Story
Our Story April 2026 5 min read
How Tent Gallery
Came to Life — A Story
Thirty Years in the Making
Before there was a showroom, a brand, or a website — there was a father with a conviction that Northeast India deserved better.
Some businesses are started. Others are lived — breathed into existence over decades of quiet dedication, long journeys, and an unrelenting belief that something better is possible. Tent Gallery is the second kind.
The beginning
Thirty years before
Tent Gallery had a name.
Our father entered the world of tents, pandals and weddings with nothing but curiosity and conviction. He started with fabrics, chairs and catering items — the everyday building blocks of a celebration. He built a tailoring team that stitched shamianas, ceilings, curtains and chair covers by hand. In 1998, he formalised everything into a venture — Tirpal and Tent Traders.
And then he did something that set him apart from everyone else. He travelled. Not occasionally — consistently, purposefully. He covered the length of Northeast India, building a customer base across the region, understanding what event professionals here truly needed. And he did not stop at the Northeast. He visited manufacturers across India and abroad — studying this segment with a diligence that defined everything we are today.
With every trip, customer requirements grew. People wanted products they had seen online, products available in other cities — but simply not here. So he found them. Introduced them. Brought them home.
That gap — between what event professionals in the Northeast dreamed of using and what was actually available to them — became his purpose. And for years, he quietly, steadily worked to close it.
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The leap
November 2018.
Tent Gallery opens.
In 2017, our father expressed what he had been carrying for years — it was time for a bigger space. A real showroom. A home for everything he had been building. My brother and I had been part of the business since our college days, and when he spoke, we did not hesitate.
"In November 2018, we opened the doors of Tent Gallery — one of its kind in the northeastern states. A dedicated trade supplier built for the people who build celebrations."
We were proud. We were ready. We thought the hardest part was behind us.
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The hardest chapter
COVID. And the moment
we almost gave up.
Barely a year after we opened, the world stopped. COVID-19 shut down the events industry — built entirely on gatherings and celebrations — first and hardest. For a business in its very first year, it was devastating.
For the first time in his life, our father was demotivated. He told us he wanted to shut Tent Gallery down. We were not able to meet our expenses. He could not see a way forward.
That moment is one we will never forget. My brother and I made him a promise — that as soon as the rules eased and movement became possible, we would take Tent Gallery further than it had ever been. We asked him to hold on.
His faith in us became the biggest motivation we have ever had.
The moment restrictions lifted, we travelled. Immediately. We visited manufacturers, discovered new categories, and came back with a range that was wider and stronger than anything we had before. COVID did not break Tent Gallery. It gave us a reason to build it into something our father could be proud of.
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The next chapter
June 2023. Florence.
Growth, when it comes from the right place, does not stop at one idea. In June 2023, we launched Florence — our second brand. Where Tent Gallery supplies the structural foundation of an event, Florence supplies its soul. Premium artificial flowers, vertical green walls, glassware, grass carpets and decorative accessories. The finishing layer that transforms a space from complete to extraordinary.
Two brands. One family. One vision that began with our father thirty years ago and has never stopped growing.
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A word from the heart
Something we need you to know.
We know that everything is available online today. We know prices can be compared and products sourced from anywhere. We respect that.
But every product on our shelf represents a journey — thirty years of travel, relationships built with manufacturers, and the effort of bringing things here so you do not have to go elsewhere. When we source something for Tent Gallery or Florence, we are investing in your access to it.
Every purchase you make with us is a vote. A vote for a family that has given three decades to this industry. A vote that tells us — keep going, keep bringing more. The more you support us, the more we can bring. And the more we bring, the better the value we can offer you in return.
This has never been a one-way relationship. It is a partnership — and we believe in it with everything we have.
On the 1st of April 2026, we launched our website. A digital home for everything built since our father first stepped into this world three decades ago.
We are proud of what we have created. But we are most proud of the person whose quiet dedication made it possible — our father, who saw something worth building long before anyone else did.
This is not the end of the story. It is just the beginning.
— Aishwarya Surana, Co-founder, Tent Gallery & Florence
AS
Aishwarya Surana
Co-founder, Tent Gallery & Florence · Guwahati, Assam
Tent Gallery is India's dedicated trade supplier for the wedding, events and hospitality industry. Founded in Guwahati, Assam. Rooted in the Northeast. Building for India.
Visit us at www.tentgallery.in
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