Flagship Events: New Zealand's Only Sperry Tent Provider, Run by a Family Who Actually Loves This Stuff

Vendor Spotlight: Marquees & Tents

We photograph a lot of marquee weddings, and most of the time a marquee is a marquee. It does its job, it keeps the rain off, and it disappears into the background once the fairy lights go up. Then every so often we turn up to a Flagship Events site and the tent itself is the thing people can't stop talking about. That's because Flagship isn't hiring out generic marquees. They're the only company in New Zealand licensed to bring in genuine Sperry Tents, the sailcloth marquees with the curved poles and the nautical pedigree that originally came out of a sailmaking loft in Massachusetts. The shape alone photographs differently to a standard box marquee, and we've been wanting to write this one up for a while.

A Flagship Sperry tent set against a mountain backdrop

Sailcloth, Not Standard PVC

Sperry Tents were born out of sailmaking rather than the party hire industry, which is part of why they look the way they do. The story goes that Steve Sperry, who'd spent years making sails, ran up a tent out of sailcloth and nautical hardware almost as an experiment, and it turned out to work beautifully for events. His sons later split the business, one side kept making the tents and the other turned tent hire into its own company, and it's since grown into a licensed network of providers around the world. Flagship Events is the exclusive New Zealand license holder, run by Gin and Ted Thorp as a genuinely family owned and operated business since 2015, when Ted brought the first Sperry tent into the country. That family involvement matters to us as photographers, because it tends to show up as care on the ground, the poles lined up properly, the drapes finished neatly, the kind of detail that either makes or ruins a wide shot of the reception.

A Tent for Every Guest List

Flagship runs five Sperry tent models, and the size range is wide enough to cover almost any wedding we shoot. The Carolina is the smallest and most intimate, seating around 70. The Boston Round steps up to about 110 seated and has that distinctive round silhouette that reads beautifully from a drone shot. The Manhattan seats around 200 and is the one we see most often at bigger Kiwi weddings, while the Cape Cod pushes to roughly 250 seated for something more spacious. At the top end, the Long Island seats 400 and can hold 700-plus standing for a proper large-scale event. There's also a newer Sperry Arch, a smaller three by five metre archway structure that we could see working nicely as a ceremony feature or an entrance statement rather than the main reception tent.

More Than Just a Roof

What we like about Flagship's offering is that it isn't just the tent turning up on the day. They hire out a curated range of teak tables and chairs, flooring, lighting, bar setups and heating, plus the kind of extras that make a reception feel finished, floral installation frames, signage, and other styling accessories. For us that means fewer separate suppliers to coordinate with on the day and a more cohesive look across the whole site, which always makes for a cleaner set of photos. They work off a standard 72-hour hire window, which gives everyone breathing room for setup the day before and pack-down the day after rather than a mad scramble on the wedding day itself.

A cluster of Flagship sailcloth tents set up on a lawn overlooking water

Where They Operate

Flagship works out of bases in Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Central Otago and Christchurch, and from what we can tell they'll travel to cover events across the country from those hubs. Viewings of the tents themselves are by appointment only, which makes sense given the equipment lives in a warehouse rather than a showroom, so it's worth booking a time early if you want to see the sailcloth up close before committing.

What It Costs

Flagship doesn't publish pricing on their site, which tracks with most marquee companies we've worked with, since the final cost depends heavily on tent size, site conditions, furniture and styling extras, and how far outside their base cities you're located. They point people towards an online "curate your event" tool to build a custom proposal, or a straightforward enquiry form if you'd rather just talk to someone. Worth budgeting for a proper site visit conversation before you get too far into planning, since a genuine sailcloth tent has different ground and access requirements to a standard frame marquee.

Flagship Events at a Glance

Founded: 2015, by Ted and Gin Thorp, as New Zealand's exclusive licensed Sperry Tents provider

Bases: Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Central Otago and Christchurch

Tent range: Carolina, Boston Round, Manhattan, Cape Cod and Long Island Sperry tents, plus the smaller Sperry Arch

Capacity: From around 70 seated up to 400 seated / 700+ standing, depending on the model

Hire period: Standard 72-hour hire window

Extras: Teak furniture, flooring, lighting, bar setups, heating, floral installation frames and signage

Viewings: By appointment only

Website: flagshipevents.nz

Booking Your Photographer

If a Sperry tent is going up at your wedding, we'd love to be the ones photographing it. That curved sailcloth silhouette does something different to the light inside a marquee compared to a standard flat-roofed tent, and we're always keen to make the most of a venue that's actually a bit unusual. Get in touch with Popin Wedding and let's talk about your day.