Golf buggy hire for a marquee wedding

The parking is the reason you are reading this

At a permanent venue the car park was designed. At a marquee wedding the car park is a field somebody has agreed to mow, and it sits wherever the ground is firm enough and the gateway is wide enough. That is frequently not near the marquee.

The walk from that field to the marquee is the single most common reason a buggy gets hired for this kind of wedding. It is also the walk nobody thinks about until they have stood in it in July heat or October drizzle.

Ground conditions, honestly

A standard buggy is built for made-up surfaces and firm grass. Mown pasture in a dry summer is straightforward. The same field after a fortnight of rain, with a hundred cars having driven over the gateway, is a different proposition.

We would rather tell you at quote stage that the ground is marginal than recover a stuck vehicle during your drinks reception. Describe the site honestly, including what it does when it rains, and you will get an honest answer about what will cope.

If trackway is already being hired for the caterers or the marquee build, say so. It changes what is possible considerably, and it often means a buggy route exists that would not otherwise.

Charging on a field

This is the practical detail that catches most marquee weddings out. An electric buggy needs to charge overnight, and on a green-field site there is no socket where you park it.

The answer is to plan it into the power distribution with whoever is supplying the generator, rather than discovering on Friday evening that the nearest outlet is two hundred metres away in a barn. It is a small ask if it is made early and an awkward one if it is made late.

For a single day of light use you may get away without charging at all. For a three day build with the buggy running constantly, you will not.

Hire the build, not just the day

If your marquee is going up over several days, the buggy earns its keep before any guest arrives. Moving crew, moving kit, getting from the gate to the far corner of the field twenty times a day: that is the work.

A hire that starts on the morning of the wedding often gets extended backwards once somebody realises how much walking the setup involves. Booking the build days up front costs less than extending under pressure, and the daily rate reduces as the hire lengthens.

What to tell your marquee company and your caterer

Two conversations save trouble. Tell the marquee company there will be a buggy so the layout leaves it a route, because a guy rope across the obvious line is easy to avoid at planning stage and impossible to move later.

Tell the caterers as well. They will often want to borrow it, and that is usually fine, but it needs to be a decision rather than a surprise at the point somebody is trying to move guests.

• Where the buggy can be parked and charged overnight, under cover if possible.
• Which route it will take, and whether guy ropes or cabling cross it.
• Who is driving it, and who holds the key.
• Whether the caterers or the band have been promised the use of it.

If the weather turns

Wet weather changes the job rather than removing it. Guests need moving more, not less, once it starts raining. What changes is the ground, and whether the route you planned still holds up.

Have a wet-weather route in mind, ideally one that uses whatever hard standing exists on the site. A slightly longer route on a farm track beats a direct one across a lawn that has turned. And accept that if the field genuinely goes, a buggy is not the answer to that; trackway or a change of plan is.

Common questions

Will a buggy cope with a wet field

Firm grass yes, saturated ground no. Standard buggies are built for made-up surfaces and firm ground rather than deep mud, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. If the forecast is poor, ask about trackway and have a wet-weather route.

Where does the buggy charge if there is no building

It needs a socket near wherever it stands down overnight, which on a field means planning it into the generator and distribution. Raise it with your power supplier early and it is a small job.

Can we hire for the marquee build as well as the wedding

Yes, and it is usually worth it. Build and breakdown are often the heaviest use. A longer hire booked in advance is cheaper than extending one on the day.

Is a utility buggy or a passenger buggy better for a marquee wedding

Both, if the budget allows. A passenger buggy for guests and a utility buggy for the crates, chairs and flowers. If it has to be one, a passenger buggy with a small load space behind covers most of it.