DIY farm/camping wedding in Dorset - any ideas??

quietfool

Hi there,

We're planning to get married late summer 2012, and being both from Dorset (and still in love with the county!) we are looking for a venue in a rural location where we can have a very outdoorsy wedding for about 100 people, catering ourselves (it will be wholly vegetarian) and where we can set up bell tents etc for camping, alongside outdoor games etc. Reception and (humanist) ceremony on one site, we're planning to nip across to the registry office the night before to tick the legal boxes.
Problem is, we're on a tight budget and were hoping that by doing everything ourselves and avoiding a posh packaged venue we could reduce the costs a lot. however, even just hiring a marquee seems to cost upwards of £2000, plus when you have to factor in toilet block hire etc...either than or places insist on catering for you etc.

Does anyone know of a friendly farmer with a barn, or a great village hall that has private grounds we could use, or anything similar? Ideally it would have power, toilets and a building, but then some great outdoor space where we could do everything else!

Anywhere in dorset would be great, but somewhere near the beach/a river/somewhere scenic for the ceremony would be absolutely perfect.

I've been searching high and low, so if you folks have any ideas I would really, really appreciate it.

Best wishes,

Andii

Robinred

I wanted a very similar thing, and I found it impossible to find through the internet. In the end I have got a lovely farm with a barn for £75 a night! In Shropshire though sorry! I found it through word of mouth. My advice is to ask on facebook if you are on it, and ask your friends, and ask in country pubs. There will almost certainly be a farmer in your area up for it, but they will not have a website for it so you will need to find them another way!

PS there are some cheaper marquee companies in existence, the one I am using is £1400 for the tent and organic hog roast, so it is worth keeping your eyes peeled. I would recommend going to a festival or a festival forum, a lot of people do tea tents and things at festivals and aren't really into making tons of profit but have got big tents... HTH

Robinred

Also found this , this and this for you:)

merlinormartin

What about this place .. Square & Compass Inn Barn

quietfool

Hi,

Thanks for the responses! I've checked out the halls you mentioned but unfortunately no camping - elf and safety, of course
I'm putting out the feelers via friends and on facebook, we have family in north dorset who hopefully might turn something up, but nothing so far. It's so dispiriting that when you want to save money and have a good value wedding, most venues are designed to avoid that! (not surprising though!) Square and compass looks pretty great, although I couldn't self cater there. I think it all rests on finding a nice farmer with a barn and some ground we could use...although if anyone has further ideas I'd really appreciate them

Thanks,
Andii

welshbigman_2

sounds great, we're having a wedding in a barn next august. looking at a 3 course meal during the day and a hog roast at night.
here's our venue
https://www.gwynant.com

jammy26

http://www.churchfarmcandcpark.co.uk/

this is a lovely campsite with a function room, and lovely facilities.