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Above: light brown turf looks great in a Sperry Tent (photo: Katie Stoops)
OK, time to rip the band-aid off the wedding budget and talk about the flooring in your tent, which will be a worthwhile investment. I strongly recommend planning for installing a floor in your wedding tent sooner rather than later. The longer you delay decisions about flooring, the higher the fee for a rush job will be, and the more stressed you may be in those final pre-wedding days. So, put your worries aside and plan ahead for your wedding tent flooring.
Yes, a tent floor can be a wedding budget line item that is 4 or 5 digits long. A Summer 2026 estimate for a 90×30 tent was $25K for flooring that doesn’t have to be leveled. But hear me out: No one has buyer’s remorse when they install a tent. But people definitely have regret when they do not install a tent floor.
Backyards that have a slope, or grade, will require a leveled floor. This flooring has a scaffolding-like sub-structure to support what will become the floor. The structure is then topped with plywood sheets – which will be perfectly leveled. On top of the plywood, you install your choice of covering.
You can choose among turf, vinyl, carpet, or wood-plank flooring to cover the leveled floor platform. I recommend turf, which is usually half the cost of the other options and still looks great. Turf comes in many colors, including light brown, dark brown, and black. If you pick turf or carpet as your floor cover, you will need to rent a wooden dance floor for your wedding tent. The size of the dance floor will depend on the size of your guest list and the space available in your wedding tent. If you have a band, you might also want to install a stage.
If the yard is level, you may be able to get by with putting down an unlevel floor made of plywood or modular plastic squares called Dura-Track. You will still need to cover this flooring with turf, vinyl, carpet or wood plank.
Your tent will likely go up a few days before your event, so you will need to assess the weather forecast and be ready to make a decision on flooring before your tent installation is set to begin.
You can see how the 14-feet-high leveled floor extends from the wedding tent and towards the pond below. The leveled flooring was wrapped in a thin black fabric to obscure the mechanics from guests and photographers.
Check out my foundational home wedding blog posts about: backyard wedding tents, professional lighting for your backyard wedding, restrooms for your backyard wedding, utilities for your backyard wedding, and making a smart transportation plan for your backyard wedding.
