April 4, 2024
Photos courtesy of The Greenwich Tent Co./ Liz Banfield Photography
The Greenwich Tent Co., Bridgeport, Conn., is used to planning and installing high-end weddings at beautiful venues. For a couple’s wedding in June 2021 at the bride’s family estate on the Connecticut shoreline, the rental operation was able to give 250 guests the sensation that they were right on top of Long Island Sound’s waters.
The planning for this event started like many others, according to Zach Wilson, president of The Greenwich Tent Co.
“Our company provides the infrastructure for an event — any flooring requirements, the tent, HVAC, heat, power distribution and limited lighting options. From the planning process side, we were contacted about six months prior to the event by the planner who we work with often. We went out, took measurements of the property and provided CAD drawings using Google Earth imagery alongside interior drawings of how the tables and chairs could be laid out,” he says.
The plan was for The Greenwich Tent Co. to put up the reception tent — a 20-meter-wide Losberger clearspan structure — and custom sundeck, two tents for catering and other staff with basic lighting and the walkway from the main tent to the restroom trailer. The client also reserved contingency tents for the walkway, ceremony and cocktail areas in case of inclement weather.
Photos courtesy of The Greenwich Tent Co./ Liz Banfield Photography
The immediate challenge was getting the job done without disrupting any areas of the picturesque estate.
“We had to be careful and cautious when working on such a nice estate. We used a lot of preventive measures. We delivered equipment a few days ahead of installation so all was on site. We used a number of different machines — forklifts and Tent OX with ground protection to bring in all the material. There was only one way to access the back portion of the lawn. We created a temporary road and brought everything down that road`. We also had some storage on the driveway that had to be completely removed prior to the other vendors arriving,” Wilson says.
Because not much heavy equipment could be used, Wilson’s team “had to build the elevated floors and the walkways by hand, and we raised the 20-meter structure without the use of a machine. It required a lot of labor,” he says.
As with many events, the ground at the estate was not level. “It pitched away from the house toward the water. Over the entire span of the tent, there was about 3.5 ft. of grade difference between one corner to the other. That allowed us to create a raised sundeck at the edge of the water. The sundeck was well-used and gave the appearance from inside the tent that the guests were out over the water,” Wilson says.
To further enhance the aesthetic of the tent and sundeck, The Greenwich Tent Co. installed a proprietary cable railing system. “When clients are hoping to maximize their views from the tent, we recommend this cable railing. It is very clean, like a high-end patio or deck construction,” he says.
Photos courtesy of The Greenwich Tent Co./ Liz Banfield Photography
They also built a 12-ft.-by-24-ft. stage for the band on the water side of the tent’s interior. “We finished and clad it in the same wood as the tent floor,” Wilson added.
In addition, the main guest entrance was built on one side of the tent with a gracious landing and, opposite of that, a landing and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant ramp heading toward the restroom trailer. “The walkways to and from the restrooms were all floored so once guests entered the tent for the reception they never had to step on the grass until they left for the evening. That egress to the restroom trailers also served a dual purpose for the caterers to access the tent from the catering tent,” he adds.
While the actual tent setup and buildouts went like clockwork, “one of the challenges was with generator placement and getting adequate power around the property to everyone who needed it as well as figuring out the most efficient way to do that,” Wilson says.
“We ended up using various pieces of equipment that we had not used before to distribute the power most efficiently — various-size distribution panels, depending on how many circuits were needed at specific points on the property. We created a detailed power plan between the green room, catering, restrooms, reception tent lighting, band and auxiliary needs for the ceremony and cocktails. Nothing was drawn from the site. We wanted it all on its own and redundant,” he adds.
Photos courtesy of The Greenwich Tent Co./ Liz Banfield Photography
Overall, the company had a team of 12 for a full week to install everything. Three team members were on-site during the event, which allowed them to remove the shade tops on the clearspan at the last minute to keep the tent cool.
The day turned out to be picture-perfect, so the contingency tents were not needed.
Because “this event was very indicative of what we provide as a company, we decided to enter it into the Event Showcase photo contest held on The ARA Show™ Facebook and Instagram pages,” Wilson says. It proved to be a winner not only with the bride and groom and their families but also with those voting. It was named one of the winners. The prize was having the event photo displayed during EventsU and the show in February 2024 in New Orleans, and Greenwich Tent Co. receiving a free Certified Event Rental Professional (CERP) program enrollment.
