Evolution of a Tent

We recently did a wedding in New Buffalo, Michigan with Sperry Tents Great Lakes, an affiliate of Sperry Tents and a vendor we adore. It's pretty neat to see how the process of installing a tent plays out. You'll have to stay tuned to see the final product, but this is about as close as we can take you.



Step 1: Ground is tarped and beams are laid out below the subflooring so as to allow the subfloor to be built a couple of inches off the ground. This allows the grass below the tent to breathe (a.k.a. step one: don't kill the grass) and also keeps the tent in tip top, clean shape.



Step 2: The tent is attached to natural wood perimeter poles, which are in turn held with ratchets and 42” steel stakes which are drove deep into the ground. Interestingly enough, the poles are never dug into the ground, but actually held in place with ropes, ratchets, stakes and tension created by the tent.



Step 3: Raising the peaks of the tent.



Step 4: Reinforcements are made and side walls are attached around the perimeter.



Step 5: Flooring gets whitewashed with 2 coats of white paint. NOTE: This is a different type of tent, called a metal frame tent. The tent shown above is actually made of Sperry cloth, while this one is a simpler version of tent that we like to see draped with fabric to hide its metal beams. Steps 1 through 4 are a bit different for this type of tent, but once the tent is raised, it's neat to see the flooring and fabric draping option, which can apply to any type of tent.



Step 6: Fabric gets draped from the ceiling or to cover sidewalls, depending on the type of tent. In this case, we draped the ceiling of the tent with white fabric and the sidewalls were covered with a black and white timeless ticking stripe drape.

Stay tuned for photos of the final look for these tents... coming soon...