There’s no doubt that quirky wedding venues 
have grown in popularity, but what’s the favourite type of venue for most couples?
The most recent figures from the UK Office for National Statistics indicate that 239,020 opposite-sex and 6493 same-sex couples got married in 2015. That’s a total of 245,513 weddings in one year. Bridebook’s 2018 Wedding Report based on a representative sample of couples in the UK gives the percentage of couples who get married at different types of venue. Using these figures, it is possible to estimate the number of couples who get married at each kind of venue, including quirky wedding venues, each year.
Quirky Wedding Venues and Popularity
- Country House 68,700 couples (28%)
- Place of Worship 41,700 couples (17%)
- Barn 39,300 couples (16%)
- Hotel 25,500 couples (10%)
- Garden/Outdoor 12,300 couples (5%)
- Town Hall/Registry Office 12,300 couples (5%)
- Stately Home 9,800 couples (4%)
- Pub/Restaurant 7,400 couples (3%)
- Golf Course 7,400 couples (3%)
- Museum/Attraction 7,400 couples (3%)
- Castle 4,900 couples (2%)
- At Home 4,900 couples (2%)
- Warehouse/Factory 2,500 couples (1%)
- Sporting Venue 2,500 couples (1%)
The Growth in Quirky Wedding Venues
Wedding venues other than churches and registry offices were first approved in 1994. Since then, there has been a steady growth in alternative and quirky wedding venues.
Barnutopia definitely ranks as one of Britain’s quirky wedding venues. We host only about 30 weddings per year so if you got married here you would be in an exclusive 0.01% of couples who get married in the UK. Guests sleep in gorgeous fully furnished glamping yurts, cabins, stables or a bunkhouse. Couples marry outside on the yurt field, under the Dutch barn or in the long wedding barn used previously as a cattle barn and many years ago as an army barracks at a nearby camp. The whole site is available for exclusive venue hire.
