Cheap Wedding Tent
How To Pay Less

Finding a cheap wedding tent can be frustrating and a bit scarey! What if it isn't big enough? If it falls down? Or it just looks cheap and would be better placed in a Scout camp?

How Much Space Do You Really Need?

A good start is to measure how much space you have for the wedding tent, this is then the maximum and it is no point looking at larger tents.

The normal way of working out how much space you need is to allow for 10-12 square feet per person if sitting for dinner, 6 square feet per person for the ceremony and 2 square feet per person on the dance floor. Don't panic not everyone is up dancing at the same time!

You will need to calculate in serving tables - add 100 square feet and DJ 200 square feet.

All of these figures include aisles!

So if you were having a reception for 50 people you will need 500 square feet for the tables plus 4 serving tables (3 absolute minimum) 400 square feet and a DJ and dance floor 260 square feet, cake table 6 square feet. Total space 1166 square feet.

Saving Tips

• For your cheap wedding tent you can save money by having the serving tables and even the top table on the dance floor during the wedding meal and then they can be moved away for the evening dancing.
• Another tip to saving money is to try to have the tent on a flat surface so that you don't have to spend lots on a hard floor. I have organised functions through a wet winter in a tent that only needed the simple matting down, although we did have to pay extra for the heaters!
• Think if you need walls to the tent as these can cost extra, protection from the wind and rain is a must so you will need them if the weather isn't guaranteed.
• When you make an enquiry ask about the cost to hire the furniture, you may be able to get a great deal if you go with the same company but don't presume that you will, shop around!

As with all purchases to ensure you have a bargain with your cheap wedding tent you need to compare the prices of a number of suppliers. Make sure you are comparing apples with apples and have a list of all of the costs included in the price. The cheapest will always be the one with half the things missing!

Ask lots of questions of your suppliers, helpful customer service is worth paying a bit extra for. It's your wedding and you want to feel as relaxed as possible.

Try and see the wedding tent before the day so that you can plan your wedding decorations.

Affordable Wedding Tents For Sale

Party Tents

You may have also seen the party tents for sale at various home stores, they are worth thinking about if your numbers are relatively small. I bought this one on Ebay recently for a small backyard evening reception and it was perfect.

It is 3m x 9m and could have fitted 3 tables of 10 comfortably, instead we had a bbq and standing room only. Well you have to have room for the dance floor too! You can see the tent at the beginning of the evening in the photo.

It was a very windy night so we had to make the tent secure by screwing the poles to the decking and we did have to use a lot of strong tape at the joints to ensure all the poles stayed in place. But a week later and a lot of rain it is still standing! Since it took 3 men most of the day to put up I doubt it will be coming down soon either!