How many guests actually fit

The Long Barn is 34 metres by 11. Every venue quotes a maximum off a floor plan; the number that matters is the one where the room still works with a band in it, a bar at one end and a hundred people trying to reach both.

1. Up to 90 — one long table

Ninety is where a single table down the centre of the barn still fits, and it changes the feel of the day more than any decoration will. Nobody is sitting at the far end wondering what the laughing is about. There is no seating plan to argue over beyond who sits next to whom.

At ninety you also have the whole west half of the barn free from the start, so the switch from dinner to dancing is a matter of moving chairs, not the room.

2. 100 to 120 — long tables, and the version most couples pick

Six trestle tables running the length of the room seats 120 with a top table across the end. This is the layout in about two thirds of the weddings we host, because it keeps the long-table look and still leaves the floor at the courtyard end clear for a five-piece band.

Above 100, plan on a bar at both ends. One bar for 120 people means a queue at exactly the moment you want the room to feel easy.

3. 140 — our maximum, on rounds

140 seated is the limit, and at that number we ask couples to go to round tables. Rounds eat less length and leave the band a proper stage rather than a corner. It is a slightly more formal room and a considerably easier one to serve.

For the evening only, the barn takes 200 standing. That is the number for an evening guest list on top of a smaller sit-down.

4. What we will tell you on a viewing

We will walk you the length of the room with a tape measure if you want it. If your guest list is at 130 and climbing, it is better to hear now that 140 means rounds than to find out in April.