Preston Court Canterbury prices/experiences

Hello.

I also fell in love with preston court. Unfortunately for us it was waaaay over our budget! When we enquired (around 18 months ago), it took several phone calls and emails before we finally got some info from them. The price to hire the barn for the day was almost £7000. That didn't include the organs or the carousel. The info didn't include prices for these. It just said they were available at further cost. I have heard that if you don't hire the carousel they cover it over with nasty green net so that people just can't get up and take photos on it and it looks pretty unsightly.

I think they also sent us a few contact details for caterers - you can only use caterers that they recommend.

If we had an unlimited budget we would have definitely gone there as it is stunning but alas it wasn't to be ?

Good Luck x

Oh wow definitely at the top end of our budget! And it sounds like you are basically forced to hire the carousel or have the setting ruined.

Did you manage to find something similar or have you ended up somewhere completely different?

Best keep looking!

Thanks for your help x

Is it the barn you are after or the house? Also how far will you travel as I'm in thanet and know a few venues

It was mostly the carousel that won us over it was just something a bit different. I did also like the barn but a nice country house would also suit our theme.

We are going for a vintage Mad Hatter's tea party idea.

We are in Medway so Thanet is about 50 mins away, definitely open to travelling that far for the right venue.

Thanks

If you like country houses look at quex house birchington. Not sure on the price and this will sound very bizarre but they have a taxidermy museum that I went to a drinks reception in. Sounds gory but it's actually beautiful and has a lot of history behind it. The grounds are stunning and u can get married in doors or out. Iv been to two weddings here and both were gorgeous! If it's the barn side then try thatched barn, Farthingloe dover. It's a bit further but if had a b&b just behind it and a hotel near by. Were having our uk party there and again it's beautiful! It's a 17c barn with a much smaller cost! The woman who organises weddings is lovely and they have a bar in the barn x

Just incase you think I'm nuts this is the museum attached to the house

Ratsbury barn is also beautiful especially with the lil bridge over the water but we chose not to go for it as they can only host events until 9pm so if your having an early wedding it's great or if you go on elsewhere after

mount ephraim is also beautiful! And pretty easy to get to as it's near Faversham. They have some beautiful gardens to gave photos in and more than enough room for a marquee if you would prefer to be outdoors. It's one of the venues we were considering before deciding to go abroad.

Another one is port lympne mansion. It's in a zoo so you can have a safari ride too as in the summer they let elephants etc out in a huge area and can drive you through it. The house is very pretty and being so close to the zoo lots of unique photo oppertunities and they have African lodges you can spend the night in

Thanks! They all look nice. I like bits and pieces of all the different ones I've looked at - think I need to be less fussy.

I've found another good barn in canterbury that is cheaper x

Is that winters barn? They were costly when we were looking but the barn is beautiful!

We looked at tonnes of barns around the area and we really wanted to have everything in one place. After preston court turned out to be out of the question nothing else seemed quite good enough and I got a little disheartened...

Then we saw 'The Plough' at Leigh, (near Tonbridge) and just loved it! It's the other end of the scale from preston court - just a barn in a beautiful setting, nothing fancy at all but when you see pictures of it dressed it looks amazing. And the price is unbelievable! Granted, you can't get married there, but we've just kind of evolved into a different kind of wedding and are having two venues. It's worth a look if you're in that area!

Marleybrook House in Preston is also stunning and whilst they don't have a carousel they do have old vintage swing boats instead.

Thanks all.

Did a bit more searching and adding up over the weekend and I think we are going to go for Little Hermitage, it looks really nice in some of the photo's I have seen inside and out.

Little Hermitage is lovely, unfortunately a little small for us, but a delightful venue and very reasonably priced. Good luck.

I read the reviews on the forum but then when i delved a bit deeper and asked the venue manager she said that they did not disquise the carousel with any green netting so it was fine. The carousel works out really well as its a great distraction and keeps the whole family entertained whilst the room gets re-organised for the evening. We found the venue to be very accommodatiing and helpful and we spent months looking for the right location for us. No Regrets! We went with Tayberry for the catering and it exceeded our expectations.

I have had many great reviews recently from our brides getting married at Winter's Barn and Swarling Manor, Petham. I got married at Mount Ephraim, Hernhill which is beautiful and has very relaxed friendly owners that my family know. Not sure on current prices of all though.

We got married at Preston Court last autumn and it was amazing. I spent a lot of time reading blogs and we looked at hundreds on venues online and visited over 20 places. Preston Court does initially seem expensive but it has a lot to offer - not just the carousel and organs, but the gardens are amazing and the barns are very real and authentic. The atmosphere was great and all are guests felt relaxed and like they could have fun. Also you have a lot of choice - more than we could find at other venues. The food was great too and exceeded our expectations.

We stayed locally - there are loads of quirky places, the beach nearby and lots of pretty villages and small towns. There are some many good pubs too. we had a few good days visiting the venue and then going out for a cosy pub lunch.