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About

On Hitched.co.uk since 2021

Last update: October 2024

Situated on a working farm in Southern England, Southend Barns is a countryside haven for weddings and private events in Chichester, West Sussex. This 200-year-old venue is home to a rustic and romantic barn set amidst stunning farmlands, manicured gardens, and elegant courtyards. Here, you will find an idyllic setting for your special day. The experienced staff is on-hand to bring your vision to life and look forward to welcoming you to their beautiful estate where relaxed refinement abounds.

Facilities and Capacity

There are numerous indoor and outdoor options when it comes to celebrating your wedding journey at Southend Barns. Ceremonies are hosted at The Dairy Barn, an enchanting spot that blends minimalist white decor with traditional wooden beams and accents. Alternatively, you can say ‘I do’ in The Secret Garden, a romantic beauty spot that offers a peaceful and picturesque backdrop for memorable moments. The Threshing Barn is where you can treat your loved ones to a wonderful wedding breakfast or evening reception. This unique space marries traditional, rustic touches with modern luxury. Wooden details contrast with wrought-iron chandeliers, and natural light seeps in through full-length windows through which guests can soak in serene sunsets. You can dance the night away following a formal seated meal for 150 guests. The preparation suite has a minimalist contemporary feel, with lofty ceilings, wooden beams, and a fireplace perfectly balanced by plush lounge seating and large mirrors.

Services Offered

Southend Barns has everything you need to curate your dream day. The seasoned events team looks forward to facilitating your special celebration.The team will be on hand and taking care of everything from all-inclusive packages to tailored solutions. Roots Catering consists of talented chefs who celebrate the best of premium food and local produce. They will design menus inspired by your tastes and theme, from formal wedding breakfasts to sociable sharing plates. The attentive and personable team will oversee setup and breakdown, tending to your guests all day and striving to make your wedding one to remember.

Frequently asked questions

Venue type:

In the country
Barn
Outdoor license

Ceremony options:

Fire ceremony
Civil ceremony licence

Dining options:

Seated meal facilities
Corkage option
Alcohol licence
Buffet meal facilities
In-house catering

Evening entertainment:

Dance floor
Entertainment licence
Live band facilities
Evening reception facilities
DJ facilities
Outdoor fireworks permitted

Overnight accommodation:

Overnight accommodation for wedding couple
Overnight accommodation for guests

Venue staff assistance:

Wedding coordinator

Other features:

Exclusive use
Accessible facilities
Car parking
Confetti permitted
Pet-friendly
illustration notebook

Do you have any questions?

Reviews for Southend Barns

We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to make your big decisions easier.
4.9 out of 5 rating
4.9 out of 5 rating
22 reviews
97% recommend it
  • Quality of the service
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.8 out of 5 rating
Anna
Anna M. Sent on 02/11/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Incredible

We can’t say enough about the amazing team at Southend Barns! Planning our wedding from Australia was a breeze, thanks to their support. They truly go above and beyond to create the wedding of your dreams and are incredibly accommodating with last-minute changes. The team manages everything seamlessly, allowing you to fully enjoy the day and cherish those special moments. The Roots catering team exceeded our expectations—the wedding breakfast was so delicious that we’re still receiving compliments a month later! We couldn’t have picked a better venue, and we’re especially grateful for the option to move the ceremony indoors at the last minute. Thank you for making our dream day a reality!
Sophie
Sophie W. Sent on 28/10/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Absolutely incredible!

Wow, wow and wow! Where do we begin to even put into words how incredible Southend Barns were for our wedding!

If you are looking for a gorgeous wedding venue in the South that has it all, you’ve just found it because these guys are at the absolute top of the game and are the best of the best, we are SO pleased we found Southend Barns and chose them to host our wedding day in October 2024.

Southend Barns is such a stunning venue, and so much care goes in to every single inch of the venue, from the gorgeous barns, the outdoor space, the courtyard full of roses and the bridal suite to the grounds, its all kept to such a high standard. From the moment we stepped in to view the venue we fell in love, it has such a calming feel, everything was clean and high quality and this stayed consistent through every visit. We enjoyed the love at first sight open evening, a lovely tasting evening which felt like we were at a wedding and loved visiting for the wedding fair where we found some of our suppliers and our planning meeting! We were looked after throughout out planning by the lovely Sophie who made us feel instantly welcome, at ease and she had it all under control, from start to finish Sophie was so lovely and we are so grateful for all her help in the run up to our wedding.

On the day our event manager was Kelly, who was our angel and is SO good at her job and ensured the day ran seamlessly without us needing to do a thing, after months of preparation and crafting this was so appreciated as it meant we could sit back and enjoy the day to its fullest! After meeting Kelly the day before at our handover meeting, we both instantly felt in safe hands and nothing was too much trouble for her - even some of our more quirky ideas. She was incredible and we are so grateful for everything she did for us.

All of the team on the day from the bar staff, waiting staff, Roots chefs and cleaners all made sure our guests and us were well fed and watered and all our guests commented on how incredible the food was. The Roots team are total artists when it comes to food and every single bite was delightful, from the delicious canapes (that our lovely lady - with the lovely eyeliner flicks made sure we got to enjoy), to the incredible homemade focaccia and butter, delicious 3 course dinner (the sticky toffee pudding was STUNNING!) and our amazing smores station and evening bacon baps and chips. If you opened up a roots restaurant, we’d be first in the queue to visit!!

We are so grateful to Kelly, Sophie and the whole team at Southend Barns for making our dreams come true and helping us to have the day of our lives - not only just for us but for all our friends and family too. It was so special in every way and the amount of detail that goes into the behind the scenes of the venue is second to none, everyone who is part of this venue should be so proud to play such a part in such a milestone moment in couples lives, we are so thankful and so pleased we chose Southend Barns for our day.
Aimee
Aimee Sent on 14/01/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Where do we start … Southend Barns you are incredible!

Where do we start … Southend Barns you are incredible!
From the moment we first visited the venue two and half years ago to now as Mr and Mrs Hewitt we only have positive things to say. I mean, how rare is that!

Anyone looking at wedding venues please make sure you add Southend barns to your shortlist. You will not be disappointed!

We instantly fell in love with the venue, the team and of course the food❤️! Everything was taken care of by the team on the day meaning we could relax and enjoy every moment. Nothing was too much trouble and we really felt that each and every person we met during the planning process and on the day wanted to do their best for us! Toby and Olivia we cannot thank you enough for all your support on the day.

We are already desperate to come back … We must plan a vow renewal 😂.
Sammy
Sammy R. Sent on 13/07/2022
5 out of 5 rating

The whole package

When planning our wedding, Southend Barns was the first venue we viewed. The following venues we found simply didn’t compare and so we ended up booking, mostly because of the stunning and picturesque grounds and decoration. The other reason we loved Southend Barns is because it only has the option of using their in house caterer - Roots. Choosing a caterer would have been difficult and time consuming so this was perfect for us. And the food was incredible!
Every detail is thought of, the team at Southend Barns clearly know what they’re doing and have so much experience you feel like you don’t even need a wedding planner to help guide you. We certainly didn’t have one! With the support from Southend Barns team we had a seamless and perfect day, we couldn’t be more grateful.
Xxx
Lucy
Lucy K. Sent on 09/08/2018
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect wedding day

We got married at Southend Barns on 3rd August 2018.

The most important thing for us was always the venue; as well as having all the essentials, it had to all be in one place to save travelling between venues, it had to have a bit of a "wow" factor and it needed to accommodate around 100 guests of all ages.

We viewed a handful of venues but Southend Barns won hands-down because of the outside space and the friendly and welcoming staff.

We got married inside - as it was 30C degrees and didn't want our guests to burn/die of heatstroke - but the recently-built outside ceremony area is absolutely stunning, so we would recommend booking a viewing even just to see it!

The venue is absolutely flawless, the staff are extremely organised and catered for our (very specific) needs! My husband sang me down the aisle and they made sure everything was in place to make this possible, including several practice runs.

Alice was absolutely brilliant. She completely put us both at ease and on the day she kept my husband calm and collected beforehand. Every detail was thought of, and - whilst that means more time planning the day - it meant that we all knew what was happening and literally EVERYTHING went to plan. Not one thing went wrong and we just couldn't believe how smoothly the whole day went.

Thank you SO much for hosting us and all our guests, for organising the big day and giving us the most stress-free and perfect wedding possible!
R
Rachel Sent on 09/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Best Wedding Venue!

Thank you so much to everyone at Southend Barns for giving us the best wedding day we could have wished for. Everything was perfect from start to finish. Beautiful venue and amazing service. Thank you
R
Sarah O. Sent on 25/09/2021
5 out of 5 rating

August Wedding 2021

Best day ever! We fell in love with Southend Barns as soon as we saw it. We had our dream wedding at a beautiful venue. We had to reschedule a couple of times for COVID but it was so worth the wait. Don’t hesitate and book today. The Staff did a brilliant job, the food was delicious and the bridal suite is so cute.
H
Heather M. Sent on 23/07/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Beautiful venue and supportive staff

Our wedding was postponed twice due to COVID and on our third attempt we got married 21/06/2021.
We fell in love with our wedding venue from the day we saw it, we couldn’t wait to get married here. The staff are so lovely will cater to your needs and so supportive throughout our postponements and changes due to COVID.
we cannot thank you enough our day was everything we dreamed of and more.
Kimberly
Kimberly Sent on 15/09/2018
5 out of 5 rating

Wonderful Southend Barns

We got married at Southend Barns in August 2018 and had the wedding day of our dreams. The Southend Barns and Field and Fork teams are absolutely outstanding. They are experts in the best in the industry. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They listen to your visions and ideas and just make everything happen effortlessly. Rob from Field and Fork who ran the operation on the day is absolutely phenomenal at what he does. He filled us with confidence as soon as we met him and he ensured that everything on the day was absolutely perfect. The level of service delivered by Rob’s Team was extremely high. My background is in premium hospitality so I’m rather fussy when it comes to good service and they absolutely blew my socks off! The service was professional, effortless and unobtrusive. Everything just happened and the staff seemed to know what our guests needed before the guest even knew themselves!

The venue itself is absolutely stunning. Every detail has been carefully considered and the grounds are immaculate. There are beautiful flowers everywhere. The two barns are gorgeous and so atmospheric. The venue also have a number of fantastic props that you can borrow (included in venue hire cost) such as a postbox for cards, blankets, sheepskin bench covers, room dividers, lawn games and centre pieces. The attention to detail is second-to-none.

We knew we wanted to get married at Southend Barns from the moment we stepped inside and met Mariella. Our wedding day completely exceeded our expectations. Our guests are all still talking about it. Thank you Southend Barns... you are absolutely wonderful.
Roger
Roger Sent on 16/08/2018
1.8 out of 5 rating

Stunning venue but shame about the service

We got married at Southend Barns in June 2018 and had a wonderful wedding. The venue is an Ibiza style modern venue with a beautiful barn area and outdoor grass areas that was exactly our taste. The caterers and Rob in particular were truly amazing.

Unfortunately the venue owner and one of the staff seemed to be more concerned about what suited them than what we wanted. Throughout the booking and planning stages we dealt exclusively with Laura who was very pleasant and we didn’t have any issues. 3 days before our wedding we had a drop-off where you leave your decorations, drinks etc. At this time we were introduced to Alice (another venue rep) who we had not dealt with before. We had included some confetti cannons that we had planned to use as our big entrance to the wedding breakfast as a married couple. She took one look at them and said they don’t allow confetti cannons because they might make a mess and go on the ceiling beams (being difficult to remove). After some discussion with the owner Mariella we were told we could use them but that if there was any cleaning of the beams required after then we would need to pay for this. We were ok with that.

Subsequently Alice contacted my entertainment supplier who was involved with our entrance sequence expressing concerns about the cannons (I know this because my entertainment supplier relayed this to me) and the following morning (now 48 hours before our wedding) I got an email from the owner Mariella saying that we were no longer allowed to use confetti cannons because this was a health and safety issue (apparently people might slip on the confetti- interesting that they never even mentioned this in our earlier conversation) and that we were not allowed according to their terms and conditions. I replied to her email asking for her to call me but she did not get in touch and the office did not answer or return any of my numerous calls that morning. Luckily my father lived nearby and drove over there to find them all in the office chatting (not looking very busy). When my father asked the owner if she could call me she said she was too busy and refused, my father had to call me on his mobile in front of her and pass it to her in order for me to eventually speak to her. Ultimately (after plenty of arguing) she agreed we could use one confetti cannon but no more. We went ahead on this basis and it was OK but the whole thing was highly stressful and not pleasant at all. Remember this all happened 48 hours before our wedding and was the last thing we needed!

So if you are planning to book this venue (which is lovely) then you should have a good think about exactly what you want at the wedding, check it all is OK (preferably in writing) and have a good read of their terms and conditions, expect them to be quoted to you later if not! If you can do your wedding the way they want you to and comply with all their rules then you should have a wonderful wedding as the venue is stunning.

Examples of things they don’t allow (according to their terms and conditions and our experience) includes;

1. Confetti cannons or confetti that is not thrown by hand (although this is not mentioned in their terms and conditions).
2. Paper confetti, glitter, Chinese lanterns or any confetti not made from real flowers.
3. Sparklers.
4. No animals except guide dogs.
5. No external caterers or barman etc.

Obviously there is no day more special than your wedding and we hoped and expected all our suppliers would do everything in their power to make it special for us, I think Mariella and Alice really need to learn to be more customer focused.

I should mention that Laura (our original rep we dealt with) was lovely and even turned up to help on our wedding day when she had not planned to.
L
Lauren Sent on 04/02/2020
5 out of 5 rating

The most incredible day, venue and team

Wow, thank you so much to everyone at Southend Barns! The team were incredible from the moment we had a first viewing all the way through until after the wedding was over. The service was faultless and nothing was too difficult! You saw our vision and helped us bring it to life. Neither I or my husband had to lay a finger throughout the day and everything was just perfectly organised. To top off what a wonderful team they all are, the morning after the wedding we had a slight medical emergency (all absolutely fine now!) and I couldn’t have expected a more thoughtful, supporting and caring team of people to have around us!

Thank you again Southend barns for helping us have the most amazing day we could have ever wished for!
C
Carly Sent on 11/07/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Simply perfection!

From start to finish, our wedding day experience at Southend Barns was absolutely perfect.

We first saw it on a cold, wet January day and immediately knew it was where we wanted to get married. Despite the rubbish weather, it looked amazing and was so warm and inviting, we knew it was the one for us.

The whole style and attention to detail at Southend Barns is spot on. It is perfectly rustic, and so beautiful everywhere you look- from the fire pit in the collecting yard, to the gorgeous beams in the diary barn, the wood burning fire in the bridal suite, and the huge expanse of rustic style in the threshing barn. Not to mention the endless little touches- like the fur throws on the chairs outside, the plants in pots, the landscaped lawns, the fairy lights in the reception barn, and even posh hand cream in the toilets! It made us realise that we wouldn't really need to spend any extra on décor and styling- because it was all there waiting for us!

Aside from how stunning Southend Barns itself is, the whole team- including Mariella, Alice, Laura, Amy, Sophie and the bar manager (Mark?), are endlessly professional and supportive, and they really couldn't do enough to make our day the absolute best day of our lives. From the beginning, they answered our many emails and queries so promptly, helped us with ideas for our day, and then on the day itself they made sure it went without a single hitch and were so lovely and friendly- we were made to feel incredibly special.

I really can't express enough just how amazingly special Southend Barns and all of its team really are. You will not be disappointed if you chose to have your wedding day here!
S
Sara Sent on 18/06/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Our Dream Wedding Day

From the second we viewed this venue we knew it was the one, Mariella and all of her staff were second to none in their service nothing was too much to ask. Laura on the day for us was absolutely outstanding she made our day run so smoothly her service was impeccable she kept the groom calm and collected, and reassured me when I got very emotional. Nothing was too much to ask from anyone even when we made last minute changes it was never a problem. It was our dream wedding and more I would recommend this venue to anyone thank you to Mariella, Laura and the rest of there team you are truly amazing.
C
Chris Sent on 20/11/2018
5 out of 5 rating

The best day every!

This was the second venue we looked at and as soon as we saw it we knew it was THE one. The whole day ran so smoothly, we didn’t have to do anything or worry about a think they took care of everything. The service was second to none. Everyone has said so many comments about how amazing the day was and how beautiful the setting was. Would absolutely 110% recommend to anyone looking at this venue.
K
Kimberly Sent on 15/09/2018
5 out of 5 rating

Wonderful Southend Barns!

We got married at Southend Barns in August 2018 and had the wedding day of our dreams. The Southend Barns and Field and Fork teams are absolutely outstanding. They are experts in the best in the industry. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They listen to your visions and ideas and just make everything happen effortlessly. Rob from Field and Fork who ran the operation on the day is absolutely phenomenal at what he does. He filled us with confidence as soon as we met him and he ensured that everything on the day was absolutely perfect.
The venue itself is absolutely stunning. Every detail has been carefully considered and the grounds are immaculate. There are beautiful flowers everywhere! The two barns are gorgeous and so atmospheric. We knew we wanted to get married at Southend Barns from the moment we stepped inside and met Mariella. Our wedding day completely exceeded our expectations. Our guests are all still talking about it. Thank you Southend Barns... you are absolutely wonderful.
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Southend Barns Real Weddings

Rachel & Will
107 photos · 06/07/2024
Sophie & Ben
165 photos · 31/05/2024
Sam & Gina
39 photos · 29/09/2023
Lizzy & Max
322 photos · 26/05/2023
Beth & Dan
107 photos · 01/06/2022
Nicolle & Sam
66 photos · 31/08/2018

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