Ceremonies

Choose between a Legal Marriage Ceremony carried out by Kent County Council registrars

or a Blessing / Humanist Ceremony. Either can be held in Woods or under cover in The Barn.

Woodland Max seated guests 150

Barn max seated guests 150

Ceremony time Earliest legal or blessing ceremony time is 2.30pm with guest arrivals from 2pm.

Seats and Reserved seating - We have several options for seating depending on where you choose to hold your ceremony. We will also ensure any reserved seating you’d like is set out before guests arrive.

Cosy & dry We have blankets and umbrellas available for every guest just in case.

Coordination of couples arrival, music, musicians, guests, florist, photographer etc All taken care of by our experienced Wedding coordinators and staff. Just arrive and enjoy the day.

Contingency Plan During your planning sessions a wet weather contingency plan will be devised so that in the event of bad whether your outside ceremony can simply be relocated under cover. Exactly how your ceremony will be coordinated and any personal touches you’d like to add will also be covered during your planning sessions.

Indoor Ceremony Music. We provide a professional sound system throughout our main venue. Microphones, stands, ear pieces and any additional equipment can be provided for a small fee by our professional sound engineer. Couples are welcome couples to involve any kind of live music as part of their ceremony.

Woodland Ceremony Music. We provide a mobile speaker, we do not supply microphones or ear pieces in this area. Our sound engineer can set this up for a small fee. Couples are welcome to involve any kind of live music as part of their ceremony.

Ceremony styling & flowers Our planners will arrange to take delivery ahead of the day and set up any personal touches & decorations you’d like as part of your ceremony. Flowers from your ceremony can be repurposed elsewhere in the venue afterwards. Note - our archway can not be moved, instead ask your florist to build your arch so that it can be dismantled and repurposed elsewhere.

Pets Dogs, horses, birds of prey can all be included in couples ceremonies.

Our Fees Some couples do not require a ceremony at all or choose to marry off site and come to The Dreys for a reception only. For this reason we charge an additional fee of £300 to use our ceremony space. This contributes towards the licensing fees and the care, preparation and maintenance of the area. A per person seated guest fee of £6.50 covers arrival refreshments & real petal confetti for every guest.

Coming for 2024 Installation of a large sustainable wooden deck throughout our Woodland ceremony area will protect & preserve the Woodland floor. Combined with the completion of our Wooden deck walkways couples and guests can wear their best shoes without worrying about the weather!

Registrar Fees - Legal Marriage ceremonies

Booking Fee £75 (payable to Kent County Council) once we book the ceremony with them on your behalf.

Legal preliminaries £35 each / £47 each (non EU nationals)

Notice of marriage or civil partnership must be given in a Register Office (separate notice must be given by both parties) https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/gi...

Approved premises ceremony fee £520 Monday - Friday / £710 on Saturdays.

These fees must be paid directly by the couple to Kent county council who provide the the service. https://www.akentishceremony.com/weddings/fees-and...

Blessing / humanist ceremonies

A Blessing or Humanist Wedding is different from a civil ceremony or registry office wedding. You will need to register the marriage separately at a register office in the days before or after your wedding ceremony.

A blessing or humanist wedding is entirely personalised & focused on you, your love, and your story. Many couples choose to enlist the services of a professional celebrant who will spend time getting to know you both, together and individually. This means that, on the day, they can tell the story of your relationship in an authentic and meaningful way. Usually this involves meeting and sharing before the wedding. They will ask you questions and together you will shape your story which they will then turn into a bespoke script for your wedding ceremony. A humanist wedding can be a small, intimate, traditional affair or a huge, elaborate, fun-filled celebration. The choice is yours! Asking a family member or friend is also an option that many couples choose.

https://outdoorceremonies.co.uk/directory/celebran...

https://www.thecelebrantdirectory.com/area-covered...

One of our very own Brides enjoyed planning her ceremony so much she has since trained as a celebrant herself https://www.theredfoxcelebrant.com