Marquee weddings and events offer a unique opportunity: the chance to create a completely bespoke venue from the ground up. Unlike static hotel ballrooms or pre-decorated barns, marquees give you a blank canvas. They allow you to bring your vision to life without architectural constraints. But with this freedom comes a new challenge—how to decorate that space beautifully and cohesively.
Marquee decoration isn’t just about making a tent look pretty. It’s about shaping an atmosphere, expressing personality, and ensuring your space flows comfortably from one moment to the next. From lighting and linings to furniture and floral installations, each element contributes to the overall experience.
In this guide, we’ll explore elegant, modern ideas for marquee decoration. Whether you’re planning a wedding, a corporate soirée, or a landmark celebration, these ideas will help you transform your marquee into a captivating and personalised setting.
Starting with Structure: Designing Around Your Marquee Style
Clear Span Marquees: A Blank Canvas for Creative Styling
Clear Span marquees are among the most popular choices for weddings and large-scale events—and for good reason. Their open-plan structure, devoid of internal poles, provides maximum flexibility when it comes to layout and design. With no obstacles in the middle of the space, you can position tables, stages, bars, and focal points exactly where you want them.
This structural clarity means that you can think in zones: a lounge corner here, a vibrant dance floor there, an elegantly laid dining area just beyond. It also allows your decoration to evolve throughout the day—transitioning from soft daytime elegance to dramatic evening sophistication.
If you’re working with a marquee like those from Carron Marquees, the space is delivered to you as a pristine canvas, clean-lined and spacious, ready to be infused with colour, texture, and atmosphere.
Setting the Mood with Lighting
Layered Lighting for Ambience and Practicality
Lighting is one of the most powerful tools in marquee decoration. It sets the mood, defines spaces, and evolves as the event progresses from day to night. More than just function, lighting is theatre—it tells your guests when to relax, when to dine, and when to dance.
In a marquee, ambient lighting like chandeliers or uplighters gives an overall wash of warmth. Feature lighting, such as fairy lights or festoons, adds sparkle and intimacy. Accent lighting can be used to highlight key areas such as your bar, floral arrangements, or the entrance.
Carron Marquees provides a wide variety of marquee lighting options to suit different moods and aesthetics. You can use warm white bulbs for classic elegance, coloured LEDs for a party vibe, or even mix lighting styles throughout the space to create depth.
Importantly, lighting should be layered. Start with soft general illumination, then build in moments of drama with pinpoint lighting on focal pieces. As night falls, the lighting can shift subtly—dimming over the dining area while brightening over the dance floor, guiding the energy and focus of your event.
Furniture as Feature: Seating and Layout
Functionality Meets Style
When thinking about marquee decoration, furniture is often underestimated. But your choice of tables, chairs, and layout dramatically influences the look and feel of your event.
Are you envisioning long banqueting rows for a feast-style dinner, or would you prefer round tables to encourage conversation? Do you want a formal head table or an informal sweetheart table for two? The decisions you make here are not only practical—they also shape your marquee’s visual rhythm.
Carron Marquees offers an extensive selection of tables and chairs, from rustic wooden furniture to more refined or minimalist options. Your choice of seating can complement or contrast with other elements like linens and florals.
And it’s not just about dining. Lounge areas with armchairs, low tables, or upholstered benches can give guests a place to relax and connect. Bar furniture, stools, and cocktail tables invite informal mingling. Think of your marquee as a house with rooms—each “room” has a purpose, and your furniture helps define it.
Transforming Interiors with Linings and Drapery
Softening the Space with Style
Marquee linings are often the unsung heroes of event styling. These elegant fabric installations line the roof and walls of the marquee, instantly softening the look of the space and providing a cohesive backdrop for everything else to shine.
Whether you opt for pleated ivory linings, bold coloured swags, or dramatic reveal curtains, linings can be used to frame your layout and add architectural interest. At Carron Marquees, a wide variety of marquee linings are available to suit everything from traditional romance to contemporary chic.
Linings also have a practical role. They can hide structural components like wires and framework, making your space feel more like an elegant ballroom than a temporary structure. Some clients choose linings that act as a neutral backdrop, allowing flowers or lighting to take centre stage. Others opt for richly coloured draping that becomes a focal element in itself.
Whatever your approach, linings elevate the atmosphere—and with thoughtful coordination, they unify every other decorative decision you make.
Statement Pieces and Decor Focal Points
Centrepieces, Hanging Florals, and Feature Backdrops
A well-designed marquee should have visual highlights—moments that draw the eye and delight your guests. Think of these as your statement pieces: centrepieces on dining tables, hanging installations over the dance floor, or dramatic arches behind the ceremony space.
Tall centrepieces create grandeur without blocking conversation. Hanging florals add a sense of height and spectacle. Feature backdrops—perhaps behind a sweetheart table or cake display—offer stunning photo opportunities.
One of the advantages of marquee structures is their vertical space. Clear Span marquees, in particular, allow for florists and designers to suspend installations from the ceiling, adding layers of detail above guests’ heads.
The key is balance. Not every element needs to shout. A few standout features will draw focus and allow the rest of the space to breathe.
Styling for the Dance Floor and Entertainment Areas
Designing Energy and Movement
Every successful event has a rhythm, and the dance floor is where that rhythm reaches its peak. This area deserves just as much decorative thought as the dining tables or entrance.
Start with the foundation: Carron Marquees offers a range of dance floor options from classic wood finishes to sleek black-and-white or star-lit surfaces. Your choice here will immediately set the tone—classic, funky, or formal.
Then consider lighting. Coloured washes, overhead festoons, or even disco balls can energise the space and visually signal that this is where the celebration happens. If you’re using reveal curtains or partitions, the dance floor can be unveiled at just the right moment—adding a sense of drama and anticipation.
Entertainment areas also include the stage, DJ booth, or band setup. These zones should feel part of the overall design but still have enough presence to command attention once the music starts.
The Value of Expert Guidance
Why Work with Professionals
Marquee decoration, when done well, looks effortless. But behind that ease is a deep understanding of layout, logistics, and aesthetics.
Carron Marquees offers more than just structures. Their team brings decades of experience in styling, layout design, and practical setup. From helping you choose the right lighting and linings to advising on furniture combinations and power needs, their service goes well beyond tent hire.
Working with a specialist provider ensures that each element—from flooring to floral suspensions—is coordinated and safely installed. The team understands how decorative choices interact with practical considerations like heating, power supply, and site access.
While many clients work directly with Carron Marquees, others may also collaborate with external stylists or planners. Companies like One Six Events are sometimes brought on board for high-concept styling or full-event coordination. But even then, Carron remains a crucial part of the process—executing marquee logistics to the highest standard and helping translate creative vision into practical reality.
Get in Touch with Marquee Decoration Experts
Marquee decoration is about more than looks—it’s about experience. When lighting, linings, furniture, and florals come together with intention, they create a space that’s immersive, memorable, and deeply personal.
With the right structure and expert guidance, your marquee can be more than just a venue. It can be the heart of your celebration—shaped by your story and designed with elegance.
For more inspiration and practical advice, explore Carron Marquees’ full guide on decorating Clear Span marquees. Their team’s expertise ensures that whether you’re planning something classic or completely contemporary, your marquee will be every bit as beautiful as the occasion it hosts.
