OUR KENTISH CEREMONY
Married At The Old Kent Barn
Swingfield Jessica and Duncan hosted a sentimental and stylish wedding complete with lots of dancing and a confetti canon to start the party!
Photography by Matt Trott Photography
The Venue Shortly after we got engaged, we were guests at a friend’ s wedding at The Old Kent Barn. The second we walked into the main barn, we looked at each other and said:“ This is our venue”. We had already viewed four local venues, but none were a patch on The Old Kent Barn, which was perfect for a number of reasons, namely the beautiful gardens, the lighting, the space itself, the accommodation, the staff and the overall cost.
The Dress I got my wedding dress from a shop in Hythe called Molly Dolly. The owner Sally was so good from the get go and really put my mind at ease. She has the most beautiful dresses in store and the second I put my dress on, I cried. I felt like a million dollars! It blew me away so I bought it there and then.
The Ceremony My favourite moment of the entire ceremony was walking down the aisle after saying“ I do” as I could relax then! Our lovely co-ordinator Ashleigh gave us the brilliant idea of letting off a confetti cannon as we walked into our wedding breakfast, which was a standout moment as everybody cheered and we knew the party had started. We also hired a musician to play Pachelbel’ s‘ Canon’ as aisle music; it’ s such a beautiful piece and I still cry when I hear it now.
The Reception All of our food was all done in-house and it was delicious. We had fishcakes, chicken and then wedding cake as our dessert. Made by Daisy Cakes, our cake was green and ivory with flowers from my bridal bouquet for decoration and there was enough to feed 130 people plus leftovers! The speeches were done prior to our meal because everyone giving one was so nervous. My dad gave a beautiful speech which made us all cry and the best man did a fantastic job at telling tales about Duncan, whose speech was a lovely combination of funny and sentimental.
The Entertainment We used Boombox for our DJ, who were brilliant. Our first dance was a medley of Three Little Birds; first, an acoustic version which we danced to by ourselves, then a mix with Bob Marley’ s version so everyone could join in. The song seems to have followed us through our relationship and was the song playing when our daughter was born so it seemed fitting.
The Highlight Undoubtedly when we were introduced as Mr and Mrs Anderson to our wedding breakfast; those confetti cannons were a massive hit!
74 | AKENTISHCEREMONY. COM | SUMMER 2025