August see’s the Season Drawing to a Close
With 2 months of pandemonium in June and July there were some weary workers in the ranks but as the summer drew to a close the seasonal workers were in high spirits as they were closing in on their return to University – as most of them had already said that Uni was a much easier holiday than their supposed Summer Holiday!!
The first week of August started as busy as the previous weeks with a mixture of weddings, balls, Union Shows, Rugby Internationals, garden parties and also a new one for everyone with 3 marquees being erected near Denholm in Hawick for the Scottish National Sheepdog trials. The two weddings that were taking place this weekend were both situated very local with one being held in the Harmony House Gardens in Melrose and another literally two minutes down the road on the outskirts of Melrose. The Festival Inns (now G1 Group) had a marquee up at the Murrayfield Hotel in Edinburgh for the Scotland Rugby International that was happening on this weekend. The furniture was provided to the marquee in the grounds of the Lauderdale Hotel for the traditional Lauder Ball and there was also pagodas erected in Blainslie for a garden party and the week came to an end with a small marquee being put up in the Duns Show Ground for Countryside Kitchens in Kelso.
The following week brought a trip down to England with a large wedding being held at Lartington, County Durham. This again brought a week where the squads were split to attend to all the requirements of the clients over this busy weekend. The marquee that was up at Harmony House was kept up for a wedding this weekend which meant that extra stress of getting this marquee up and down was lifted from the team. There was also the Hendersyde Horse Trials just outside of Kelso taking place as well. The team then had trips to Cardrona and West Lothian respectively for weddings, the wedding at Cardrona being on a tennis court showing the versatility of our marquees and our ability to suit the client’s needs. There was also a Book Festival at Traquair House on this weekend and a gallery package was put together at Mellerstain House for a wedding. The end of the week brought a first for Best Intent with a marquee put up for a 100th Birthday Party in Fairnington just outside of Maxton. No matter what the occasion is there is no tent too big or too small, Best Intent will always provide our remarkable service at all times. This week also brought the last weekend of the small marquee that had been situated in the Abbotsford House Estate for the full summer.
With the final week of the busy summer there was no respite for everyone as this week proved to be just as busy as the rest of the summer had been. With 5 weddings and the Pipe Band Festival taking place in the Gibson Park in Melrose the team were kept on their toes. There was a wedding on the Friday afternoon in Jedburgh as well as weekend weddings at Kippilaw, North Berwick, Middleton Moor and Aspatria everyone was well travelled by the end of the week. The Pipe Band Festival required a small marquee for Richie Gray’s Bar and there was also a small marquee put up at Floors Castle for the Household Cavalry event.
With all these jobs completed with style the busiest months were brought to a close. Best Intent would like to thank all the seasonal workers who helped over the summer months and wish them well with their studies over the coming year. We hope to see you all again at the beginning of next year.
July – The Summer in Full Flow
After a crazy month in June with Scotland and the North of England being provided with luxurious marquees for weddings, corporate events, cocktail parties and lunch parties, July seemed to start on a smaller scale. The first week brought a wedding, a 21st birthday party and the return of the Sound Music Festival to Scott Park in Galashiels. The team worked hard early on in the week with the de-rigging of marquees and the erecting of the jobs in Ancrum and St Mary’s in Melrose to earn a couple of well-earned days off at the end of the week. This rest was not to continue however with the coming weeks being very busy again and the old phrase of ‘The Busiest Week Ever’ still had a few more outings over the coming weeks.
The weekend 9th July saw 5 weddings and a drinks party on the calendar, which again meant long hours to ensure that the marquees were looking up to scratch for everyone’s big day. There was a local drinks party at Minto aswell as a wedding at Kersmains just outside of Kelso in the Scottish Borders area, but this week also found the team taking three different trips to Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. There were large marquees put up for weddings in Currie on a tennis court and Dunbar in a field looking onto the sea as well as a smaller marquee formulation being constructed in a small garden in South Queensferry, showing the adaptability of the team to fit marquees into any space to suit our clients’ individual requirements.
The middle of July saw some different projects for the team to deal with including doing the interior of a barn to get it up to standard for the wedding as well as a wedding at Preston Hall in Pathhead and another in Kelso. With the week after being an extremely hectic week a marquee was constructed a week in advance in St Andrews to try and take away some of the stresses the following week to make sure that everything ran smoothly.
With the job in St Andrews already up there were more weddings in store for the penultimate weekend in July. There were two weddings in the Hawick area with one overlooking the Vertish Hill and the other being just outside Hawick in Hassendean. There were also different jobs in store in this week with a party in Glasgow that required some delicate touches and also providing furniture to Kippilaw for a wedding. Best Intent are quite happy to hire out our furniture for your event including chairs, tables and staging so don’t be tricked into thinking that the business is just a ‘one trick pony’ and only provides marquees, it is a lot more diverse.
The final week in July found the team making two seperate trips across the Forth Road Bridge to the Perth area for two different weddings. Milnathort was the first venue with 4 small marquees being erected in the back garden of a private house followed by another wedding in Balbeggie. There was a triathlon at St Mary’s Loch which required a marquee for the after party at Tibbieshiels and also a small wedding at Birgham just outside Kelso. The end of the week brought the Medics party at the Borders General Hospital, pagodas at Musselburgh Races for their latest meeting and the Border Union Show at Kelso where we had been contracted by 5 corporate clients all requiring small marquees where they could meet and greet their customers and showcase their wares.
July came and went in the blink of an eye and August, the last month of the seasonal workers before they all head back to their respective Universities, was looming fast.
June – The Month of Madness
With the Rugby 7s season closing up at the end of May and the Hearts for Heroes run behind us, June brought the beginning of the busy wedding season. The start of the month found an extremely big job at Haddington being coupled with a wedding in the Tweedsmuir valley. The team were also back at Musselburgh Racecourse to put up pagodas for their latest meet and we also did a lunch on the Winton Estate in East Lothian. The following week the team had to de-rig these jobs quickly as the busiest 3 week period of the year was looming. There were weddings all over the country this week with the team rushing round to ensure that everything was perfect for all the clients. This even involved a late Friday night trip to Aberfeldy to cater for a customer’s last minute needs – displaying the flexibile and personal service that Best Intent prides itself on. There was a mixture of traditional poled marquees (in Westruther and Melrose) and clearspan framed marquees (in Gifford and Aberfeldy and at Traquair House).
There was no rest as the next week brought the Borders Book Festival at Harmony House Gardens with 7 tents being erected of all different sizes to cater for all the different Festival events. With all the marquees required to be up for the Tuesday the start of the week was hectic – we had to get the previous weeks’ marquees de-rigged and there were some long hours worked to ensure completion for the Book Festival’s deadline. There was also a meeting at Musselburgh Racecourse this week –as well as the usual pagodas that go up there was also a marquee required on the Queens Lawn for the Owners and Trainers. The end of the week was also busy with weddings at Cardross, just north of Glasgow, and Sprouston to end a strenuous week and the week that Charles proclaimed to be ‘The Busiest Week Ever’ (this isn’t the first time this term was to be used over the course of the summer).
The following week was the one that had caught the attention of Philip and was the week that he had pinpointed as ‘The Busiest Week Ever’ so the team were once again prepared to work around the clock. With the Borders Book Festival finished the large marquee was transferred just down the road to Annay Road for the Melrose Ball. There were 3 weddings in this week with the squads being split to be able to get all the jobs completed in time for the weekends festivities. Half the team went west to Ayrshire and the other half went South for a foray into the North of England for another wedding in Alnwick. There was also a local wedding in Selkirk and a party in Maxton to keep the team busy before the week ended with everyone being reunited for a trip to Annan to rig up a marquee for the Pipe Band Championships over that weekend.
This weekend brought to the close the end of the hectic month that was June. There were a lot of tired bodies and minds but a very successful month and a lot of happy customers. Bring on July!!!!!
May day mizzle, but the parties carry on!
May continued the 7’s trend, with Earlston and Selkirk in quick succession – well done Richie Gray at The Bar for keeping going!!
Other sporting events in May were more equine minded, with Mosshouses Point to Point at the beginning of the month and Floors Castle Horse Trials towards the end. We saw more adventure based events with the Hearts and Heroes challenge mid month, taking participants from Tibbieshiels to the Greenyards via Traquair and Fairnilee, and an Action Challenge stop off at Moffat RFC.
May marquee celebrations included a 21st birthday party in Thornhill, a christening in Kelso and weddings in Selkirk, Kinross, Galashiels, Melrose and Arrochar!
A busy, sunny start to the season in April
How time has flown since the sun shone on Melrose Sevens (again!). The Seven’s kicked off a busy start to the season, and were closely followed in April by stunning weddings at Clint Lodge and Abernethy Trust near Aviemore.
April also saw us back at Musselburgh Races for a very successful weekend, as well as Hawick and Kelso Sevens Tournaments.
March races on, with lots more planned!
This week Charlie and Steph enjoyed hospitality at Kelso races with Rosie Cully of Rosie’s Catering – many thanks to Rosie, and good to catch up with Belinda Wares of Michael Wares Cater Hire also. Steph doubled her money so great day all round!
We also enjoyed a day at the Buccleuch Point to Point on Saturday where our marquees surround the paddock – thanks to the organisers and sponsors for their repeat custom at this event. We’ve just had confirmation that we will be supplying the marquees again for the Hearts and Heroes Challenge event in May, which starts at Tibbie Shiels and culminates at Melrose RFC. This is a great event for a great cause so if you like a physical challenge get signed up at www.heartsandheroes.co.uk. We’ve also had confirmation of supply for the Edinburgh half Marathon in Edinburgh, which culminates at Musselburgh Racecourse.
Otherwise the planning continues, June is fully booked and the team are hitting the gym ahead of a very busy summer…. Putting up tents is another physical challenge so if there are any strong boys living locally who want to finish the summer looking buff and are willing to work long hours get in touch!!!
March brings with it sunshine, snow and sporting activities
As the Six Nations draw to a close we can take our marquee down from Murrayfield Hotel where it has been since the start of the campaign – thanks again to Festival Inns for their custom.
Mary’s 40th birthday party at the end of February was a great success – which we managed to keep as a surprise by hiding the marquee in a shed! The tent was filled with loads of famous people on the saturday night – sadly not the real ones, but some very good fakes!
Friarshaugh Point to Point marquee is being dusted off for next meet, with the Buccleuch Point to Point on the 19th of March followed by Berwickshire Point to Point on the 2nd of April. We will also be doing the sponsors tent for the Buccleuch Point to Point which should be fun.
It has been slightly quieter on the weddings front this month but full steam ahead next month – the quotes keep going out, and we got first quote request for 2014 last week!!! We are all looking forward to melrose 7s beginning of next month.
We have also just done the furniture for a wedding at Abbotsford- their first one of the season – they are still taking bookings for this season after the renovation work there has been postponed. They will be opening up the house for events this summer again.
February, activity heats up even if the weather doesn’t!
February was a brave choice for a big marquee wedding but apart from some very wet and windy weather at the start of the week (and some restrictions on vehicle access!) it was a great success. Justin Orde took over the reins at Gill Orde in Catering for the first time and did an amazing job. We brought Finix in to do the lighting and once again they created an oasis of warmth on what was a fairly raw February night.
The marquee was designed with a luscious honey beige carpet, black and white dancefloor, panels of fairylights on the ceiling and lots of warm greens and golds in the table centres and floral displays. Marquee heaters kept the inside cosy while outside Finix’s lighting cast a majestic glow over the house and surrounding trees.
The rest of the month has seen marquees at the Murrayfield Hotel for the first of Scotland’s Six Nations matches at home, and the Point to Point marquee at Friarshaugh still stands proud until the next meeting for the Buccleuch Hunt on the 19th March.
Meanwhile Steph and Karen beaver away in the office dispatching quotes and planning ahead for the busy summer months… time flies when you’re having fun!
January – a month for meetings and planning!!
January was a month for meetings and mad planning! Meetings are not just a means for us to get business, it is also imperative that we familiarise ourselves with every site that will be accommodating one of our marquees and, particularly when it comes to weddings, it is also very important that we meet our clients face to face and start to develop a good working relationship right from the start.
Ultimately a marquee is a marquee – most of us in the industry get our marquees from the same manufacturers and, certainly when it comes to the clearspan framed marquees, the basic structure is the fairly standard. The difference with Best Intent Marquees comes from our service and the fact that we want to help our clients customise their marquees to match their vision for their event, whilst bearing in mind their available budgets. The traditional poled marquees offer something slightly different, as there are very few of us supplying them nowadays and as such they are in high demand. We are actually just in the process of renewing and replacing a lot of our stock for the traditional poled marquee, as while other companies are trying to move away from this style of marquee, for us it is a key product.
Indeed the January planning always leads to some quite major reinvestment – at the moment this year we have focused on a new lorry and forklift and new traditional marquees, but no doubt as we go through our orders for the rest of the year we will find other things we need to buy, upgrade and expand. This is an inevitable part of our business, as we always want to feel that our clients are getting the best of everything – particularly when it comes to their wedding day.
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.