A very happy Christmas from Best Intent Marquees...

December is a time for Christmas parties and New Year celebrations. Despite a few clients cancelling for weather reasons, we still managed to provide a high school party marquee, furniture for Melrose Rugby Club and a New Year tent in Edinburgh. Otherwise, December is a good month for planning and maintenance. Christmas is always a popular time for people to get engaged, so we revved up the website and waited for the enquiries to come in, which - thankfully - they did! Thank you so much to everyone who used Best Intent Marquees in 2010 and to everyone who has chosen/will choose to use us in 2011 and beyond! We really enjoy the work we do, the challenges each event throws at us and the different visions people have for their marquee weddings, parties and corporate gatherings. Thank you to all of you for allowing us to keep doing what we love doing and please keep telling us where we can improve so that we can get better and busier year on year.

November marquees in the snow, wind and rain...

Unusually, November was quite a busy month. The first weekend in November saw us provide wedding marquees locally at Thirlestane Castle and Abbotsford. Later in the month we did marquees at the Murrayfield Hotel in Edinburgh where they provide a marquee bar and hospitality for the Autumn Rugby Internationals.  The weather in November proved to be quite a challenge for putting up the marquees for the corporate events and weddings across Scotland. We just managed to get the marquees at Lennoxlove done for the Lennoxlove Book Festival, before the snow came down....

The weekend of 27th saw us do two marquees for 21st birthday parties in Chirnside and Newcastleton, and while we managed to get on site to put them up no bother, it took a few days before we got back to take them down!

October finishes with an explosion of colour and light and two big marquee weddings...

October was - as you might expect - a quieter month. We did a couple of small marquee events in the Scottish Borders during the month, but then the last weekend of the month saw a big weekend of marquee weddings, with previous clients celebrating a second daughter's wedding in Gorebridge, and an old borders family wedding at Philiphaugh House, Selkirk. The weather was against us during the week but we worked hard and were rewarded with a lovely sunny day on the Saturday. At Philiphaugh we once again teamed up with Finix Productions with some wonderful interior and exterior lighting as a result.

With our wonderful student team back at university the workforce was slightly depleted so the partners were a bit tired come the weekend, but we were delighted that both clients - both of whom we had worked with before - enjoyed their days.

September brought with it a Circus themed 21st and a second Best Intent baby!!

The beginning of September took us to Rowchester House near Duns, where Leonard Harper Gow holds the annual Rowchester House music festival. This particular event was a 21st with a circus theme, where Event Den worked their magic on the tent. This was certainly first time we have laid down bright red and blue carpeting in stripes!

John Brown brought the black and white dancefloor and Tower did the lighting. The following weekend we were at the top of Calton Hill providing a ceremony marquee

and later in the month we were in Fort William doing marquees for the Across the Divide challenge.

Once again we took marquees to Musselburgh Races, furniture to Abbotsford and installed a gallery package at Mellerstain. Oh yes, and Stephanie and Charles had the second Best Intent baby - Alfie - on 13th September!

The summer mayhem continues into August, with horse events, weddings, and races

We started the month with two horse related marquees - one being for the Lauder Festival Ball at the Lauderdale Hotel, and the other for our friends the Agnews at the brilliantly well organised Hendersyde Horse Trials. Continuing in the sporting vein, later in the month we also supplied some striking looking pagodas at the fabulous Musselburgh races.

We also headed back to our busiest venue, the Philipburn, provided several marquees at the wonderful Traquair House, and supplied furniture at the beautiful Mellerstain House. We also did the wedding of two childhood sweethearts at their old school, Clifton Hall near Edinburgh – very romantic! The weekend of the 21st August was one of our busiest and most spread out weekends, with big weddings in Perth, Elgin and Dumfries - not helped by our lorry breaking down en route to Elgin, but the team pulled together and all our clients had a lovely weekend. Thanks must go to Jock Borthwick and Ian McFadyen from Bordaloo who helped us get the lorry back on the road.

We also did some unusual wall and ceiling decor that weekend - with butterfly drapes and vintage chandeliers in Dumfries and Cornish Cream lining supplied by Arabian tents, in Perth.

The last weekend of the month took us to Monteviot where we also supplied our first ever wedding night yurt! This wedding also saw us working with some top quality event suppliers in Scotland - Wilde Thyme catering, Finix Productions, Carnival Chaos and Sitting Pretty.

From Lochgilphead to Cambridgeshire... Best Intent Marquees travel!

July was another extremely busy month, which saw Best Intent Marquees travelling to the furthest corners of their geographical reach, going to Lochgilphead one weekend, and Cambridgeshire the next! We also had the most variable weather of almost any month, with gale force winds all over Scotland at the beginning of the month and one of the hottest days of the year in Cambridgeshire. Lucky that couple has a giant swan to cool off in on the lake!!

Once again we were back at two of our favourite venues, Abbotsford House in Melrose and the Philipburn Hotel in Melrose. We also supplied marquees for some of our close family and friends this month, including the elder Robson brother Laing who married our marketing consultant Sophie, at her parents farm near Huntingdon, and one of our catering friends Marcus Barnett who married New Zealand native Kimberley. We finished the month with several marquees at Kelso Show, with corporate clients including Douglas Home Accountants and CKD Galbraith.

A most glamorous month of June weddings

The first weekend in June was beautifully sunny, perfectly timed for one of our busiest wedding weekends with marquees at Winton House (the cottage venue) and private venues in Galashiels, St Boswells and Duns. We also supplied the Owners and Trainers marquee at Musselburgh Races, where one of our favourite caterers, Rosie Cully, provides sumptious food and hospitality.

The biggest wedding of the weekend involved a magical service at Melrose Abbey, followed by a breathtaking reception at Glenmayne House near Galashiels, for our great friends the Gilberts. We worked with a tried and tested team combining the brilliant Gill Orde in Catering, Finix Productions and Bordaloo, where the black and white striped loo unit - situated in a powder room marquee complete with chaise longue - went down a treat with the celebrity-dotted guest list. Unusually for a wedding, we installed a black starcloth ceiling throughout the marquee for a sophisticated cocktail bar feel - and finishing touches included a champagne carpet, a black and white dancefloor, a red carpet walkway entrance, a picket fenced area for Ascot style socialising, a band from Paris and diamonds in the white rose and candelabra table centres.

The marquee set up, and ready for the arrival of a bevvy of glamorous guests

The sophisticated lighting and beautiful candelabras set the tone for a fabulous evening

Red carpet entrance fit for royalty, we are ready Kate and William...

The next day we transformed the marquee for a lunch, replacing the champagne carpet with a fresh green one, evocative of a Wimbledon tennis lawn, and the black starcloth lining with elegant ivory. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers provided wonderful surprise entertainment on the Sunday, enabling the guests to dance the afternoon away with more cocktails. The clients also kindly offered the marquee for the Duke of Buccleuch Hunt ladies lunch on the Tuesday, so it was one of the most well used marquees in the calendar!

Picket fence area for socialising outside, and enjoying the view

The fresh Sunday look, ready for more guests and more celebrating!