Personal, Relaxed & So Much Fun!
We were looking for a relaxed and beautiful barn setting. Having seen a few, we knew this was perfect before we even got out of the car…
Tucked away in the stunning Suffolk countryside, surrounded by fields and flower meadows, lies Bateman's Barn and its fabulous ancient ruins, all surrounded by a moat - truly an island in the fields.
This gorgeous, rustic barn was exactly what we were looking for - perfect, whatever the weather - and the icing on the cake was having the support and guidance from the amazing owners, Nicole and John.
Batemans also has a few extra special features - beautiful gardens for sunny days and starlit nights; space for lawn games and just hanging out; the most incredible sunsets; a unique courtyard, where we had our wedding breakfast - with the feel of being outdoors, but also warm and cozy. There's the barn with its huge old oak beams and ancient flint walls - so romantic and a great evening music venue too - and to top it off, a medieval ruined gatehouse.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you - what makes Batemans so brilliant, are the owners, Nicole and John. With so much experience, they bring guidance and support to make things a little more personal and allow you to be creative. They have lots of useful contacts for all sorts of unique and quirky suppliers and were happy to help, advise or just let us do our thing.
Here are a few things that Nicole and John worked with us to create…they walked us though a ceremony rehearsal, several times(!) on the Friday set-up day, and we got to practice the surprise aisle music, to get the timings just right. The rehearsal was so helpful – you don’t get this with most venues! It made the ceremony seamless, and brought all the wedding party together with plenty of giggles and tears of joy, but ready and little less nervous for the real thing the next day.
We were asked for input on how to stock bar. We are gin lovers, so it was great to have a selection of drinks to suit us and our guests. We had a range of other gin appearances in our day, one of which was a hand painted, gin-themed, seating plan. This was still being finished the day before, and Nicole was so helpful and provided us with a beautiful easel to display the finished plan.
We realized on the set-up day that we needed some extra flowers to dot around the venue to really finish off our look. Nicole suggested that we pick some wild flowers from the fields and hedgerows on the farm. So off we all went, on a lovely walk, directed by Nicole to all the best places and came back with armfuls of beautiful flowers to really finish off the decorations.
We had quite a few young children at our wedding, and wanted to keep them entertained. So we purchased some lawn games and space hoppers which Nicole laid out for us on the morning.
The grounds also include a fire pit, which we added as an extra and they were happy for us to do toasted marshmallows. They gave us some guidance about how to best arrange this, including using damp willow sticks for toasting and having a lantern to light the marshmallows.
Some of our friends arranged a surprise night time feature – a music video that they had made. They communicated with Nicole without us knowing, so it was a delightful and hilarious surprise. At the end of the night, Nicole also coordinated some sparklers for the wedding party, this was lots of fun and a fabulous finale to the most perfect day.
Faith and Tom
Thanks to Hannah Hall Photography for all images, except top image.
