Great Barn Weddings – Emma & Paul

Weddings at The Great Barn are always special, but when Emma and Paul came to see us, they were looking for help with a potential disaster.  It was our absolute pleasure to host their incredible day with so many beautiful elements; the floral arrangements, the VERY cute flower girls, and the fireworks! We were also happy to see our festoon lighting and fire pit in full use, as the wedding guests took full advantage of all the Barn has to offer.

Here’s Emma and Paul’s story, as told by the beautiful bride. They were married at All Saint’s Church in the picturesque village of Kenton on 22nd October.

“We met online, we were both reluctant to give online dating a go but had friends encouraging us. We met each other in our first week of signing up and it grew from there.

Paul took me on a weekend away to Winchester as we’d visited once before early in our relationship. Paul had booked a table at The Chesil Rectory restaurant (a favourite of mine!) and suggested a pre-dinner stroll along the river where he popped the question with a bespoke ring he’d had designed.

We actually originally had our wedding booked elsewhere but unfortunately it was cancelled two weeks before the day. As you can imagine it was upsetting but we looked into other options and were so thankful to find that The Great Barn could accommodate us. We live in Cambridge so jumped in the car and headed down to Devon to see the barn and thought it was beautiful. John & Emma were so kind and accommodating and made us feel that rearranging the wedding in this short period would be completely achievable.

I wore a Ronald Joyce A line dress with lace detail in champagne and ivory. My accessories were a pearl bracelet and earrings to pick up on the pearl and Swarovski detail on the waistband of my dress. My sister in law made my veil for me, this was a simple scallop edge fingertip veil, which complemented the dress beautifully.

Paul wore Carisbrooke tails in navy with a grey double breasted waistcoat. His tie was an antique pink to pick up on the colour of the bridesmaid’s dresses.

Dartmoor Kitchen catered both our wedding and a family meal the evening before held in the West Barn. The food and service they provided was just incredible. We enjoyed the Dartmoor feast on the Friday evening and on the wedding day itself we enjoyed canapes during our reception then a 3 course meal for the wedding breakfast. Going into the evening we opted for a cheese board alongside a selection of Tom’s pies. Our guests are still talking about how delicious the food was and how they were indeed the best pies they’ve ever had!

Paul’s brother and sister in law stayed at the Bakehouse B&B located a short walk from The Great Barn. The owners were so friendly and accommodating and the Bakehouse was incredibly well equipped.

We utilised St Nectan & Figgy cottages on both the Friday and Saturday nights. Both cottages are so beautifully decorated and have everything you would ever need. Being able to stay on site made it so much easier to get ready and it was wonderful to have our family on site for the weekend. We’d certainly love to come back and stay in them again, perhaps for an anniversary.

We had a champagne and vintage pink theme. This was picked up in the flowers and cake. I wanted to keep it quite classic and simple and I just love that colour combination.

We could not have asked for a more wonderful day to celebrate our marriage. John & Emma’s attention to detail made the day so special. Stepping into the courtyard after our wedding breakfast was just stunning. John had arranged it so beautifully with festoon lighting, bistro tables & chairs and a fire pit to melt marshmallows on! My parents had organised a firework display to music with John’s help as a surprise. This was just incredible and made the day so special for us and our guests.

The Great Barn provides a stunning backdrop and John & Emma’s professionalism and attention to detail make it a truly unique venue. Having the ability to access the venue for the weekend made it so wonderful as it allowed us to spread out the celebrations across three days. The planning process was made so easy and we have received compliments from all our guests about how amazing the Great Barn was and we agree!”

Photography by Christian Michael

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