The Great Tythe Barn Nick & Lizzie’s Wedding

The Great Tythe Barn Nick & Lizzie’s Wedding

Where did you get married? What made you choose your wedding venue, did you look at many? 

We got married at The Great Tythe Barn, Tetbury in the Cotswolds. We knew we didn’t want to get married in Kent where we were from… I loved the idea of getting married in Italy as that is where we got engaged but so many of our close family have children and we absolutely wanted them to be a part of our day so it was too much to ask of people.  The Cotswolds is such a beautiful part of the world and not too far for people to travel. 

Once we were settled on the location, we narrowed our search down by two criteria; venues with onsite accommodation and venues that didn’t charge corkage (not that we are alcoholics).  We probably looked at about 5 venues but stopped as soon as we visited The Great Tythe Barn.  It just ticked all of our boxes and more.  It was stunning but it also had such a lovely relaxed vibe and given that we were getting married in October, had enough space to accommodate everyone comfortably if the weather went against us.  The added bonus was the gorgeous Tythe House with 8 bedrooms that the bridal party stayed in plus 10 self-catering cottages and an onsite B&B for all of our guests. 

Most people ended up staying for 2 or 3 nights so we were able to extend our celebrations beyond just the big day which is exactly what we wanted given that people had travelled a distance to attend.  We wanted to keep the party going for a long as we could! Oh and also, they had 3 pet pigs and 2 donkeys that lived there… what more could you want?!

Did you have any type of theme to your day? 

We didn’t really have a set theme for the day but just a mix of everything we love.  All we wanted was to ensure that everyone relaxed and had fun with plenty of yummy food and plenty of drink.  We didn’t stress too much over the minor details.  As it was an autumnal wedding, we chose really rich gem colours for the bridesmaids dresses and beautiful flowers to compliment them.  I suppose we continued the autumn theme a little with toffee apples and sparklers for the evening!  

The tables were all named after the lovely villages on Lake Como that we had visited when we got engaged the year before and we kicked the meal off with great big anti-pasti sharing platters as a nod to our time in Italy as well.

For the evening entertainment, we booked a DJ with a saxophonist.  We wanted the day to feel like one big party and we both love Ibiza classics so we arranged with the DJ and saxophonist to have an Ibiza hour at about 10:30pm. Nothing too alternative but party tunes that everyone would recognise and dance to, incidentally both of them had spent seasons out in the clubs in Ibiza so they were in their element.  We also brought out the face gems for this part of the evening which went down a treat with the guests.  

How did you feel the day went as a whole?

We honestly didn’t feel that the day could have gone any better… well Nick perhaps regrets the last beer before it seemed like a good idea to give his new wife a strip tease on the dance floor but that just adds to the amazing memories we have from the day. 

The days leading up to the wedding had been pretty grey and a bit wet and miserable but we woke on the morning of the wedding (slightly hungover from getting a little carried away/ over excitable with our guests the night before) and the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky!  We knew that the weather was never going to be guaranteed at any time of the year in England but getting married at the end of October was pushing our luck.  Turns out, luck was on our side.  Not only was it a beautiful autumn day but it was actually unusually warm too!  

PERFECT DAY

The rest of the day followed suit and went perfectly to plan.  We chose to get the speeches done before dinner so that the guys could relax and enjoy their food.  The best man had arranged for video messages from relatives and friends that hadn’t been able to make it and this was just such a special touch.  They all did so well and certainly let their hair down afterwards.

  Yes, perhaps the timings went a little out the window after the dinner but only because everyone was too busy enjoying themselves.   The team at the venue and all of our suppliers exceeded all our expectations and we didn’t have to worry about a thing all day.  The dancefloor was full all evening!  We both had the most fun and think our guests did too and to us, that was all that mattered.  We just want to do it all over again! 

What would be your number one tip to other couples planning their wedding?

Don’t sweat the small stuff… let yourself get swept up in the magic of the day because it really is the best feeling.  Oh and if you can, book your honeymoon or something to look forward to straight after because the wedding blues are real people!  

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