Still busy!!

Even though tent activity is of course much quieter in the winter, we are still busy busy!
And our lovely Vintage tents are well, not exactly becoming famous, but well, at least we are getting noticed..this week the Vintage tent had to go to London to be used in a promotional shoot for
 Cath Kidston (more about that later!!) and the Market Stall and our rustic gift cart were used in a shoot for 'Pretty Nostalgic ' magazine and I also received news that Joey will appear in one of the summer issues of Country Living next year!!
Meanwhile we are sorting and cleaning canvas walls and I have plans to make rustic deckchairs out of ..bits of tent!! I have teamed up with Sarah (www.kenaus.com) who is a whizz with the sewing machine and can mend and create for me!
Now to update the links page and sort out contract conundrums!
Happy Christmas and here's to a DRY 2013!!(and is it too much to hope for a bit of sun too!!??)

A new wedding venue!!!
For anyone looking for a beautiful old walled garden to erect a lovely vintage marquee in, look no further! Fiona at Bridges Court in Luckington, Wiltshire (www.bridgescourt.co.uk) will welcome you, show you her B&B rooms, the ample parking etc, etc. A truly stunning garden and an absolutely perfect setting for a traditional wedding party. Vintage Marquees are providing a marquee for the first wedding at Bridges Court in May 2013, so watch out for the photos...

Fantastic light trees!!

The latest exciting purchase!!
Two amazing 7' high LED light trees!
These fabulous life size trees will look absolutely stunning
placed either side of the marquee entrance!
These pictures were hastily taken (in the rain!) of course all the branches can be spread out and arranged beautifully.
The trees actually emit a lot of light so would also be brilliant inside a marquee, and totally safe too.

Here are the crew! The A team! From left Caspar, Lewis and Lloyd. Boys you have been WONDERFUL, THANK YOU!! Lloyd your energy is amazing, you inspire us all, I love it.
Nick our brilliant driver (come photographer!!) took this photo when the boys were drenched having spent four hours dragging all our equipment through fields of mud after a very wet wedding!
Sadly I don't have a mug shot of Nick, I must take my camera out next time!!

So a big thank you to Nick too, and David of course (who has spent far too much time mowing lawns for old ladies and not enough time marqueeing as far as I'm concerned!!) and to John (who one day may give  up the day job and join Vintage Marquees full time!) and to Adam and Tom and all the uni boys who come and go.

Also a huge thank you to Bev who is not just a right hand person, but absolutely brilliant working beside me at all the events (Bev is calm and just carries on as I panic that we don't have enough time to do everything and is always so lovely with everyone .. I couldn't do it without you Bev).
Thank you too to my lovely waitressing team. You are all great and Daisy especially, you have been with  us at almost every event, you are a star (proud mum!!)
Cazza my catering mate (thank the Lord for you!)xx

A wopping thank you too, to all my lovely clients! We have met such lovely people and are privileged to have been part of so many special days this summer. Your thanks and enthusiasm are so much appreciated and it has been such a treat to have put our tents up at some utterly amazing and beautiful venues all over the country.

I hope that next season will be as dynamic (and hopefully drier!!) than this one!

Here are a few of pics of the Raj tent. It is a lovely 30' x 40' marquee. Call me if you are interested in buying it!

Unlike my traditional tents, the Indian ones are fully lined (and would look lovely with cream/linen/old lace bunting!! I might just have to run up a few hundred meters!!!)

End of the season

Wow!! The end of the season! Yesterday we put up the Brixworth in Surrey for the last hire of the season. And what a season it has been!! A few facts and figures which quite frankly amazed me when I totted them all up...
Nick has driven over 5500 miles delivering and collection for Vintage Marquees this season! He has probably been involved with about three quarters of our bookings, so that is only part of our mileage totals!
We have done twenty three weddings, twenty one parties, seven country fairs, village fetes and vintage shows and I have hired out nine lots of items when the hirer has used other marquees (shock horror!!)
Of the parties, there have been three 18th, three 21st, five 40th, three 50th, one anniversary, two christenings, one 80th and three hires just for a party!!!! And I have worked at eleven of the events mostly catering and working with my girls waitressing and helping to run the show!

This is the pagoda, not a great pic though.

Now for a few months of consolidation before the next season! There are lots of new photos so major web site up dating to be done. I would also like to liase with some local wedding venues with the aim to reduce our mileage next year. Also on the marquee front, I am hoping to buy a 40' x 60' old canvas marquee this weekend, so we would be able to accommodate approximately 200 guests in one marquee!! I also very much hope to find a 30' x 50' marquee. Sadly the Raj was not made quite to our British standards and would not withstand the constant hirings our tents cope with. So I will be selling it I hope. Just call if you are interested! I also have three pretty pergoda tents which I have imported especially to sell. Just call for details!

catching up

I can't believe we are half way through August and have survived the trials and traumas of our soggy summer!! There have been highs and lows this season so far (more lows I think though ). From dragging muddy sodden coir matting across waterlogged fields that are too wet to drive our vans onto, to having to drive round in circles hunting for venues when we have been given the wrong post codes, to trying to launder mountains of filthy table cloths (soaking them in Vanish in the bath!!) ..the list goes on.

Then there have been disputes...big sigh...This is all new to me, this is the first year that there have been 'issues'. I have had several clients who have not accepted liability for damaged goods and therefore I have ended up loosing out. For this reason next years bookings will be accompanied by signed contracts and I am going to have to ask for a refundable damage cover fee so I don't have to send endless  fruitless emails trying to chase payments. I have been too busy and really don't want the hassle of small claims courts. In fact I loathe any unpleasantness and just want to give a great service and have lovely happy customers! (therefore it hurts more when my trust and hard work are ignored and debts are not paid)

Also I will not be sending goods for hire. This I was persuaded to do for Claire in North Yorkshire. With a full address, the delivery company failed to deliver the goods, and somehow I am deemed liable for the items not arriving!!

Now on to brighter things!! Firstly lovely Chris and Gemma who had their wedding reception in our Big Top marquee last May have just had a little baby boy, so HUGE congratulations to you two!!
The second bit of good news is that the Raj marquee is now on home ground!! The container has been released from customs and we are due to collect the tent next week! Very exciting!

And equally exciting..we have almost finished organising our new storage facility. This is wonderful news!! We are moving from a big barn that we had really grown out of (I keep buying more tents!!) to a fabulous space which consists of a big barn (again!) for all the poles, tables and chairs, then a lovely clean room for all the canvases and a third room for all my frippery (vintage china, churns, garden games, lanterns, urns, glasses, cutlery, table linen and so the list goes on!). It is a fantastic space and at last I will be able to invite clients in to look at all my wares!!

till next time and maybe a photo of the Raj!!

Wow! how about this!!
Jo created this ad for her magazine 'Pretty Nostalgic' I love it!
Now for a quick catch up! Another hectic week in marquee land!! A wet wedding in Kent, a (by the sound of it) fabulous boozy party under the Big Top in Corsham, Wilts and a very soggy celebration for British Waterways under the Brixworth in Devizes! Next week we have a wedding, an 18th birthday party and two christenings!

more tomorrow..perhaps...

Wetsuits and wellies

This was the new theme for Nat and Anna's party. So apt given the sopping summer we are having! Amongst all my other paraphernalia Anna hired brollies and hung them from trees but luckily their guests only had to use them to go home! We are struggling valiantly on, the weather making hard work of it all. But Vintsge Marquees (along with all things retro) seem to be increasingly popular and we are struggling to keep up with demand, having about four events on every weekend! Tomorrow we are off to Devizes, erecting a marquee and skittle alley for a British Waterways fun day next to the canal! Then back to Corsham to put up the Big Top for a 50th birthday party, while Nick, Lloyd and Caspar are off to Kent to put up marquees for a wedding at Swarling Manor...we do get about!! And we might yet be famous!!two photo shoots in one week!! We have just collected one of the Vintsge marquees from lovely Pearl Lowe who is writing an article for the Times style magazine, and this week I delivered our little Joey tent for a photo shoot for Country Living magazine. We have an ad in the new Pretty Nostalgic bimonthly magazine...all great, but I have absolutely no clue when we may appear in any of the publications!! Ho hum!!

OK, the last one!! Here are Gloria and the girls at the Vintage Hair lounge in one of my little Jester tents at the Vintage Nostalgia Show. They did a roaring trade and made everyone really look the part!!

Now on a roll (and importing CD's on to my Mac at the same time, what sort of techno whizz am I?? joking of course!!) last pics and news for today. Just an image of our Big Top all decked out for Jubilee teas. Vintage Marquees had to step in and provide major canvas coverage at the last minute. Actually our village greens looked really pretty and with fantastic community camaraderie, everyone had a brilliant day and an awful lot of cake!! We are lucky to have two great pubs in the village and major sessions in both have resulted in many us feeling a tad under par for a day or two. We even had a beacon in the village! Ian Smith mowed a wonderful walk up through his fields, lit with candle lanterns as we walked to the top of the hill (so lovely, especially when full of cocktails courtesy of Jim and Louise at the pub!)

Here is my latest purchase (well, apart from another 30 old wooden trestles that I bought today!) This is my gift cart! Available for hire to put outside the wedding marquee..very pretty I think!
I have also bought a hanging floaty thing!! A sort of hanging net tent that is a popular addition to garden parties with children.

How about that!! Not only have I imported the right image, I have also managed to move it to the correct place!! WOO!

Well, it is June 7th, almost mid summer and it is like winter! It is cold and it has rained constantly today, and now gale force winds are battering the windows. Holly (our middle daughter,19 and lucky!) is on holiday from uni and has just spent her first day in Costa Rica.. all great apart from the stinging sunburn as it is SO hot!! mmm, I think the balance is wrong here.. why are the middle aged parents slogging away in wet, rainy England ...because we love it haha!

Well, it really is blog day today, there is just so much to say!! And now to attempt to load more images!!
Aah, here is my pretty market stall. She is now available for hire and perfect to go over a cheese or drinks table. This was her first outing at the Vintage Wedding Fair in Frome and now she has gone down to Devon where she will be at the Decidedly Different Wedding Fayre in Tiverton on 23rd June. This event is run by Tracey and team from Blue Fizz Events and should be a great day.

sad

To all my lovely clients and companies, buddies and friends... I am sad to have to post this blog, but from now on our policy is going to have to change a bit.. Of course we always try to do our utmost to be as helpful and accommodating with all the many changes of plan as each event unfolds...of course this often means more time and effort and cost for us!! Although I try to have accounts settled before every event, often there are outstanding amounts that I have to chase. But we are a small company and working on small margins and recently I have been let down by a client abusing our goodwill. So it is time to toughen up and so from now on we will have to have all payments before the event. If ever this seems unreasonable (for example if we sit down in the middle of a field and refuse to move a marquee until we are paid extra to do it!!)..this is the reason why!
Here is the email I had to send..

Hello Karen,
I imagine you have decided not to respond to my contact and are not planning to pay the balance owed for your wedding hire.

I could go down the route of involving my solicitor etc, but have neither the time or energy.

instead, with great sadness I have decided never now to trust to goodwill and to believe that by putting ourselves out for our clients that they will appreciate our work and pay us accordingly. From now on we will not provide goods or services without full payment first. In your case that would have meant your sister in law giving the boys the full amount in cash before they moved the marquee to the second chosen position. I will be detailing this experience on my blog so future customers understand why, reluctantly, we will not be offering such a generous and helpful service in the future.

Caroline Penny

busy,busy!!

AAAhhh!!!Yippee!!!! I AM SUCH A TECHNO WHIZZ!!! The whole blog format has changed and (in-between numerous phone conversations!! and several glasses of wine!!) it has taken me about an hour to work out how to add this photo!!

Anyway, this is the new addition to the team WOOO!!! I am just about to send off my cheque to Trent Windsurfing Club!! to purchase this pretty (and appealingly slightly grubby I think!) little marquee! She is 15' x 25', so very slightly bigger than our two original Vintage Marquees.

It is rather a worry that I seem to have a passion for collecting such large and cumbersome items!!! Still, at least my canvas marquees are useful (whereas sofas..wellll.....)

We are already galloping along with the wedding season, and the sun has actually shone for one of them! It is so great to be part of all the exciting planning and preparation and to help create beautiful wedding venues, from barns, to village halls, to marquees huge and tiny! All are so special and individual and wonderful!

Tomorrow we are building marquees at Stockton, Wiltshire for the Vintage Nostalgia Show which should be a very jolly event for all us retro lovers! Then on Wednesday the crew are heading to Hungerford, providing the Jamboree marquee and masses of chairs etc for a wedding and on Thursday the Big Top is going upon Frome for a big party and at the weekend one of our little Jesters is at Hartham Park, Corsham for a boules tournament.


Next time I hope to post a picture ( a major achievement in itself!!) of David, our main man!( along with JP) on his vintage tractor....watch this space!!!

Babies and rain!!

Well, last week was both fraught and lovely too!!
Now three of my beautiful brides from last year have babies! Woo! And last week I actually had cuddles with two of them..aah! Both Laura and Natasha have beautiful baby girls, both about 6 weeks old now. soooo sweet!! That was the good bit...
Now for the stresses, I have just received an email saying I have the ideal business/company. Well, that is so not so when faced with the prospect of erecting marquees in sodden fields in the pouring rain! Poor Sarah and Paul who had planned an idyllic day with children skipping in the fields and marquees looking majestic by the picturesque canal, had to admit defeat and succumb to the kind offer of a concrete barn with corrugated roof! So it was a challenge for all and an emotional few days to turn the shed into well, something weddingy!! And do that we did! The Vintage Marquees crew provided silk drapes, matting, and of course masses of quirky paraphernalia (churns, lights, gingham cloths etc) then Sarah's friends did the rest. Four of us worked at the wedding serving the teas, creating a wedding cake out of meringues and flowers (!!), serving champagne and scuttling around being helpful and I have to say it was a truly special day, I think made all the more so for the spirit of camaraderie pulling it all together in the face of adversity.
Martin and Julie at Marsh Farm (in Trowbridge, where the reception was held) were wonderful too and I hope we will work together again.. it really would be lovely to put up our tents by the canal...one day..when the sun shines!!

wedding fair

A good day last Sunday at the Vintage Wedding Fair in Frome.
A frantic scramble to get my 'market stall' together, (only collecting the wrought iron frame on Friday!!) but then of course a delightful hour twining ivy and garlands, arranging vintage china, piles of linen, milk churns and flowers etc.
Lovely to meet potential clients who were visiting from far afield and also to get to know the other stall holders and make lots of great new contacts, from vintage car hire, old style photographers, retro video companies, caterers with stunning special cakes and fantastic florists! You can check out www.discovervintage.co.uk to see the list of exhibitors, but updates will be made to my links page in due course...
Here, hopefully(it's always a bit hit and miss!!) is a photo of the new cushions...sewing machine out again tomorrow for the next batch!

Wehhey!! I did it!!!
These will be £1.00 each to hire.. a bargain!

We have had our first hiring of the season,( before things go mad in May!) the lovely Three Peaks marquee.. and luckily we were able to dry and dismantle the tent in-between deluge upon deluge of rain! Oh the joys of hiring marquees!!!

April Antics!!

Carrying on with a bit of alliteration in my titles!!

Derek and I have created a new ad for the (very few) publications I advertise in. I have just tried to upload it, but have failed aaah!! Will try to upload an image of one of the new Chivari banquet chairs instead.. Smudge is investigating!!

We are soooo busy, and have a few new members to our erection team now to cope with the hectic summer to come. Masses of events all over the country it seems, we will be very busy.

Meanwhile I am spending in anticipation! I am just about to purchase a lovely Indian tent to add to the collection..pictures to follow soon. The 100 Chivari chairs are here and unless we hire more storage, I think there is room for no more new stock. Oh, apart from the 100 seat cushions that I am frantically sewing! They are so pretty (again, pics to follow).

A very exciting web site development, you can now highlight an icon on my price list and see a picture of the item. I am still taking photos of all the stock items, so images will be added all the time.

There is always work to do and the next job is to try and give a rough transport costs guide on the web site, not easy, but we will try! Thanks for looking, more soon....

March madness

Well, It's about time!!

I know I haven't updated my blog for ages, but that doesn't mean to say that there hasn't been frantic activity in Vintage Marquee land! I am in the process of purchasing many metres of matting, a dance floor, 10 lovely old rustic benches,100 lime washed chivari banquet chairs and several new tents!!

Hopefully later in the season I will have have some very pretty small pergola marquees for sale..just a new little side line I am planning!

Also there has been work going on designing new advertising (I really need to promote the company locally as we seem to be delivering marquees all over the country this summer, but have very few bookings in Bath!).

We had a wonderful two weeks in India and I now have a very sweet canvas market stall which will first be seen at the Vintage Fair in Bath at the end of March and then in Frome in April at the Vintage Wedding Fair.

Yaaay, I have managed to upload an image again!! This is John, David, Floss, Ruby and I tidying our store shed!!

January 2012

Happy New Year!
I now have a new Mac (very scary!) and am just learning how to use it. I would post a picture or two, but can't work out how to AAH! Still, I can at least update my blog and let you know all that has been going on in the happy world of Vintage Marquees!
We have had a major tidy and sort out of our stock room, so all is looking much more orderly now. The end of last season was just mad, and all our stock was in and out in such a frenzy, it is great to feel under control at last! Good to do a stock take too (always useful to know how many tables and chairs I have!) and to start re-taking all my library photos. The plan is to have a comprehensive library so that every item on the hire list can be highlighted so the detail can be seen (e.g. just how rustic the trestle tables are etc).
Some exciting new contacts...I have teamed up with Russ who organises the vintage nostalgia show in May at Stockton Park in Wiltshire. (www.vintagenostalgiashow.co.uk) That should be a fantastic event for all vintage enthusiasts. Also in April I am exhibiting at the vintage wedding fair in Frome (www.discovervintage.co.uk).
We are looking into buying a few more marquees, so hopefully we will have one large enough to accommodate 100-120, the most popular size for weddings it seems!
Until next time.....