Tonight took us out to a farm just outside Raglan, in the heart of Monmouthshire, for a wedding in a marquee the size of a small aircraft hangar. This was the second time we’d played for this family - their first booking went well enough that they had us back, which is about the best compliment a band gets.
A Marquee on the Slope
The marquee was up on the family’s large rear lawn, right next to the open fields, and the lawn slopes - so it was sitting on tall legs to bring the floor level. You walk up a couple of steps from the grass and the whole thing is dead flat inside. It’s a clever bit of kit, and worth knowing about if you’ve got a sloping garden you love but assumed you couldn’t put a marquee on. You almost certainly can.
The room itself was enormous. Long banqueting tables down the middle, dancefloor at one end, and a built stage already in place when we arrived. We ran the van and cars down the drove alongside the lawn to a ramp at the back of the marquee, so the load-in was about as painless as it gets - we just had to dress the stage.
Our PA, Our Lights
The stage was theirs, but the sound and the lighting were ours. We brought the full 5-piece rig: PA spec’d for a big tented room, and our own lighting to lift the dancefloor once the evening light dropped through the marquee windows. We run in-ear monitors rather than floor wedges, so the stage stays clean and we keep tight control of the volume on the floor - which matters more in a marquee than a stone-walled barn, because canvas doesn’t hold the bass the same way.
First Dance: “Love You for a Long Time”
The couple chose “Love You for a Long Time” by Maggie Rogers for their first dance, and we played it live. It’s a lovely one to open with - warm, unhurried, the kind of song that fills a marquee without anyone having to try too hard. From there we built the night the way we like to: a relaxed first set early on, then two longer sets to take the floor through to the end.
The Suppliers Made the Room
A marquee wedding lives and dies on the suppliers you bring in, and this family chose well. Drinks were run by Behind Bars, keeping the room watered all night, and the wedding catering was from Prickly Pear, run by Jane out of the Brecon Beacons with everything sourced locally. It was some of the best-looking and best-smelling food we’ve seen come through a marquee kitchen - proper homemade, rustic cooking, beautifully presented. Worth a look at their work.
Why a Marquee Works for a Wedding
This is the real pull of a marquee, and you saw it tonight: you start with a blank room and build exactly the day you want. You pick the caterer, the bar, the florist, the band - no in-house list to work from, no fixed sound limiter on the wall waiting to cut the music. You dress the space however you like and arrange it around how you want the night to flow.
The trade-off is that you’re building everything from scratch, including the practical bits - level floor, power, a plan for the weather. Get those right, and a back lawn becomes the best venue you’ll ever have, because it’s entirely yours for the day.
Wedding Band Across Monmouthshire and South Wales
We’re based just down the road in Newport, so Monmouthshire is home turf - Raglan, Abergavenny, Usk, Chepstow and the farms and country houses in between. If you’re planning a marquee wedding anywhere across South Wales, the room being a blank canvas is exactly why we love them.
Same night, our sister band The Sisterhood were over at Celtic Manor playing a corporate in the Caernarfon Suite - two very different rooms, one busy Saturday.
Congratulations to the happy couple, and thanks to the family for having us back.
The Brotherhood are a South Wales-based wedding band, playing marquees, barns and country houses across Monmouthshire and the wider region. Get in touch to check our availability for your date.
