open air, or add a spider marquee for $1,000 or two for $2,000.
When should the marquee go up?
The day before, at minimum. Installation takes most of a day for a structure of this size, and everything else — furniture, styling, catering setup — queues behind it. A venue with only same-day access makes a marquee wedding much harder than it needs to be.