Tenting

Tents that turn a lawn into a room

A tent is the most reliable way to hold a big party outdoors. It gives you shade by day, shelter if the weather turns, and a frame to hang lights, draping and chandeliers from. With a floor, heat and lighting added, a backyard works like a ballroom. Tents also add room at a venue, such as a cocktail area beside a country club or a covered lounge next to a pool.

Clear top and white top

The clear top tent has a transparent roof, so guests see the sky while staying sheltered. Swagged with sheer drapes and paper lanterns, it frames a dance floor, a DJ or long farm tables. The white top tent is a frame tent with a high peaked canopy on metal legs, open on the sides or ready for walls. Several white tops in a row give each area its own roofline at a festival or corporate hospitality event.

Finishing the inside

Tent ceiling draping covers the frame with gathered white fabric and ties back at each pole. Tent chandeliers hang from the frame, in black iron candle-style or crystal. Vinyl flooring with a wood-grain look gives an even floor over grass, and tent heaters keep the inside warm without equipment in the room.

Planning a tented event

• Count everything that goes inside: dining, a dance floor, bars, lounges and a stage. The tent size follows from the layout.
• Walk the site. Note slopes, trees, sprinklers and where a truck can unload, and check with your town or venue about any tent rules.
• Plan the extras with the tent. Draping, chandeliers, flooring and heat all hang from or sit under it, so choose them together.
• Plan for weather with sidewalls and heaters for a cool evening.
• Light it with string lights and bistro lights, and add uplighting on the draping.

For layouts by occasion, see our pages on weddings and sweet 16s and parties, and the dance floor size guide.

Tents across Long Island, NYC and beyond

Tents do most of their work in backyards, and Long Island has plenty of them. From our Farmingdale showroom we put tents up over lawns and pool decks across Nassau and Suffolk, and beside country clubs and catering halls that need extra space. In New York City, tents cover rooftops, courtyards, plazas and lots in the five boroughs for brand events and private parties. Summer weekends take us to estate lawns and beachfronts in the Hamptons. We also tent events in Westchester and the Hudson Valley, backyards and corporate sites in Northern and Central New Jersey, and properties in Fairfield County, Connecticut.