East End Tent Suppliers Talk Outdoor Weddings

Outdoor weddings are more popular than ever, and a tent ensures your big day can be special, rain or shine. These East End suppliers talk about what you need to know about tents and the services they offer.

Talk about the services you offer.

Steve Clark, Sperry: We provide premium Sperry sailcloth tents for weddings, family occasions and charity galas. Included in our offerings are beautiful flooring, lighting packages and other accessories needed to produce your event.

Diane Wall, NY Tent: NY Tent has been servicing wedding and special event clients in Long Island and the greater NY metro area for 27 years. Our quality tent and event rental products, knowledgeable staff and personalized service allow us to achieve and exceed our clients’ expectations. We specialize in various tent styles, as well as complimenting accessories such as flooring, clear tops and walls, liners, lighting and climate control.

How do you help clients make major decisions and work within their budget and scope?

Sperry: The key for client decisions if focusing on their needs. Understanding the guest count and flow of the event then guides us to designing the elements of that they would need to hose an event.

NY Tent: Each client has a dedicated NY Tent Account Manager who listens to their needs and clarifies details to better understand the specific scope of work. After visiting the potential tent site, the Account Manager advises on what tenting options will work best for their space and logistical demands.

What are some common questions clients might have that you can answer before they contact you?

Sperry: The number one question is, “How many guests can I host in my backyard?” We always visit the site to confirm sizing and placement and work with the other vendors involve to create a great experience.

NY Tent: A question we commonly get is to describe the difference between tent styles such as a Tidewater tent vs. a Gable Ended tent. We encourage clients to familiarize themselves by viewing our website and filter by tent style to get a better visual representation. From there, our Account Managers can provide further details pertaining to each tent style.

How have your procedures and processes changed during the pandemic?

Sperry: In 2020 we helped clients produce smaller events—50 guests or less per the NYS restrictions due to COVID, in a safe way. We changed how we delivered an installed tent to keep our staff safe and made sure tent sizes met safety requirements. Things are coming together for 2021 with NYS allowing larger events. The main requirements is that tents need to be larger to accommodate social distancing.

NY Tent: We’ve leaned on virtual meetings and site visits to get the process started and follow all CDC guidelines. Internally, we have focused additional efforts to utilize our CAD drawing programs to design tent site plans, reducing the need to meet in person as often. Our team also stays up to date on local government regulations as well as permitting updates.

What advice can you give to clients who might not know where to start when it comes to planning?

Sperry: Meeting with us to discuss ideas is the key. We will walk them through the process of hosting a tented event. We have tons of resources listed on our website to help clients with finding venues, planners, caterers and other services needed.

NY Tent: Clients can get some inspiration from our website but ultimately all we need to know in order to start is an event date, a location and how many guests are planning to attend and we will walk you through the rest!