“A recipe has no soul - you, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe,” American chef Thomas Keller once said.
And at Cooling Castle Barn, our experienced chefs will bring the menu truly alive for your wedding day feast.
We’re always delighted to get positive feedback about our amazing food, and here we have brought in the experts at Fleur Challis Photography, to help us showcase some of our spectacular dishes.
Just don’t start looking through the gallery on an empty stomach!
We love a good cake here at Cooling Castle Barn. But while we eat it with gusto, we leave the baking and creative side to the experts.
With decades in the wedding industry, we know what makes the perfect wedding. And a show-stopping cake is definitely up there! It’s why only a select few businesses make it onto our recommended suppliers’ list.
Here we asked three cake suppliers from our fab list to pick out their favourite creation.
Sue Pridie, from All Shapes & Slices Cake Co picked this buttercream iced cake as her favourite. It had a red velvet tier, a vanilla sponge tier and two dummy tiers to reduce servings. It served 50 slices, but would have served 130 slices had all tiers been edible.
She said: “I love this cake because four-tier wedding cakes are my favourite size for making a real impact at a venue. I created this cake in May 2021 when weddings were still under government restrictions, but my couple Alannah and Matt didn’t want to reduce the cake size that they had their hearts set on.
“It was the first multi-tiered cake that I had made in such a long time and the flowers that Floral Explosion provided were absolutely perfect for creating the delicate floral cascade on this design.”
Photograph by Rebecca Carpenter Photography
Chelsea Prior from Chelsea Buns Cake Design picked this stunning cake made up of rich chocolate, white chocolate and passion fruit and lemon tiers.
She said: “As a specialist in handcrafted sugar flowers, this cake is one of my all-time favourites. The beautiful, botanically correct sugar flowers are the focal point of this design and had people guessing if they were in fact real! The flowers alone were about two days’ work, as every individual petal is rolled, cut and shaped by hand.
“I can recreate any flowers in sugar, meaning that my couples can have everlasting flowers as a memento from their wedding day. Creating beautiful wedding cakes with amazing sugar flowers is my favourite thing to do.”
Jeyda Ali from Jey’s Heavenly Events picked out this display which includes a four-tier main cake, three single tiers, 40 brownies, 48 cupcakes, 40 mini cakes and 40 personalised cookies. It took her two days to bake and design and an hour and a half to set-up!
She said: “This is my favourite set-up as its unique to Jey's Heavenly Events and brings the ‘wow factor’ into a couple’s big day. I love extravagant displays and this is definitely one! They can be altered to fit any theme!”
Has the pandemic changed what we look for in a wedding?
With families and friends unable to meet in large groups for months – or even, years – we are seeing more couples looking for a more relaxed wedding vibe.
The special day is still about two people showing their commitment to one another, but an important factor has also become about getting everyone together: the chance to kick-back, catch-up and mingle all day with loved ones.
That’s why we have spent time designing an amazing outside space for couples and guests to enjoy throughout the day - and evening.
After the wedding and sumptuous wedding feast, we have paid special attention to our outdoor grill area for the evening time. We offer lots of different options for your evening menu, the majority completely included in the price. Think Hog roast, a BBQ, Mexican, Indian, buffet, or piping hot pizza straight out of the outdoor oven – whatever you choose, you can be sure that your evening guests will be as well fed as the guests that have been with you all day. Even better, if the weather is good, you can enjoy the food, drink, company and ambience on the stunning patio and garden area, too!
And when everyone has caught up and eaten well, the memories will live long into the future.
Take a look at some of our latest photos showing our outdoor grill area being put to good use!
For more information on all our fantastic wedding options, follow the link here
You’ve eaten, drunk and – of course – celebrated your marriage in front of your nearest and dearest.
The day’s almost over - but you need a big song to get everyone up on the dance floor and end the night with a BANG!
What do you go for?
Megan and Scarlett Welling-Rodd had a November winter wedding at Cooling Castle Barn timed to make the most of our amazing Christmas decorations. They chose Wonderwall by Oasis for the final song that got everyone singing and swaying - as their guests got covered in the white stuff courtesy of our snow machine!
Jody and Keith Poynton-Brewis, another of our couples to opt for a winter wedding, managed to squeeze in two songs while the snow-flowed, including The Fairytale of New York.
Meanwhile, with more than 20 years behind the decks at Cooling Castle Barn and sister venue The Vines, our resident DJs James Johnson and Robin Chappell have seen it all.
James said: “The last song tends to be quite different from couple-to-couple. Some want everyone really going for it on the dance floor, while other’s want slow and intimate!
“Tracks that come to mind include Sweet Caroline, The Dirty Dancing song, The Time of My Life, Champagne Supernova and Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis, and New York, New York, by Frank Sinatra.
Robin added: “The last song of the night normally sends everyone home with a simile on their face. We’ve had some couples who pick the same song for their first dance and last song of the night – it’s a nice way to round it off.
“New York, New York, is pretty popular, but we’ve also had All Night Long by Lionel Richie and Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On, which I think is a great way to send everyone home!”
Want to find out more about amazing winter weddings and snow machine extras, or anything else? Give us a call today.
Top photo courtesy of Jodi Hanagan Photography: wedding took place at sister venue The Vines of Rochester
Christmas just around the corner; the hint of excitement in the air; soft snow falling; Christmas trees and decorations lighting up all corners: what could be more magical than a winter wedding?
At Cooling Castle Barn, we REALLY love winter. It’s the perfect time of year to get creative - and if you choose the right dates, snow is even guaranteed!
With our stunning Christmas trees and decorations already up in the barn, couples opting for a wedding during the winter weeks can use them as their own backdrop, adding their own twist to proceedings, if they wish.
Jody and Keith Poynton-Brewis added huge displays of log slices and foliage, with fake snow in different areas, for their December wedding three years ago.
Jody told us: “I’m a massive Christmas-crazy person and I loved the look of the extended barn at this time of year. We had a huge tree as a centre piece, massive displays of log slices and foliage and fake snow around the bar.”
Many brides think having a hot sunny day is important for a wedding. Our winter wedding couples disagree!
Jody continued: “With a winter wedding you know what you are getting. So many brides stress about the weather, but if you go for a winter wedding, you are expecting to be inside. We had a crisp day with a bright blue sky and you have the anticipation of Christmas coming, it’s very magical.”
Jody chose a dress that was perfect for the venue and time of year.
She said: “I went for a silver dress that looked a bit lilac-y in a certain light. It was a beautiful, heavy fabric with roses embossed into it. I wanted a big dress, but I saw this and it jumped out on me.
“I loved it, although a few days later had a bit of a panic! But we went to an amazing seamstress called Together Forever Brides and she transformed the dress. She created a big silver bow for the back – the bow in itself was so unique.”
For food at this time of year, think warm and inviting – with lots of flavours.
Jody continued: “The Barn chef was experimenting at the time and we had a pulled pork croquette or a scotch duck egg, with little soldiers, for starter; main, was guinea fowl Christmas dinner or rolled leg of lamb and dessert was sticky toffee pudding or a chocolate pudding melted in the middle. It was amazing!”
There were plenty more memories from the day, of course.
“We had a caricature-artist going around in the drinks reception which gave the guests something tangible to take away,” she added. “We also did a DIY photo-booth - we made it really wintery and hung it up alongside a polaroid camera.
“As it’s a barn, it has a lovely warm, rustic feel. There’s plenty of space that flows through. You are supported from day one and it’s a relaxed vibe, but everything’s under control. There’s no stress on the day. The team are amazing. They blew my mind how good they were at what they do. Everything runs like clockwork.
“We managed to get in two Christmas songs to finish on – one by Michael Buble and The Fairytale of New York - and the Barn’s snow machine made it a really magical end to the night!”
Want to find out more about our winter weddings? Contact us today!
Photos courtesy of Kate Hennessy Photography
