The Old Kent Barn Wedding Venue is probably my favourite wedding venue in Kent. It is definitely the one that I have performed at the most over course of my career so far and I think this is for one very clear reason: collaboration!
When I first bounded into the wedding industry as a young close up magician, the idea of having a magic at your wedding was still a pretty radical and new idea. It was not all that common and I had to work hard at wedding fairs to show couples the WHY of what I was doing and exactly how it would work as part of one of the most important days of their lives. After a few years as a full-time pro I got a booking at a venue I had never been to before, a family run venue called The Old Kent Barn.
In those early days, there was no barn there as we know it today but in its place was a sprawling and lavish permanent marquee, laid out with the finest tables, chairs, swags and flooring, which was all meticulously clean and impressive. What was even more impressive was the sheer love, enthusiasm and commitment to providing the perfect wedding experience that was so evident in the family that were in charge of it and their staff.
When I first met Claire and Will it was obvious they had a real passion for what they were doing and they were one of the very first venues (in fact possibly even THE first) wedding venue to kindly ask me to be on their recommended supplier list. I was delighted and excited to be asked and found myself performing at The Old Kent Barn in the marquee many times throughout the years that followed – this was a BUSY and POPULAR venue. The fact I was still very young and these clearly successful people had taken a chance on me and started recommending me to their couples meant a great deal (as it still does) and I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
One particular wedding I arrived and all was flowing as usual, lovely day, Will was working not he bar and the whole thing was just as lovely as it always had been then Will announced something that blew my mind – they were going to close the venue for at least a year and build a permanent barn on the footprint of the marquee and essentially reinvent the venue itself. I was stunned that an already busy venue that was already so popular even needed to change anything but then this is why Claire and Will are so respected within the wedding industry.
The new barn would allow them to cater to weddings all year round and with the venue being designed with a wedding day specifically in mind they could ensure that it would have the perfect layout to make this special occasion run so smoothly (it is not by chance that the dance floor just happens to be near the bar, that the bar is long, the toilets easily accessible etc – all those little things that seem to just “work”).
So after many long months of anticipation, I finally returned to the Old Kent Barn in its new form and was utterly blown away! They had not only pulled off the most incredible project in Kentish wedding history but they had done it in a style that has very much set this venue apart from all the others out there. Its modern oak frame juxtaposes the feel of a classic barn but ushers in a more contemporary feel that allows couples the best of the both classic and modern features.
The vast internal space means that a wedding and the reception can all take place under the same roof if the typical British weather lets us down, but some carefully places voiles and segmenting can also reduce this impressively large space down to a much more intimate feeling venue for couples that want a somewhat smaller affair when it comes to guest numbers.
The lavish gardens and meticulously manicured lawns and bedding make for an impressive backdrop and equally desirable outdoor ceremony and reception space which I have been lucky enough to wander around entertaining countless guests over the last fifteen years there. The Old Kent Barn fast became the number one venue for not just Kent-based, but couples from all over the UK to get married at with a reputation that is second to none, a space in their much coveted Supplier Directory is something that all wedding suppliers now aspire to.
It is then, a great pleasure to write this in the Spring of 2024 and be one of a very small number of suppliers from the very first days, to be named as a recommended suppler of The Old Kent Barn Wedding Venue for fifteen wonderful years. It means a great deal that Claire and Will backed me in those early days and over the years it has been amazing to see how they nurture their team there, from seeing younger people starting as glass collectors during school holidays, though to now hosting and coordinating weddings themselves having grown up in their time working at the venue and being trained and valued as more members of a family rather than just employees.
A special mention must go out to my friend of so many years and someone that has been with The Old Kent Barn for many of them now, Kylie. Not only does she have the most incredible patience when it comes to my sometimes broad sense of humour but her ongoing support and recommendation of me to their clients at the venue has been never-ending and unwavering.
Without her, Claire, Will and all of the incredible team at The Old Kent Barn I don’t think I would have developed such a passion for the industry and had the success in it that I have been lucky enough to have had so far. And there is still lots more to come in the future, so I hope that in another fifteen years time I will be sitting down again to update this blog with all of the adventures of another decade and a half at Kent’s leading wedding venue.
Thank you for having me for all this time so far…
