Congratulations…
Your booking HUB
CONGRATULATIONS!
Thank you for picking Reach Court Farm to host your wedding day!
Below you will find all the information in a simple step by step guide to finalise your booking.
Make sure to download and carefully read all the information below.
This will serve as your HUB for everything you need to know in planning your big day with us.
Save this page to your favourites, download the forms and refer back to it as you plan the next steps of your wedding.
BOOKING FORMS
PAYMENT DETAILS
We accept payment either by bank transfer, cheque or cash. Please find our bank details below
Account Name: Reach Court Farm Weddings
Sort Code: 77-63-20
Account Number: 83709668
Deposit of £1,500 to confirm. Full balance due 6 months prior to your date
YOUR CATERING OPTIONS
This is the next most important thing after confirming your date with us. We advise you arrange your wedding day catering as soon as you can.
We work exclusively with a small selection of hand picked caterers who we all know and trust to deliver a professional and top quality service
We require you to book your wedding day catering with one of these companies within 6 months of confirming your wedding day booking.
THE BIG DAY!
Whilst every wedding day is different, we have found the running order below works very well and gives you something to start with. We would be happy to check through a running order with you if you have any questions.
Just to help you start planning here is an idea of how your special day may run…
1:30pm
Guests Arrive – Let’s get a quick drink in!
2:00pm
Ceremony time – Here comes the bride.
2:30pm
Ceremony finishes – Enjoy some bubbles, canapes and photos in our lovely surroundings
4:00pm
Dinner time! – Get ready for some delicious food
6:00pm
Speeches, toasts, cheers!
7:00pm
Relax, enjoy a drink, get some fresh air.
7:30pm/8:00pm
Evening guests arrive, time to party.
8:00pm/8:30pm
Cut the cake – mmmm, cake! The first dance.
9:00pm-Close*
Drink, dance and be happy!
*close 11pm midweek, 12pm weekend
I HAVE A QUESTION…
Now that you have your venue and date booked you can begin the exciting process of planning all the finer details of your wedding day.
We have put together a wide selection of frequently asked questions to help answer anything you may be unsure about during this process.
We have also prepared some GUEST INFORMATION you can share on your wedding invites to help your guests plan their travel and accommodation.
GENERAL
Yes, it is no problem to view the barn again in the Spring on the year of your wedding. Due to the seasonal nature of the business, we are unable to offer viewings between October and March, when the venue undergoes annual maintenance
We kindly ask that you only request one visit prior to your wedding. If your photographer, florist, band, DJ, etc want to look at the venue, we suggest this is done to coincide with this visit.
We have 10 round tables that are 5’6” diameter that can seat up to 10 people and 8 trestle tables at 6’x 2’ 6” and a 3′ cake table. Additional tables can be arranged at cost.
Yes, we supply a cake table and table cloth as part of our package
Our package is based on 100 guests. The maximum day capacity for ceremony weddings is 100 guests.
For non-ceremony weddings it is 120 guests. 120 guests must be seated around 11 round tables of 10 people and one long top table of 10 people due to the layout of the barn.
The maximum evening capacity is 200 guests in total.
We do not but these can be found from some of our trusted suppliers.
We have two high chairs we can provide for use in addition to our 100 gold padded chairs.
There is plenty of accommodation nearby – St Margaret’s Bay Holiday Park is closest and has a small hotel on site – this is about a five minute walk from the venue. Both Dover and Deal have plenty of accommodation and are 10 minutes by taxi. Please see our suppliers page for suggestions.
Yes, we have plenty of parking on site and we allow cars to be left overnight as long as they are collected by midday the next day.
CATERING & SUPPLIERS
We advise you to get in touch with each of the caterers to get a price and book directly through them.
Unfortunately guests are not able to provide food themselves for the wedding breakfast or evening buffet.
Yes, we love ice cream!
The supplier of the cake should be responsible for safe storage of the cake overnight, as well as delivery to the venue on the wedding day. Cakes should only be left at the venue/left on display following the recommended guidelines from the suppliers food safety management plan, and include any allergen information when displaying the cake at the venue.
CEREMONY
We send the ceremony booking form when you are ready to confirm your wedding date with us. We submit this information to Kent Country Council and they will be in contact with you from there. Ceremonies can be booked in up to 2 years in advance of the date.
No, our ceremony price is for the use of the ceremony area and associated venue hire costs. The registrar fee is a separate fee payable directly to KCC
We have space to arrange the ceremony area on the dancefloor. We haves chairs/benches to set out for your guests and trees and lanterns to decorate the area.
You will need some music for your walk down the aisle, signing the registrar and exit walk. Usually one track for each walk and 5-10 minutes of music for signing the registrar. This can all be played through our PA system you will just need to allocate someone from your party to be in charge of pressing play.
PAYMENTS
We can take your venue hire payment either by bank transfer, cheque or cash.
The final payment of the venue hire costs is due 6 months prior to your booked wedding date.
All cancellations must be in writing to Reach Court Farm Weddings, St Margaret’s Bay, Dover, Kent, CT15 6AQ or by email to info@reachcourtfarmweddings.co.uk.
If written cancellation is received by the Owner more than 6 clear calendar months prior to the event; only the deposit shall be forfeited by the Client.
If written cancellation is received by the Owner less than 6 clear calendar months prior to the event, all payments shall be forfeited by the Client.
The Owner advises the Clients to take out wedding insurance to cover cancellation and other contingencies preventing the wedding from taking place.
Yes, we strongly suggest you take out a wedding insurance policy.
There are charges for guest numbers over 100 people for the wedding breakfast.
Please refer to your terms and conditions for prices.
No, we have a fully stocked and staffed bar included in the hire price of the venue. There is no minimum spend at the bar.
ALCOHOL/WINE/BAR
We do not allow miniature bottles of alcohol as table favours, although this can sometimes be accommodated at extra cost.
No, all beer and spirits outside of what is included in our package must be through our onsite licensed bar.
For your table wine multiply your number of seated afternoon guests by 0.4 to get your maximum wine allowance, so for e.g. 100 guests is 100 x 0.4 = 40 bottles of wine.
For your toast drink divide your number of guests by 6 to get your maximum toast allowance, so for 100 guests is 100/6 = 16.66 (17) bottles.
We often find for a toast people will not drink a full glass so to save you having wine left over the next day you can supply slightly less than this.
We provide welcome drinks as part of our venue hire package (2 drinks per person for a Saturday, 1 drink per person midweek. 2024 all dates are 2 drinks per person). We allow you to choose any two from Pimm’s, prosecco and bottled beer. We also include soft drinks on top of this. Other options are available, although additional charges may apply for a more bespoke package.
The bar is not equipped to sell tea or coffee or hot drinks. Should you wish to have teas and coffee on your wedding day, you should arrange this through your caterer.
We have jugs to provide tap water for each table. If you would prefer bottled water then you will need to supply these.
MY WEDDING DAY
We will run through all the key information and running of the day to have everything organised as you would like before leaving you to begin the exciting process of decorating the barn to your own theme. We are on hand during the set up process to help with any issues.
Please note midweeks dates have access from the morning of your wedding day.
No, we have everything covered. We will have your timings, supplier details and any other information necessary. All you need to do is relax and enjoy your day. This is probably the most important bit of information we can give you – ultimately the wedding day is your day, and we want you to enjoy it.
We will contact you approximately 4-6 weeks before your wedding day to confirm final numbers
We will contact you approximately 4-6 weeks before your wedding day to confirm the number of tablecloths required and colours for tablecloths/napkins.
Colours are ordered from an external supplier; custom colours are not always available. We can email you a sample image of the colours available.
Amplified music can only be played outside as part of the ceremony. Non-amplified music can be played outside until 8pm.
Generally these things are fine, there may be occasions where we might not be able to allow them – it is best to ask on a case by case basis. Bouncy castles must be able to fit on the lower lawn only.
We have jugs to provide tap water for each table. If you would prefer bottled water then you will need to supply these.
The bar is not equipped to sell tea or coffee or hot drinks. Should you wish to have teas and coffee on your wedding day, you should arrange this through your caterer.
Confetti is allowed outside on the upper ceremony area as long as it is natural/bio degradable.
We love this water soluble confetti. Use our code ReachCourt10 at check out for 10% off.
We do not allow the use of glitter/confetti cannons inside or outside the venue.
No, unfortunately our license dictates that fireworks are not allowed.
We advise our guests to book taxis home with plenty of time, sometimes there can be a long wait on a Saturday night as we are approximately 10 minutes from either Deal or Dover. Please book your taxis in advance – there are a list of taxi numbers can be obtained from the bar on the day.
TIMINGS
If you have booked a Saturday wedding we allow you access at 11am the day before your wedding to drop off any wine and set up any table arrangements and decorations.
If you have booked a Midweek wedding, we allow access from 8am on the day of your wedding to drop off wine and decorations. We suggest keeping these to a minimum due to the limited time available or arranging one of our suppliers to decorate for you.
Suppliers are welcome to come to the venue during the time you are setting up.
Suppliers can also access the venue from 8am on midweek weddings and 10am on Saturday weddings.
It is the responsibility of the client to arrange arrival times and meet suppliers unless otherwise discussed with the venue. Please supply the venue with the relevant arrival times on the booking form approximately one month before your wedding.
If you are having a ceremony at the farm, the band or DJ will not be able to start setting up until after the ceremony has finished. This is to ensure we have sufficient room inside the venue to set up a backup ceremony space in the event of bad weather.
If you are not having a ceremony at Reach Court Farm, the band can set up anytime from 8am for a midweek wedding or 10am for a Saturday wedding.
We ask that bands and DJs are made aware that the music must finish at 11:00pm on midweek weddings and 00.00am on Saturday weddings and they are packed up and vacated from the premises approximately 30 minutes after this.
We have provided a suggested plan of the day in your booking confirmation information. Obviously every wedding is different but this will give you a good idea of rough times that work well.
Our ceremonies can take place in our beautiful outdoor oak framed gazebo or inside the main barn.
We recommend guests arrive no more than 45 minutes before your ceremony time.
We open the venue for guests 45 minutes prior to your ceremony time. The bar can be open all day for your use. We call last orders 30 minutes before closing. The venue shuts at 11pm on midweek wedding days and midnight on Saturday weddings
Our team will pack everything away at the end of the night once your last guests have left and put all your belongings to the side to make it a hassle free experience to collect the next morning. We do encourage people to take their wedding gifts or valuables with them before they leave the venue, or lock them into the boot of a car. All belongings are left in the venue at the clients own risk.
We ask that all decorations are cleared from the venue by 10:00am for midweek weddings and 11:00am for Saturday weddings. All belongings are left in the venue at the clients own risk.
SETUP/DECORATION
The barn measures approximately 9m wide x 26m long to the bar. If you are looking to drape bunting or other decorations across the barn, the fairy lights that run from one side to the other are 10m in length and there is a little excess at each end, which should give you a good guide.
The round tables measure 5’6” in diameter and seat up to 10 guests. The rectangular trestle tables are 6ft in length.
We do not offer this as a service, but we can recommend some of our suppliers who will dress the venue for you.
Unfortunately hanging decorations from the roof is not permitted due to health and safety compliance. Hanging things from the walls is permitted in certain circumstances, please ask for details. Decorations must be safely attached and it is the responsibility of the client to ensure the safety of his or her guests.
We do not allow are plastic wedding table beads (we have gone through plenty of hoovers trying to pick them up) or Light Up Dancefloors (they damage our dancefloor). If there is anything that requires drilling holes or anything slightly unusual, etc. please just ask before doing.
Yes, you are free to add your own touch to the ceremony area and gazebo, we ask that you check with us before fixing anything to the gazebo structure.
Please note any ceremony area decorations may have to be done the morning of your wedding to avoid them being left out overnight.
Candles must be in a safe and stable container that encloses the flame.
HELP
Please make sure you have checked through all the documentation and FAQ’s, hopefully most things should be covered in this booking hub. If there is anything you are still unsure about please get in touch with us and we will be happy to help.