Marquee party sound, lighting and power: how to plan a garden party that works

A garden party lacks two things a function room has: sockets and walls. Plan the marquee party lighting, sound and power as one job, starting with the power.

This guide is for party planners, marquee companies and anyone hosting a milestone birthday, an anniversary or a summer party in a marquee or a garden. It works through sound, lighting and power in that order, with a worked power budget for a party of 100. Planning a marquee wedding? The same rules apply, and the wedding lighting and sound guide covers the ceremony and the speeches.

Sound: size it to the guests and the tent

Start with three questions: how many guests, what is the music source, and how late does it go?

• Playlist from a phone or laptop. A pair of full-range speakers on stands, a small mixer and one wireless microphone for the speech cover most parties up to about 100 guests. Add a subwoofer if people are going to dance.
• A DJ. Most DJs bring their own sound, sized for a room. In a marquee, which leaks bass straight through the canvas, that system often needs help: a second pair of speakers or better subwoofers.
• A live band. A band needs a PA with monitors so they can hear themselves, power at the stage, and someone to mix them.

For 100 to 150 guests dancing, two full-range speakers and one or two subwoofers is the usual starting point. A long marquee is better served by a second pair of speakers part-way down than by turning the first pair up.

Speakers stand on the grass, so they need stands with wide bases, cables that guests will not trip on, and covers if the weather turns. Subwoofers on a soft lawn lose some punch; a piece of board underneath helps.

Lighting: inside the tent, and outside it

Inside

Marquee lighting has two jobs: make the tent look like a venue, and make the dance floor look like a party. Warm white festoon along the ridge or fairy lights across the lining give the general light. Battery uplighters at the poles add colour and can switch from soft dinner tones to the party palette later. A pair of moving lights or wash lights over the dance floor does more than a box of small effects, and a little haze makes the beams visible.

Ask the marquee company whether lighting can hang from the frame and what it can carry. Most modern frame marquees are fine for festoon and light fittings; traditional pole tents are more limited.

Outside

The outside lighting is what people forget, and it is what makes the garden part of the party after dark:

• Festoon runs between trees or posts over the drinks area.
• Path lighting from the house to the tent, and to the toilets and the car parking.
• Uplighters on trees or the house front, which photograph well.

Outdoor fittings and connections need to be rated for rain, joints kept off the ground, and the whole lot tested after dark, not in the afternoon. Lighting that looks fine at 4pm is often wrong at 10pm.

Power: the worked example

Power is where most garden parties are undersized. A normal household socket gives about three kilowatts. Everything at a party wants a share of that, and the catering wants most of it.

Here is a realistic budget for a party of 100 with a DJ, dancing, a caterer and heating on a cool evening. The numbers are planning figures; your caterer and your suppliers will confirm their own.

Fourteen kilowatts is four or five household circuits' worth, running at the same time, through cables long enough to reach the bottom of a garden. Generators are rated in kVA rather than kW, and a 25 to 30 per cent margin on top of the load is sensible, so this party wants a silent event generator of around 25 kVA. Give the supplier this list and let them size it, rather than guessing.

One thing to be clear about: an event tech company like us does not supply the generator. Your marquee company or a generator hire firm does. What we do is tell them the load, then run the distribution and the cabling from their supply to our equipment, protected where guests walk.

Two things make the difference between a good power plan and a bad one:

• Distribution. A proper distribution board with RCD protection, with the catering on its own circuit so a kettle does not trip the DJ, and cables covered or flown wherever guests walk.
• Headroom. Heaters and ovens switch on together at the worst moment. Size for the peak, not the average.

When house power is enough

A small party with a playlist, LED lighting and no catering load can run from the house if the cable run is short and each circuit is used sensibly. Use outdoor-rated extension leads, one appliance per socket, an RCD, and keep the leads off the lawn where they will be mown or tripped over. If the run to the marquee is more than a few tens of metres, voltage drop and trips become likely and a generator is the safer answer.

Generator practicalities

• Ask for a silent or super-silent event specification. A standard site generator is far too loud for a garden.
• Site it away from the tent, as far as the cables allow, on firm ground, with air around it.
• Check delivery access. A towed generator needs a gate wide enough and somewhere to park.
• Confirm it has enough fuel for the evening plus a margin, and who refuels it.

Weather

Plan for rain even in July. Outdoor fittings and connections rated for it, cable joints in covered boxes, speaker covers to hand, and ballast on stands. Wind is the bigger risk for anything on a stand; keep stands ballasted and out of walkways.

The timeline that works

1. Site visit. Ten minutes in the garden answers most questions: access, generator position, and cable routes.
2. Day before. Install the sound, the lighting and the power once the marquee is up. Test the lighting at dusk.
3. The day. A sound check in daylight, a technician on the night, and someone whose job is to bring the level down at the agreed time.
4. The morning after. Collection, and the garden left as it was found.

Frequently asked questions

How many speakers do I need for a party of 100?

For 100 guests dancing, two full-range speakers on stands and one subwoofer is the usual starting point, with a second subwoofer or a second pair of speakers for a long marquee or a live band. For a playlist and speeches without dancing, the two speakers are enough.

Do we need a licence for a garden party?

Under the Licensing Act 2003, a private party where nobody pays for drinks or tickets is not usually a licensable event in England and Wales. If you are selling alcohol or charging entry, you may need a Temporary Event Notice from the council, and the notice period is measured in working days. The Temporary Event Notice guidance on gov.uk sets out the notice period. Check with your council early; the rules are theirs to apply.

Do I need a generator for a small party?

Not always. A playlist, LED lighting and a couple of fridges can run from the house if the cable run is short and the circuits are respected. Add catering ovens or heaters and the answer is almost always yes.

Can you set up the day before and collect after?

Usually, yes. We plan install and collection around your access.