Don't worry - you are in safe hands! What a Wedding Manager does:

In this blog, we are going to outline what your venue Wedding Manager and your on-the-day Wedding Co-ordinator do both in the run up to, and on the actual day of, your wedding.

So many couples worry as to how their day is going to run, the timings, what they need to bring, and what to expect from the venue when booking their wedding. Here we will put your mind at ease so that you can simply relax and enjoy your day.

Many venues will have a Wedding Manager to help plan your event at that venue and an on-the-day Wedding Co-ordinator who makes sure it all runs smoothly on the day. At The Great Barn Laura Davis is our Wedding Manager, who has been a part of the barn family for 10 years – so there really isn’t much she hasn’t already seen! Laura will be your point of contact from the day you book – and may well have already met you on your viewing days. Any queries, questions, concerns are all directed to her.

Usually Laura will arrange a face-to-face wedding planning meeting about six months before your big day.  In this meeting you will go through the fine detail of how you want your day to run – and how far you have got with booking suppliers, etc. This is the start of your Wedding Planner file – a document which we share with you, and our team here, as a point of reference at any time. This ensures we are all on the same page!

We will advise on timings for the whole day covering your ceremony, reception, wedding breakfast, speeches, first dance, cake cutting, evening guests arrival, evening food and departure. Everything from guest numbers, music, wine choices, suppliers, room set up and décor is also noted here. Even special touches like special surprise guest arrivals. We can even act as your Master of Ceremonies if you don’t have someone in mind. You won’t necessarily have it all nailed down at this point so don’t worry – it’s a work in progress and at least we will get the basics outlined.

Laura will also have a review meeting (often a telephone call) approximately two weeks before your wedding to update any changes to the Wedding Planner and of course there will be quite a number of emails to and fro during the run up to the big day!

There is also a handy table planner attached to the Wedding Planner so that you can start to put your table plan together. Final numbers and dietary are required by Kearney’s, our caterers, 14 days before the wedding. Both Kearneys and The Great Barn will need copies of the table plan. Wine choices need to be finalised 4-6 weeks before your wedding.

Then all that is left is for you to do is drop off all your decorations, table plan and place settings the day before your wedding – and leave the rest to us! We are happy to dress the venue for you (and this will have been covered in your discussions with Laura) and take it all down again at the end of the night for someone in your party to collect by 11am the following morning.

Laura will hand over all the details in your wedding planner to one of our on-the-day Wedding Co-ordinators. Laura herself runs a number of our weddings throughout the year but she also has a team of fabulous Co-ordinators all of whom have plenty of experience in running weddings. They will be in early on the day of your wedding to set up your decorations and tables and to greet any suppliers such as florists. They will then ensure that every aspect of the day runs according to what has been agreed on your Wedding Planner and also handle any unexpected situations that may arise. Their role is to take the stress away, handle any last-minute mishaps and make sure that everything runs seamlessly. Think of your on-the-day Wedding Co-ordinator as your own personal fairy godmother! Quite often they know exactly where problems might arise before they actually arise. You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that someone is in charge of anything, big or small, that crops up.

And don’t just take our word for it – so many of our couples write thank you notes after their wedding and take time to say just how relieved they were to have Laura and her team behind them every step of the way. Hear what some of our recent couples have to say:

“Laura and the team were superb to deal with from day one and ensured our dream day ran smoothly from start to finish. Accommodating visits with parents, endless questions and best in class service on the day, we couldn't have asked for a more superior Wedding venue and service team. Your Wedding day is one of the most important (and expensive!) days of your life so the stakes are high! Laura and the team at the Great Barn certainly delivered and we would certainly recommend!” Charlie & Olly, October 2022

“Thank you to and your entire team for Saturday. We were incredibly impressed with Hannah, she made the day go effortlessly.” Louise & David, October 2022

“Laura, Beth and the team are incredibly responsive, calm and really share the excitement and joy for your big day. We will never forget our day and will be forever grateful to The Great Barn for bringing our dream wedding to life!” Laura & Ryan , September 2022

“We highly recommend TGB and in particular Laura and Beth as coordinators in a heartbeat. Thank you for making our day so stress free and memorable.”  Amie & Liam, August 2022

“The feedback from everyone has been amazing not just with the setting but about the staff and catering as well. A huge thank you to Laura for her guidance and dealing with me bombarding her with emails/questions!! Gabby was fabulous on the day and guided us through, so grateful to her for that.  Please pass on our messages of thanks to everyone there.” Kim & Daniel, August 2022

Photo credit: Lee Maxwell Photography