Bartholomew Barn

Sussex has some of the best wedding barns in the country, and Bartholomew Barn has got to be right up there in the top 10. With its gorgeous exposed brickwork, courtyard garden and open front lawns, Bartholomew Barn has everything you'll need for that rustic wedding day feel.

AKA was first here back in 2017, and we've been coming back ever since. The barn has a really intimate and homely vibe to it, with fantastic staff and brilliant spaces that lend themselves to live music like no other.

Courtyard Ceremony Music & Drinks Reception Entertainment

The main barn is where you will say your I Dos. There are plenty of spaces where AKA's acoustic duo can set up, but when the weather is nice it is best to have the guests and acoustic musicians in the walled courtyard, whilst you have your ceremony in the doorway of the barn. This frames you beautifully, draws everyone's attention to you, and for us means that we are already in position and set up for both the music for the ceremony and the drinks reception. See the picture below for a setup just like this...

The courtyard is where we have had an acoustic band line up, playing for the happy couple as they arrive and continuing to entertain wedding guests throughout the drinks reception. Acoustic music during the drinks reception really helps to set the tone and mood of the rest of the day. It's a really lovely way to create a personal, musical backdrop to your wedding and ties all parts of the day together. Live reception music is something that we love to do, and will forever be one of our favourite parts of the wedding celebrations.

The Live Band & Evening Party

Once your wedding breakfast is over and the speeches have been toasted, the main barn will be turned from dining room to party room. We are well versed at this and having done this a lot at many venues we have it down to a fine art. We work with the venue team to make the transition as simple as possible and get to the party as fast as we can. At Bartholomew Barn the band normally set up in front of the wood-burning stove at one end of the barn, coming right out to the start of the double doors. This leaves you with plenty of room for dancing, drinking and enjoying some awesome live music from the band, and still giving you full access to the courtyard and gardens throughout the night.

The area is plenty wide enough to accommodate our standard 4 piece band right through to our larger band options with saxophone like the one above. Although there is no sound limiter at the Barn, we would suggest nothing larger than a 6 piece band to make the most of the naturally awesome acoustics of the building. If you put too many musicians on stage, the sound can get a little too much. As you can see we like to section off the band from the dance floor using our tried and trusted fairy lights which we bring to every gig and matched with the incredible brick backdrop in the barn which we light with the band's party lighting, AKA fits perfectly into the space.

If you are looking to up the party again we can offer a fully manned DJ service to accompany the band to fill any of the gaps in the band's live sets, take requests from your guests and read the room to get the music just right from start to finish. AKA will play for 2 hours, which can be divided up into 2 x 60 minute or 3 x 40 minute sets, so the DJ service can fill the gaps and take you right up to the final carriages of the night. It is by far one of our most popular add ons. Be sure to check our availability and get your bespoke quote for your wedding date!

Why We Love Bartholomew Barn

Sussex has some truly breathtaking wedding venues, but none of them have quite the same charm and charisma as Bartholomew Barn. Rustic timber frames and brickwork, a walled courtyard with a pond, a summer house that is set away in the gardens, open fields for some of the best wedding pictures you could ask for and even a bluebell wood that can be used for your wedding day pictures, Bartholomew Barn has everything you will need. The ability to then turn this into one of the best barn party venues by night makes this one of our favourite Sussex barn wedding venues.