Venue - The Red Barn, South Runcton
Wedding catering at The Red Barn.
South Runcton is fifteen minutes down the A10 from our kitchen, and The Red Barn is a venue we know inside out. A blank canvas barn with a full working kitchen and bar already in place, our own staffed bar, and a family team who have done this here many times before.
We've been working at The Red Barn since we started, so the place feels familiar to us. A January winter wedding with burgundy and fir, a BBQ sharing feast that turned into one of our favourite days, plated three-course breakfasts, and evening food served at nine to a barn still full of people.
What we love about the venue is that it asks nothing of you. It is a genuine blank canvas, so the room becomes whatever you picture rather than whatever the venue has always done. That freedom only works, though, if the people filling it know the building - how the existing kitchen is laid out, where the bar sits so service flows without blocking the dance floor, how long the walk to the top table really is, and how the light changes in the barn between four and nine o’clock. The barn has a fully equipped kitchen and a bar already in place, so we bring stock, glassware and the team rather than building everything from scratch.
Because we cook the food and run the bar, the whole day sits on one set of timings and you have one person to call. Arrival drinks are poured while the canapés go round outside, wine is on the table before the first course, toast drinks are ready before the speeches, and the evening bar opens exactly when the room is ready for it.
Tracy can take the styling and flowers too, which several Red Barn couples have chosen. She has dressed the barn in simple greens and whites with sage cheesecloth runners and tall gold holders, and in deep winter colours with fir, ivy, whole oranges, berries and pine cones. The venue has a no-flames policy, so those tall holders take flameless LED candles - across a full room you would never know.
A Red Barn day
How it tends to unfold.
Reception drinks & canapes
Bottled lager, Prosecco or something of your own - one couple added the groom's homemade sloe gin to the fizz. Yorkshire puddings with pulled beef and horseradish, honey mustard sausages, tempura prawns, crostinis.
The wedding breakfast
Plated and modern British, or BBQ sharing platters down the middle of the table. Chicken in a creamy white wine sauce, seabass with mash and dill pesto, minted lamb with dauphinois - built around you, never a fixed package.
Evening food
Served at around nine, when people need it. Hog roast rolls in takeaway boxes, mac and cheese, loaded fries with a few toppings, or a cheese wheel with crackers and chutneys alongside the cake.
The bar until midnight
A dressed bar, trained staff, glassware, ice and refrigeration brought in, plus the appropriate licensing. Cash bar, pre-paid tab, or a set drinks package - and cleared away entirely at the end.
“I don't know where to begin with thanking Ryan and his amazing family and staff for our wedding day at The Red Barn on Saturday. Nothing was too much trouble and they really did help ensure the day ran smoothly. The canapes were absolutely delicious, and Ryan and his mum Tracey went the extra mile to help out when a prop hire company let us down two days before the wedding.”
The Red Barn questions
The practical answers, plainly.
- Do you cater weddings at The Red Barn, South Runcton?
- Regularly - it is one of the venues we know best. We've been working at The Red Barn since we started, catering winter weddings, BBQ sharing feasts and full plated wedding breakfasts in the barn. We are based just up the A10 at South Wootton, so there is no travel charge for a Red Barn wedding.
- The Red Barn is a blank canvas - can you work with that?
- That is exactly why we like it. A blank canvas means the room can be built around you rather than around the venue's fixed set-up. The barn has a fully equipped kitchen and a bar ready in place, so we bring the stock, glassware and service team and run the timings. Tracy can take on the styling and flowers as well if you would like the whole room handled by one family.
- Does the venue's no-flames policy affect the styling?
- Not in any way you would notice. The Red Barn has a no-flames policy, so we use flameless LED candles in the tall holders and glassware instead of real ones. Lit from within on a sage or ivory runner, they read exactly the same across a room and nobody has ever spotted the difference.
- Can you run the bar at The Red Barn too?
- Yes, and it makes the day noticeably smoother. One team means arrival drinks are poured while canapes go round, wine is on the table before the first course, and the evening bar opens on cue. Evening bar service is generally free of charge when it is booked alongside a catering package.
- What food works well in the barn?
- Everything from a formal three-course plated wedding breakfast to BBQ sharing platters down the middle of the table. Weddings there have taken canapes and reception drinks outside, a plated main inside, and relaxed evening food at around 9pm - hog roast rolls in takeaway boxes, mac and cheese, or loaded fries with a few toppings.
- How late can the party run?
- We have worked Red Barn weddings that carried on through to midnight, with the bar open and evening food served part way through the night. We work to whatever the venue's licence and curfew allow, and we clear the whole set-up away at the end.
- How much does catering at The Red Barn cost?
- Every wedding is quoted individually, but as a guide plated wedding menus start from £59 per guest, hog roasts from £36 and buffets lower again. South Runcton is inside our no-travel-charge area, so nothing is added for the journey. Our menus page has the full detail.
- How far ahead should we book the catering?
- For a Red Barn wedding we like to have catering confirmed six to twelve months ahead, especially if you want the full day with canapes, wedding breakfast, evening food and bar. Summer Saturdays and bank holiday weekends are always the first to fill. Winter and midweek dates can often be arranged at shorter notice - we have catered lovely January weddings there - so it is still worth asking if your date feels close.
Getting married at The Red Barn?
Tell us the date and the numbers - Ryan will come back to you personally with a menu and a proposal shaped around your day in the barn.