Stories from Your Wedding Friend - The Wedding Planner's Blog
This weeks Venue View looks at the stunning Barns Hotel in Bedford. If you're looking for a central Bedfordshire location for your wedding this beautiful hotel set next to the River Great Ouse on the outskirts of Bedford is an ideal spot. So, read on to find out more about what this venue has to offer.
With capacity for 90 guests daytime (ceremony and wedding breakfast) and up to 120 guests in the evening, this venue has a fantastic offer for your smaller wedding. The 13th century tithe barn is situated in beautiful grounds, yes you drive through a bit of an industrial estate to get to the hotel but once you're there it's stunning. The grounds are so well kept with flowerbeds maintained with seasonal planting and trimmed grass. NB I love a good garden!
The hotel itself has well appointed rooms. The bridal suite and adjoining rooms are all a good size, comfortable, not entirely modern, as you'd expect from a hotel created from a 16th century manor house. The bars are well stocked, with access to the Riverside Tavern for your drinks reception, if you have one. Menus are traditional and tasty and what you'd expect from a 4-star hotel.
Wedding packages are mainly based on wedding breakfast and evening reception, though they are licensed for civil ceremonies (or you could hold a celebrant led ceremony should you choose) but an additional cost is incurred - I would assume this is based primarily on the additional time and staff required to set up both your ceremony and then to turn the room around for your wedding breakfast, all of which can take considerably longer than you think.
Prices are about average for 80 people in a venue of this nature, not exactly budget but not over-priced either. Hotel room prices are pretty affordable and include breakfast, but guests on lower budgets aren't too far from other options if they so choose and just a short taxi ride away.
The hotel works with a team of local suppliers, but you're not restricted to just those suppliers if you choose, with the exception of food and drink (as usual with a hotel venue). They pride themselves on offering you a professional wedding planner to assist in your wedding journey but be aware that they are still limited in terms of what they can offer outside of them supporting your use of the venue and recommending suppliers to work with. True wedding planners are there for You, not for the venue, though we take pride in making the venues team lives easier by helping you deal with all the other background stuff like contracts, RSVP's, wedmin in general.