Wellington Barn, Manor Farm, Wiltshire - Wedding Photography

Set in the rolling farm land of Wiltshire, Wellington Barn, Manor Farm, is at the very end of the kind of long narrow track that Hollywood directors search high and low to find. It is as the name suggests, a converted barn that is now used an a wedding venue. At first you can be put off by the black metal cladding, which is 21st century barn material. Yes it would look so much better if it were a sandstone or red brick barn, But do not be put of by those initial, superficial thoughts. When you enter the barn complex its has been beautifully restored and the old beams kept in the bar/dance area make the place feel lovely and quint inside.

Wellington Barn also has this great sense of space inside the barn, mainly as a result of all the lovely glass along the one wall of the main function area. This glass wall amazingly connects the inside of the venue with the picturesque rural setting outside, even when you have the maximum number of guests at the venue, you still feel there is lots of room.

There is no shortage of locations for great wedding photography, in fact they are queuing up for you and the sunsets are just out of this world. We spent the whole day at Wellington Barn and never ran short of wedding photography opportunities. The vast space is great for creating powerful images, especially if you have a touch of drama in the sky. When it comes to photographing the speeches, there is no problem using natural light during the afternoon in the summer months. When you come to autumn wedding photography you will need flash and bouncing it can be an issue with high dark ceilings. We stationed ourselves under some silk drapes and that acted as a great reflector. Likewise when it comes to first dance, you need to be happy using high ISO settings and slow shutter speeds as the ceiling is actually black, so if you plan to use flash you might want to think again. But this was a lovely location at which to photograph weddings.

The food was excellent, and we are fortunate to get to eat at lots of venues and this was good cuisine. In fact the food & the exterior of the barn don't go together. Only when you enter the venue does it reposition the venue as a fine dinning establishment, with well dressed tables and elegant decorations. If you hadn't seen the tin cladding on the outside of the barn on your arrival you would think your were in one of Heston's restaurants.

Is there a down side to this location? Sadly only one that we could see. There is no accommodation. This is purely a reception venue. I would say a fabulous reception venue, however remember that at some point everyone will have to go home. So there are driving issues or taxis or a bus. Walking out of there is not an option.

The winning factor for me though is its rural setting, it does feel like you have the whole of Wiltshire as your wedding venue for a day, and trust me, that's worth having.

As a wedding venue we recommend it whole-heartedly and out of our FIVE we award this venue a rating :