A Guide To Next Steps

If you are reading this, you may have taken the plunge and booked your wedding with us here at Owlpen.  If so, thank you for choosing us as your venue, and we hope that we can make your wedding planning process as enjoyable, and stress-free, as possible!

If you have not booked your wedding yet, but would like further information, read on!

So here is what you need to be thinking about as you move forwards.  This page aims to help you at every step of the way, so that you are clear on what you need to be considering, and when.

Firstly, you may be wondering, do I need a wedding planner to help guide me through all of this?  We don’t think you do: we think you can save money by letting us help with the planning.  However, if you would like the help of an independent planner, there are loads of options out there and we enjoying working with seasoned professionals to aid your planning process.  It is up to you.

Booking Confirmation

In order to set your booking in stone, we need to sort out the following paperwork, as follows:

1. Invoice

We ask for £1000 to secure the booking, and this is refundable after the wedding has taken place.

If you choose one of our weekend wedding package, there is an additional down-payment of £540.  For midweek packages the fee is £270.

2. Contract

We ask that you download our contract by clicking the button below, and then sign/ send it back to us when you can.

We also have an FAQ document, which helps to answer major questions about the legal issues, downloadable below.  If you have any further questions, please let us know.

3. Event Checklist

We’ll send you an event checklist separately: this is a shared document which allows you to collate all of your wedding venue planning in one place, and ask questions/ raise comments directly with us if you need to.  Once you have received the link you can share it with others if they are helping with your planning.

I have just confirmed my wedding at Owlpen!

What do I need to do next?

The venue choice is the most time-consuming and difficult piece of the puzzle, so you can congratulate yourself on having made this tough decision. And don’t worry, you’ll be in safe hands with us!

But if you want to get ahead of the game, you might want to think about the following:

1. Ceremony

If you are having a civil ceremony then get in touch with the Gloucestershire Registration Service to book in your time.  2pm is the most popular time, but you might want to have it a bit earlier outside of the summer months, to make the most of the day!

2. Frequently Asked Questions

You’ll probably have a lot of questions about how the venue works, and how that fits into your planning.  If you have not seen it already, we have a useful FAQ page on our website which you can scan to make sure that you are familiar with all of the fine details.  You can find it by clicking the button below.  If you have questions which you cannot find in there, do please reach out to us and ask.

3. Suppliers and Vendors

You may be scratching your head and wondering where to start when it comes to booking trusted suppliers for your wedding, and an online search will give you hundreds of options to choose from, which can be overwhelming.  We have compiled a list of suppliers who visit Owlpen often, and share our values, so it is a good place to start.  Click the button below to find it.

Payments and Fees

We ask that you pay by installments, to spread the load for you and so that we can manage our cashflow throughout the year.  So if you have booked your wedding well in advance of the date, you won’t hear directly from us for a while.  But that does not mean we have forgotten you!  We are always on the phone and email if you have any questions, so do feel free to reach out whenever you like.

The invoice schedule is as follows:

Invoice 1: Six months out from your wedding you’ll receive an invoice for 25% of the wedding venue fee.

Invoice 2: Three months out you’ll receive another invoice for 25% of the fee.  It is important to remember that this is the point where you need to let us know if there are any holiday cottages which you DO NOT require, so that we can remove them from your next invoice!

Invoices 3 and 4: You’ll receive two more invoices: one month out and then two weeks before your wedding.  Please find more information on these below.

But first…

How do I give my guests all of the information they need about my wedding?

You’ll probably have friends and relations who are eager to know more about your wedding plans.  First of all, send them to our website where they can read about the history of Owlpen and see our photo galleries.

You may also want to send them information about accessibility, which you can find on our website here.

Some guests may want to book accommodation on the estate, or make plans elsewhere.  Here is how we can help.

Holiday Cottages

We have nine holiday cottages on the estate, which can sleep up to 40 people in total.  You may have seen some of them by now, and if you haven’t we encourage you to do so in due course.  You can find a full list of accommodation by clicking the button below.

We encourage you to visit the cottages, either at an open day or another time: just contact the office for more details.  You then choose who you would like to stay where, and put their names in the relevant cottage on your event checklist.  You also take payment for the cottages from your guests, and we invoice you for them one month ahead of your wedding.  Click the button below to download our cottage fee document.

Glamping

We are excited to be setting up our Squirrel Wood campsite for 2025.  We do not have photos to share with you yet, but you can find more information in the meantime at www.owlpen.com/glamping

Alternative Accommodation

If you have over 40 guests and some need accommodation in the surrounding area, you can send them our carefully curated list which is available by clicking the button below.

Food and Drink

You will have been given information about wining and dining when you came for your viewing, and we wanted to give you more information about how this works, here. So read on, or skip this section if you have all of the information that you need.

1. Food

If you have booked a weekend or midweek wedding package, then all of the food will be provided by our in-house catering partners, called Well Seasoned Cotswold Caterers.

Even though we’ll be handling all payment on your behalf, you may want to contact them with further questions, such as cakes, evening food, dietary requirements, and tastings, which are included for weekend weddings, but subject to an additional fee for midweek weddings.

If you have booked a ‘dry hire’ wedding, then you’ll want to contact them for a quote, and go from there.

Please reach out to their extremely helpful Catering Manager Briony, on this email address: info@wellseasonedcotswoldcaterers.co.uk

2. Drinks

We try to include a generous base load of drinks in our wedding packages, but you may want to find out more about the vintages that we offer.  You may also want to upgrade to premium sparkling wine, bolt on some beer buckets for your reception, or explore options for a cocktail hour after dinner.  It’s these little touches that really lift the vibe, and make your wedding extra special.

If you have booked a dry hire wedding, you will need to decide whether you want us to provide your drinks, or whether you’d like to bring your own, among other things.  Don’t worry, all of the information is included here.

A note about AF drinks: in case you are wondering, we have a full range of alcohol-free wines for those who would prefer not to drink alcohol. We also stock alcohol-free beer and low alcohol beer as standard.  We love making mocktails too, so let us know your thoughts, and we can put together some options for you!  Last but not least, we also have loads of different soft drinks which we can provide in assorted buckets, so there is a lot to choose from.

Please explore the buttons below to download the document which gives you all of the information that you need.

Styling, Decorating and Event Planning

There is so much to think about when it comes to styling and decorating.  Owlpen is packed full of charm and beauty so you can limit this part if you want, but it never hurts to add your own personal touches if you want to work towards a theme.

If you have found a florist or stylist, and you would like to visit with them, let us know.  If you’ve booked one though our suppliers list that may not be necessary, as they know the venue well already.

We have loads of props which you can hire from us as well, and you can use them to add a beautiful look to the barns at low cost.

You can also hire our 10 x 12 metre marquee for the formal gardens if you’re worried about rain or sunshine.  If you are considering a BBQ the night before your wedding in a holiday cottage garden, you can hire that kit from us as well.

Please click on the button below to find out more.

Final Wedding Planning – Not Long Now!

If have reached this point it means your wedding is just around the corner.  We hope that you are feeling excited, and not too nervous!

Time for some final planning….

1. One Month and Counting

This is the point when we invoice you for the remaining 50% of your venue fee.  We also include the full fees for the holiday cottages: you collect the fees on behalf of your guests and they then pay you for them.

If you are planning to use the barns for events (drinks/ brunch etc) the day before your wedding, or the day after, then you need to let us know asap so that we can staff these events fully.  If you only require catering then you can liaise directly with your caterer, but if you have any requirements for drinks, then please let us know.

2. Two Weeks to go…

This is when your final invoice will be due.  We will go through your event checklist and put together the invoice based on the information that you have provided, so do please make sure that the following is confirmed on your checklist:

• Final numbers
• Drinks package choices, including beer/ soft drinks buckets
• Late checkouts in the holiday cottages
• All catering plans finalised, including meals for suppliers

3. One Week Left!

It is possible that you have suppliers who would like to drop important things off in advance of your arrival: we are talking wine, floral arrangements, glamping installations and other prop hire etc.  Ideally this would happen no more than two days in advance of your wedding (usually a Monday or a Thursday), but please do check with us first, so that we can factor these into our schedule.

4. The Day Before The Big Day

The first question you’ll probably be asking yourself is, ‘when can I be onsite?’  We would love it if you could be here between 10am and 12pm.  If you need to arrive earlier then that can be arranged, but it is helpful if we know in advance.  We aim to sit down with you for an informal meeting at 2pm.  This gives us an opportunity to double-check everything, and if there are any surprises then we’ll have the afternoon to make final tweaks to our operational plan.  If you would like other key players to be at the meeting as well, that is fine: the more the merrier!

When you arrive, you are welcome to drive down to the pole barn to unload your car.  Please can you make sure that it is then parked in the car park until your accommodation is ready.  The same goes for the day of the wedding.  Please make sure guests, unless they hold a blue badge, park in the car park.   If anyone needs a lift down then they can be dropped off outside the venue.  As you are aware, there is a small hill for people to walk down to the venue.  It may be worth asking guests to bring flat shoes and change into formal footwear once at the venue.

As you know, there is parking outside all of the cottages, but please don’t overload!  If needs be, unload all belongings  into the cottage and park in the car park.

We always look forward to seeing you the day before your wedding: it gives us a chance to make sure that we have everything in order, and it is great for you to be able to decorate and welcome people without being run off your feet on the day of your wedding.

We will have been working the day before to prepare the accommodation for you, so half of the cottages will most likely be ready as soon as you arrive.  Please let us know which ones you want to prioritise for early check-in, so that we can crack on with them first.  If possible, we recommend that you nominate one lead guest for each holiday cottage.  It would be great if you could send them our “Welcome to Owlpen” pdf so that they know how to get here in advance, and which cottage they are staying in.  Owlpen is not a straightforward place to find at the best of times, so it is good to plan ahead!

If you do not already have a copy of the Welcome document, you can find it by clicking the button below.

Parking

When you arrive on the day, we ask that you unload outside the barn and then move your car as son as possible afterwards, and that other guests use the car park at the top, or park at their holiday cottage.

You would be amazed how many people need to use the drive as we get ready for your day, not to mention the arriuval of delivery vans, and of course your guests!  There is parking for you outside the Apple Loft, which is behind the barn, so feel free to pop your car there for the duration of your stay.  

Taxis

Last but not least, taxis!  Your guests may be asking you how to book a cab back from your wedding, and we advise that everyone has one booked in advance, to avoid disappointment.  You can find our list of trusted local taxi companies below.