Jane and I love tent weddings.  Dining and dancing under a canopy can’t be beat, and–as a bonus–tents are great to photograph in…letting in natural light in the day and providing a huge light box for bouncing light at night.

We especially like Sperry Tents, so….I spoke with Drew Partridge, Sperry Tents’ Director of Sales and Business Development, about what makes Sperry Tents special in the world of wedding tents.

As Drew notes, the beginning of Sperry Tents was “darn close to an accident.”  Steve Sperry started Sperry Sails on the coast of Buzzard’s Bay MA back in the ’70s.  A decade later, with a bunch of old sails destined for the trash on hand, he stitched them together to make a canopy tent for his own use.

Being a craftsman, Sperry made one great looking tent out of those sails.  People started asking to borrow his canopy tent…and Sperry knew he had a new business opportunity on his hands.  Sperry Tents’ business took off in the late ’90s, growing 1000% from 1999 to 2001 with little marketing.

OK, what makes a Sperry Tent special?   As Drew mentioned, it’s all about the “appearance of the tent canopy”, the elegant look which everyone comments on.  Made from translucent tent cloth draping from mast-like wooden poles, Sperry Tents’ nautical roots are evident.  Often people call the fabric sailcloth—but it’s actually a stronger tent cloth that’s fire retardant and waterproof, with welded seams and stitching.  Drew made a point that “these are not fairweather tents”—they’re built to withstand wind gusts up to 70 mph.

Their translucency allows the tent fabric to become part of your wedding design–with the seams showing up as darker lines against the light ochre color of the tent cloth. In the day, the tent fabric allows more light inside, and at night Sperry Tents glow a beautiful amber color.  The other key element of the tents are the wooden poles, which Sperry mills themselves in their Buzzards Bay facility.  These poles are the perfect platform for creative lighting fixtures.

You can’t read a blog like Kate Parker Weddings or Style Me Pretty, or open a wedding magazine without seeing Sperry Tents (Drew counted 7 weddings in the latest issue of Well Wed that featured Sperry Tents).  And despite having a reputation as being expensive, Drew noted that a true apples to apples comparison shows Sperry Tents to be competitively priced.

Today the business is still family run by Tim Sperry with Matt Sperry on the manufacturing side, although they’ve grown to nine regional affiliates that sell and service their tents.  Sperry has done an outstanding job of branding, making a quality product that’s stylish and adds a distinctive element to your wedding…no wonder clients seem to refer to them as one word: SperryTent.

For more information check out the Sperry Tents website!