FAQ

There are a lot of details to iron out with event planning but there are a few things that are helpful to know before contacting a rental company. These include:

• Your Venue or Location: Whether it is an outdoor tented wedding on your private property or at a venue that only provides tables and chairs—having an event location selected will help with rental planning.
• Your estimated guest list: This helps to identify the size of the tent, dance floor, and number of rental items you’ll need.
• Band or DJ: Generally, a band will require a larger space plus staging, which impacts the tent sizing. A DJ usually needs a table but some require specific sizes.
• Buffet, Seated or Family-Style Dinners: This isn’t essential to know up front, but helpful in identifying space needs, potential second tents, and additional serving items that may be required.

There are many factors to consider when planning for rentals—will you need a tent, tables, chairs, dance floor, staging for a band, etc.? Generally, you want to dedicate about 30% or more of your total wedding budget towards your venue, not including food. If the event venue you select requires you to rent many items, you’ll want to figure rentals into that 30% as well. As you search for a location, it is important to ask questions about what is included vs. what you will have to rent. Once you know your general rental needs, reach out to our team at Classical Tents and we can pull together a quote to help you with identifying what the total investment will be. Of course, it all comes down to your total budget and your vision, you may decide you want to spend closer to 40% on the venue of your dreams!

Sailcloth Tents are made with a lighter semi-translucent material that allows light to filter in—beautiful during the day and at night, they appear to glow when lit. They have wood poles and generally look lovely as they are. Standard Pole Tents are made with a thicker material, specifically blackout vinyl, and have metal poles. They are used often for weddings, fairs, and festivals. Both tents are able to have sidewalls to protect from inclement weather.

Structure tents are highly weather resistant, offering a thicker metal frame and stronger vinyl than standard tents—they are the sturdiest tents on the market! Their tensioned sidewall panels open and close on a track which means a clean, tight look. They are 10’ tall at the sides which offers unobstructed views. With white tent tops, clear tent tops , or alternating white and clear tent tops, structure tents present many options! Structure tents are great for large weddings, long-term tent rentals, corporate events, or commercial use.

The sooner the better as there are benefits to booking early. For tents and large-scale events, you should be thinking a year in advance, or sooner, if you are hosting an event during the months of May, June, September or October as they are peak wedding and event months. Many of our linens require a minimum of 3-4 weeks lead time. If you have a smaller event, and can do a customer pick up, please contact us and we can see what we can do to help.