Creating your Bespoke Marquee: Using SketchUp to Tailor to Your Event

Designing your bespoke marquee

How your marquee design is tailored to you

Marquee Design is a complex business and for each and every event we here at the Arabian Tent Company are proud to use the latest 3D modelling computer software called SketchUp to show the client exactly what their event is going to look like for their bespoke marquee.

What is SketchUp?

SketchUp is 3D modelling software that helps take your ideas to reality. SketchUp enables you to envision your marquee, the location and the layout, in bird ’s eye view as well. We can also create a film where it will take you around SketchUp as if you are walking through the environment yourself.

The transformation of the entrance from the SketchUp to the night of the event!

The process of Marquee Design

First we gather all the information we need – from how many guests you are having, to how many are dining, the chillout and lounge areas, the bar, and the dancefloor – all made appropriate to the size of the tent. We then make suggestions based on your wants, needs and tastes, which is then passed on to the SketchUp artist who will design your plan ready for your event.

We will make, edit and tweak up to five versions, until the SketchUp design is ready. Once the marquee design is approved, we can superimpose the design onto the venue using Google Earth. This will then be passed on to the crew on the day of the set-up.

The beauty of SketchUp is that it enables the client and designer to discuss attention to detail – those final tweaks that make that special occasion even more special. It also ensures that you avoid those last minute changes and challenges that can put people into a blind panic! Seeing clients’ eyes light up when they see the visuals is a joy to behold.

With marquee design, setting up a tent is the least of it. At the Arabian Tent Company we help our clients envisage the look, feel, colour, lighting and all the extras that create that truly unique event. It’s amazing how the ideas start to flow once a visualisation is presented. Our James Bond-themed party in our La Rouge tent is a case in point. From the impact of the classic silhouette at the entrance, one sees that the theme grows as you enter – the logo’d carpet, the blackjack tables, the layout of the bar and the little touches on the tables.

The bartenders entertaining the guests with champagne and traditional James Bond cocktails (shaken not stirred of course!)

Greenery Open Day

This was designed for our Open Day this year. Having the SketchUp 3D visuals really helped get a feel for the subtleties and sophistication of our bespoke marquee design, the Oyster Pearl Tent. Establishing a colour palette that is right is vital to the whole design and getting this correct at the outset enables everyone involved to have a clear vision of the final result. The visuals allow for essential adjustments regarding movement of people too, avoiding those uncomfortable clusters or groups that sometimes seem inevitable at functions.

The visualisation as shown on SketchUp and the beautiful conversion for the Open Day.

SketchUp has proven to be an essential tool in our repertoire. It has made the process of marrying our clients’ imagination to the practical requirements of marquee design flow faultlessly. It also enables you to see thae huge range of possibilities that the Arabian Tent Company has to offer.

SketchUp of Oyster Pearl

SketchUp aided in capturing the essence of elegance and beauty as soon as you enter

The fairy lights hung throughout the tent allow for a softer and more tranquil atmosphere throughout the bespoke marquee!

Bespoke Marquee

Thank you to Light Trick Photography for the lovely images of the Greenery Photoshoot.