Frequently Asked Questions
Here to help
Civil Ceremonies
Yes we are licensed in a number of areas so you can choose an area depending on your preference, guest numbers and time of year; The Main Hay Barn, our Marquee, our Mezzanine, the Courtyard, the Orchard, the back Meadow or in either cottage (Harvest Moon or Ember Eve)
We are licensed with Buckinghamshire Registration Service so in order to book your Civil Ceremony, you are best to give them a call on 01494 475092 in order to check their availability and confirm a time slot with them.
Church Weddings
After marrying in church we can then host your drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening party here at Winters Tale Country Barn.
There are a number of local churches in the area and as part of the Parish of the Claydons, the beautiful 13th Century All Saints Church is based on the Claydon Estate just a few fields away!
Celebrant Wedding /Other
Weddings conducted by Celebrants are another option for your wedding and are becoming increasingly popular as they can be totally personalised. You will however need to make separate arrangements in order to be legally married.
It is possible to have an outside ceremony during the summer months but it is obviously dependent on the great British weather! We will always have an indoor contingency plan in place and the final decision as to whether it can take place outside will be made by the Registrars.
Absolutely! With prior permission you may bring your own animals along to take part in the ceremony and photos after which they must be taken back home. They must have a dedicated person looking after them and be kept on a lead. Animals are however not permitted in the accommodation cottages and we do not allow guests to bring their own animals other than Assistance Dogs.
Our venue show rounds are by appointment only so please do just give us a call or send us an email and we would love to arrange a suitable time with you to show you around our gorgeous venue.
We are able to pop one date on hold for you for up to 7 days, to allow you time to contact the Registrars/Church/ Celebrant to check dates and times with them before confirming your booking.
Exclusivity
We only hold one wedding per day at Winters Tale Country Barn and we do not host back to back weddings. The whole venue is exclusively yours from the afternoon prior to your wedding day until the afternoon following your wedding celebrations.
One of our Wedding Coordinators will be present on the afternoon prior to your wedding day so you can hand over any décor, place cards, seating plans etc to them and they will of course be present on the Wedding Day itself – we’ll be just as excited as you are!
The planning process
Our wedding coordinators will be on hand to guide and advise you from the moment you book, right through to your wedding day itself. They will provide you with all the information you may need and to answer any questions you may have. They will organise a Wedding Details Meeting with you approximately 3 months before your wedding date to run through all the specific details of your day. They will also arrange a phone/video call with you approximately 3 weeks before your day to confirm your final numbers and to finalise any other outstanding details.
Minimum numbers & layouts
We do have a minimum guest requirement of 70 adults in total for the daytime & evening reception during our High and Mid seasons only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. This also applies to bank holidays.
Our round tables are 5ft in diameter and can seat 8 guests comfortably, with an absolute maximum of 10 guests. We can seat up to 120 guests comfortably for the Wedding Breakfast.
The top table consists of two trestle tables together each measuring 6ft x 2ft 6’’. We can seat a maximum of 8 guests on the Top Table
You are more than welcome to have an alternative set up to our round tables, however if you wish to do so you will need to arrange hiring in the appropriate tables yourselves and we will place our tables into storage. We can provide you with further details on this type of set up
As we manage and operate the Bar then we provide all glassware including bottles of water for the guest tables. You will need to arrange tablecloths, napkins, crockery & cutlery either through your caterer or external hirer. We can provide further details on sizes etc
Access, Times & Turnarounds
You will be able to come along in the afternoon from 1.00pm -5.00pm the day prior to your wedding in order to place out any decorative items & to hand over any other items that cannot be set up until after the ceremony( if you are having a Civil Ceremony).
Supplier access is from 9.30am on the morning of your wedding and collection of items the following day or Monday is from 9.30am.
We allow up to two hours for the room turn around depending on your numbers so whilst you are having your drinks reception and photographs the Wedding Coordinator and team will set up your table décor and place cards, our Waitresses place the glassware and the Catering team lay the tables with crockery, cutlery and napkins.
Winters Tale Country Barn and the accommodation barns are fully wheelchair accessible. Should you have any specific access requirements please contact us to discuss.
Last orders at the Bar are called at 11.20pm, the Bar closes at 11.30pm and Carriages are at midnight.
Yes the Main Barn is equipped with under floor heating. In the summer it is bright and airy with plenty of doors to allow in the fresh air & we can provide additional fans in extreme heat. We also have a heater for the marquee.
We have 2 x gas powered patio heaters available for your use with no extra charge
We have space in our car park to accommodate up to 40 cars and we have an additional overflow car park available for use between end March and November (weather dependent). Outside of these months we advise hiring a coach/mini buses/taxis/car shares for larger numbers. The maximum size coach we allow is a 34 seater to ensure easy manoeuvrability.
You are welcome to leave your cars overnight in the car park, but we request that they are collected the next day by 11am
Absolutely not! The cleaning of the barn is included within the venue hire price. We just ask that you take away any presents/cards /gifts/ items of value on the night of your wedding for safe keeping. We will gather up your décor items and any other belongings ready for you to collect on departure. Remember to collect any remaining wedding cake or food from the fridge. Any installations you arranged to be put up will need to be taken down the morning after your wedding.
Suppliers / Caterers
We require you to choose one of the high-quality caterers from our Recommended Suppliers List for the Wedding Breakfast/Daytime Meal. They all offer formal and informal styles with a good choice of different cuisine with a range of prices. They all meet our professional standards offering high levels of quality and service. The options include traditional 3 course menus, sharing boards, BBQ & hog roasts, buffets, bowl food, afternoon tea etc.
We welcome street food vans for the evening part of your day as long as they meet our requirements for all suppliers as set out in our Terms & Conditions. Buffets are also a great option, but must be provided by a professional Caterer.
When booking your suppliers you must ensure that they will adhere to our Terms & Conditions and they must be able to provide us with a copy of their Public Liability Insurance certificate which is in date at the time of your wedding.
Drinks
We request that all drinks are purchased through our Bar. We have an expansive range of drinks and they are all competitively priced. We also have a fabulous cocktail bar on our Mezzanine Floor, which opens in the evening time with a dedicated Mixologist – the cocktail bar is always extremely popular!
We have a beautiful courtyard where your drinks reception will be held in good weather with our waitresses tray serving your pre-booked drinks. In inclement weather we will be able to hold your drinks reception in our marquee or if smaller numbers within the main barn area.
We manage and staff the bar so we provide all the glassware, bottles of water for the tables and ice buckets for the wine. Our waitresses will serve the drinks during the drinks reception, replenish the wine on the guest tables, serve the toast drinks and clear away empty glasses.
Our main ground floor bar will open from after your ceremony, from the start of your drinks reception. Note the bar will not be open pre-ceremony for legal reasons stipulated by the Registrars. The cocktail bar opens in the evening from 7.30pm approx
We are able to take both cash and cards at both our main ground floor bar and cocktail bar
Accommodation
We have 2 cottages on site which are included in the venue hire price for the night of your wedding. Harvest Moon Barn has 2 bedrooms which is frequently used by the parents or relations/friends of the couple. Ember Eve Barn is a one bedroom cottage with a beautiful four poster bed where the couple will often stay after their celebrations.
For details of other accommodation available in the area please refer to the details on our Accommodation page on our website.
If you have booked Harvest Moon Barn (2 bedroom cottage) and Ember Eve (1 bedroom cottage) for the night prior to your wedding they will be available for you to check into from 3pm that day.
Check out is 11am approx and once you’ve checked out you can then wander over to the Main Barn and collect any decorative items to take back with you.
Decorations, Cakes & confetti
The Main Barn provides a wonderful blank canvas for your wedding and is itself beautifully decorated so doesn’t require too much additional decoration from yourselves other than adding your own items in order to personalise your day. The marquee also provides you with a flexible space for you to decorate as you wish and is often used to accommodate your gift table, additional entertainment i.e. photo booth or children’s activity corner. We request that any additional decoration must be taken with you when you depart the day after your wedding.
We provide a small round table with a tablecloth for the purposes of displaying your Wedding Cake on. The cake table measures 2ft 6in diameter
We have a rustic log cake stand and silver ceremonial cake knife that you may use should you wish to, at no extra charge
Yes we have two easels you may borrow for displaying your signage on
Due to the nature of the building with a vast amount of wood around we do not allow real candles or naked flames of any description. Instead we encourage the use of battery operated candles/tea lights and there are an abundance of options available on the market to select from to suit your style and decor
Yes of course outside, usually in the courtyard -it makes for some amazing photos! It must be either real or dried flower petals, which are biodegradable and easily blend into the natural environment
Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate the use of fireworks, pyrotechnics or Chinese lanterns as we are in an area surrounded by crop fields.
Music/Technical/ Projectors
You are more than welcome to use our hand held wireless microphone for use within the Main Barn during the speeches or to make other announcements throughout the day.
We do not have a decibel limiter in place so your Band /DJ has free reign to play as loud as they like as long as guests can still be heard at the bar!
You are welcome to play your own playlists on a suitable device provided by yourselves (usually a phone) but we require you to nominate a person to manage and operate this for you throughout your ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast etc.
We also have a Bose speaker that can be set up either outside or in the marquee which uses blue tooth connectivity with your phone.
Yes having a live musician play during your ceremony and even your drinks reception is always a lovely addition to your day
You are able to use our projector and two drop down screens by prior arrangement so we can provide you with the necessary details. These are often a great addition to the speeches or to display photos throughout the day/evening.
Book a Viewing
Get in touch
info@winterstalecountrybarn.co.uk
Winters Tale Country Barn
Old Blackmore Hill
Calvert Road, Steeple Claydon
Buckingham, MK18 2HA
