Brothers take wedding bookings for 2022 after finishing barn project

Brothers Bruce, Gavin and Alex Paterson started came up with the idea to renovate an ancient barn in a walled garden for weddings at Worstead, near North Walsham, three years ago.

Inside the main wedding barn. (Image: Worstead Park)

But despite getting planning permission in 2018, delays in receiving grant funding put back the completion date of the project at Worstead Park to 2020.

Then Covid struck and in fact the project didn't receive the hoped-for EU redevelopment grant. This meant the brothers had to go back to the drawing board.

But finally, work is almost complete on the venue and they are now taking bookings for 2022.

The wedding venue is centred around an old woodyard with its outbuildings converted including the main timber framed Georgian barn which has vaulted ceilings and a thatched roof.

The wedding barn at Worstead Park. (Image: Worstead Park)

Bruce Paterson said: "We didn't get the grant so we had to change our business model, the idea was that with the grant we could take on more full time staff, which we can't now do and also we've had to outsource the catering.

"But it's all coming together, we have started on the final stages. Covid meant we had to stop work on the site for two-three weeks. We started listing it on wedding sites about two or three weeks ago and we've had handfuls of enquiries every week."

And Mr Paterson revealed one of the people getting married at Worstead would be himself after he recently popped the question.

"They've said I can have it for a big discount," he joked.

The barn, called the Woodyard, is in a setting with a walled garden, and restored pathways through meadows leading down to a lake. It can be arranged for the bride to arrive by boat.

A secret garden next to the barn also can be used for large weddings of up to 270 guests.

The Paterson family has been farming in Norfolk since the 1930s. The Worstead estate has been managed by the Paterson family since 1950s.