If you're planning to rent out your venue for tent weddings, there are a lot of decisions to make. In this blog post, I'll give you my recommendations. I've spent years working with various venues who rent tented spaces for weddings and other events. One of your first decisions is whether you'll have a tent in place for the entire season or allow each client to rent a tent for the space on their own. Many venues start out by letting each client rent the tent that they need for their own event. It's lower risk and reduces your initial investment. Later on, you can purchase or rent a tent for the entire summer season.

Next, you'll want to think about the ground surface. If you only hold a few events per year, a grass surface can work great. If you plan to hold numerous events each summer, it's a good idea to create a patio of flagstone or concrete. When building a patio for a tent, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Keep the patio slightly smaller than the tent size. This keeps any water runoff from the tent off your pad.

• Crown your pad: make it higher in the center than the edges. This causes any water that does get onto your patio to run out of the tent and not into it.

• It's also a good idea to place a drain around the outside of the pad to take away rain water.

• In some cases, permanent anchors can be placed into the ground to secure the tent.

While we're discussing rain water, it's good to think about any gutters that you may want over doorways where guests will be entering. Also, it's very convenient to choose kedered tent walls that slide open and closed easily. This can help keep guests comfortable and protected from changing weather. It also reduces your workload during the event.

Another item to consider is permitting. In many jurisdictions, a long-term tent install requires a tent permit from your local city, borough or township. In most cases, the tent cannot be in place for more than 180 consecutive days. 

If you decide to purchase a tent for your wedding venue, don't forget to budget for the installation, removal, storage, cleaning and maintenance of your tent. Tents For Rent offers all of these services. When you purchase or rent a tent from us, we will also list you on our wedding sites page giving you additional exposure to people planning outdoor events. Want to know more? Contact us today.