Sittingbourne Wedding Venues and Wedding Venues in Sittingbourne and the surrounding areas

So you have decided to get married and are looking for a suitable wedding venue in the Sittingbourne area. There are many choices of venues to consider depending upon religious belief, budget, location, services required and facilities offered. This is a guide to help you choose your ideal venue in the area – some may be known to you – others will be hidden gems that you may not of even known about or considered.

There are essentially two types of marriage ceremony to choose from – a religious ceremony or a civil wedding/civil partnership if you want to be legally married. An alternative to these is a Humanist Wedding, these have no legal status, but are popular with people with no religious affiliations, but want to enter into a publicly committed marital relationship.

To start off this guide I list the Civil Marriage and Civil Partnership Ceremony Venues in Sittingbourne, Faversham, Sheerness and the surrounding areas.

KCC Register office – Milton Place, Avenue Of Remembrance, Sittingbourne

‘Approved Premises’ – Licensed venues for marriage and partnership celebrations:-

• Abbey Hotel, Minster, Isle Of Sheppey
• Ferry House Inn, Harty Ferry, Isle Of Sheppey
•  Hartlip Place, Hartlip, Sittingbourne
•  Hempsted House, Bapchild, Sittingbourne
•  Mount Ephraim, Herne Hill, Faversham
•  Reids Restauraunt, Faversham
•  Sharsted Court, Newnham, Faversham
•  Sheperd Neame Brewery, Faversham
•  Sole Street House, Selling, Faversham
•  The Barnyard, Upchurch, Sittingbourne
•  Upchurch River Valley Golf Club, Upchurch, Sittingbourne
•  White Horse, Boughton, Faversham

The above ‘approved premises’ are licensed for marriage ceremonies to take place and can provide elegant surroundings and picturesque gardens. They offer the convenience of the ceremony, reception and entertainment all in one location (some offer more spacious facilities than others), they can provide accommodation and parking for your guests and the traditions and dignity of a wedding ceremony blended with the informality of perhaps a country house party or a guided tour of a brewery!

Check out the individual venue website for more information, make a shortlist and visit your favourites to see if they offer the right package you are looking for – if you want to get married in a tree house check out Sole Street House, if you want some of the best food in Kent try Reids Restaurant – the venues offer plenty of variety for you to choose from.

However, it is a little known fact that your Civil Marriage/Civil Partnership ceremony is not restricted to being performed in just these venues. You may apply to the Registry Office and seek approval for your civil marriage to take place in any ‘suitable’ venue, which may include your home, a marquee set up on your land, a windmill etc, etc – the possibilities are endless. The proposed venue has to be suitable and will be inspected by the Registry Office to approve it, and of course it will involve you in additional cost – but if you have the budget you can get married in a truly unique location.

Religious Ceremonies.

Different faiths have varying and sometimes fascinating wedding traditions ranging from preparation before hand to what to wear at the ceremony. Listed below are some of the venues of the main religious strands where your religious ceremony may take place. Each religion will have their own conditions to be met and procedures to be followed, which is outside the scope of this article.

• Buddhist – A Buddist marriage ceremony is secular in nature and normally takes place in a register office, ‘approved premises’ or one of the few Buddhist temples licensed as a legal marriage venue.
• Catholic
•  The Sacred Heart, Sittingbourne
•  Saint Henry and Saint Elizabeth, Sheerness
•  Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Faversham
•  A complete parish list can be found here:- http://directory.rcsouthwark.co.uk/google_maps.html
• Church Of England
• Holy Trinity, Sittingbourne
• St Michaels, Sittingbourne
• St Mary, Sittingbourne
• Holy Trinity, Milton
• St Mary Of Charity, Faversham
• St Catherine, Faversham
• St Mary Magdalane w St Lawrence, Davington
• Holy Trinity w St Paul, Sheerness
•  A complete parish list can be found here:- http://www.achurchnearyou.com/
• Greek Orthodox - There are no Greek Orthodox churches in the local area – ceremonies usually takes place in a register office or ‘approved premises’

 If you are looking for a venue for your wedding reception Sittingbourne offers a wide range of venues ranging from local pubs to high quality hotels and restaurants – there is bound to be somewhere to suit you (unless you want to get married in a castle and then you will have to look further a field towards Maidstone or Rochester!)

When looking for a wedding reception venue, your budget may be a major consideration, so before looking for your ideal wedding reception venue, decide on your budget for a venue, there is little point in considering and falling in love with a particular venue if it is way beyond your budget. Many venues considered in this article will have their own websites, which I suggest you visit to get an impression of the venue, and some idea of cost involved in hiring the venue and for the services they offer before visiting the venue and getting into negotiations in detail – many people would like to get married in a 4 or 5 star hotel but not many can afford to.

With a budget in mind, this will enable you to focus on suitable venues to consider.

Village halls and local pubs will most probably be considered the budget option, however, hiring a hall can enable you splash the cash and create a unique venue decorated exactly as you require that many more expensive venues could not match, walls and ceilings could be lined with twinkling starcloths or dreamy net drapes hired from specialist companies to create your own dream world  with your Wedding DJ providing mood lighting/uplighting to match your chosen colour theme in the dreariest of halls.

Village halls and pubs in the Sittingbourne area to consider include the following venues:-

• Bapchild Village Hall
• Bobbing Village Hall
• Borden Village Hall
• Boughton Village Hall
• Bredgar Village Hall
• Clock Tower Hall
• Eastling Village Hall
• Gore Court Cricket Club
• Green Porch Hall
• Hartlip Village Hall
• Iwade Village Hall
• Kemsley Village Hall
• Milsted Village Hall
• Newington Village Hall
• Rodmersham Village Hall
• Selling Village Hall
• Teynham Village Hall
• The Ferry House Inn
• Tunstall Village Hall
• Upchurch Village Hall
• Ypres Tavern Hall

Next up the pecking order are the larger public halls and clubs in the area. These tend to be more suitable for larger wedding receptions and offer a wide of facilities including in many cases event managers, in house catering and can offer an all-in package using known and recommended suppliers to help you plan the day you want. Venues to consider include the following:-

• Merlins
• Minster Working Men Club
• Sheerness Golf Club
• Sheerness Sports and Social Club
• Sittingbourne Golf Club
• The Woodstock Club
• Upchurch River Valley Golf Club
• Wyvern Hall

Finally there are the larger clubs and hotels in the area that can pamper to your every need (within reason!). These are the best wedding reception venues in the Sittingbourne area that are very popular and get booked early (hint, hint!). These venues generally appeal to couples with a higher budget available to them and can provide specialist wedding planners, top quality in-house chefs/catering, bespoke decorations, some are licensed for civil marriages etc. Many of these venues offer services to suit a range of budgets so having the best may not cost the most. Venues to consider include the following:-

• Abbey Hotel
• Coniston Hotel (maybe, just maybe!)
• Ferry House Inn
• Hartlip Place
• Hempsted House
• Mount Ephraim
• Reids Restauraunt
• Sharsted Court
• Sheperd Neame Brewery
• Sole Street House
• The Barnyard, Upchurch
• UK Paper Leisure Club

Unfortunately the Sittingbourne area has a lack of venues at the real luxury end of the market place however a search on-line will provide you with dreamy castles and stately homes within a short drive.

Additional Resources – Registation Service website, Location Map for Sittingbounre,  Information about Sittingbourne.

Contact your John on Tel 01795 429777, Mobile 07895 546183 or by email to discuss your Sittingbourne Wedding Venue needs or questions.

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Click on the link for more Wedding DJ Kent venues or Sittingbourne Wedding DJ page for more wedding venues in the Sittingbourne Area.