By Leisa, Head Chef & Founder, Devon Catering
Some of the most beautiful weddings we cater every year don’t happen in hotels or in venues with a kitchen tucked round the back. They happen in a field on a family farm, in a marquee with the sides rolled up and the Devon hills rolling away behind it, in a stone barn that’s been in someone’s family for generations, or on a clifftop with the sea doing all the decorating for you.
The South West is full of these places. It’s one of the reasons couples fall in love with getting married down here. But there’s something about a dry-hire or marquee wedding that nobody quite explains to you when you book it, and it’s this: an empty beautiful space is exactly that. Empty. And feeding a hundred or more people from a space with no kitchen, and sometimes no power or water either, is a genuine craft.
Marquee wedding catering in Devon is something I’ve been doing for years, at venues all over the county and across Cornwall, and I want to walk you through what actually matters so you can plan your day with confidence rather than crossed fingers.
What “dry hire” actually means (and why it changes everything about your food)
A dry-hire venue is one that gives you the space and not much else. You’re hiring the barn, the field, the courtyard, the manor house, and then you bring in everything that makes a wedding happen: the caterer, often the bar, sometimes the furniture, the marquee itself, and frequently the power and water too.
This is brilliant, because it gives you total freedom. Your day isn’t squeezed into a venue’s fixed package or their in-house menu. You can have exactly the food you want, served exactly how you want it.
But it also means the responsibility for the practical side sits with you and your suppliers rather than with a venue coordinator. The single most important thing you can do is choose a caterer who has worked in spaces like yours before and knows what questions to ask before the day, not on the day.
The questions a good caterer asks about a bare venue
When a couple tells me they’re getting married somewhere without a kitchen, here are the things I need to know early. If your caterer isn’t asking these, that’s a flag.
Is there power, and how much? A field is a field. Some farm venues have a single domestic socket in a barn fifty metres away; others have nothing at all. Catering equipment, especially anything that heats or chills, draws a lot of power. We need to know whether we’re working off the mains, whether a generator is needed, and who’s providing it.
Is there a water supply, and is it drinkable? We need clean water for cooking, for washing up, and for food safety. At some venues it’s there and easy. At others we bring our own, and that’s completely fine as long as we’ve planned for it.
Where can the kitchen go? We need a working space, ideally under cover, with room for our equipment and a safe flow for staff carrying hot food. Sometimes that’s a corner of the marquee, sometimes a back-of-house tent, sometimes a barn or outbuilding. It needs to be close enough to where guests are eating that the food arrives hot and beautiful.
What’s the access like? Those gorgeous Devon and Cornwall lanes are part of the charm, right up until a refrigerated van needs to get a wedding breakfast for 120 down them. We think about vehicle access, parking, and how far equipment has to be carried from the van to the kitchen.
What’s the weather contingency? Outdoor and marquee weddings in the South West are wonderful, but the one thing we can’t book is the weather. A good plan has a wet-weather version baked in from the start.
None of this should worry you. The point of asking is that once it’s all known, it’s all handled. The disasters happen when nobody asked.
What’s included in a dry-hire catering quote (and what catches people out)
This is where I see couples get the biggest surprises, so let me be straightforward about it. When you’re at a venue with no kitchen and no equipment, your caterer is providing far more than food. A proper quote usually needs to cover:
- The food itself, prepared fresh
- All the kitchen equipment, brought in and set up
- Serving staff and often front-of-house team
- Crockery, cutlery, glassware and linen (unless you’re hiring these separately)
- Setup, service and the clear-down and waste removal afterwards
The thing that catches people out is comparing a dry-hire quote against a quote from a venue that has its own kitchen and assuming they’re the same. They’re not. At a bare venue, more is being provided, because more has to be. When you understand that, the numbers make sense.
One more thing worth asking any caterer directly: is VAT included in the figure you’ve been given? Some quote inclusive, some don’t, and it’s a meaningful difference on a wedding-sized order. We’d always rather you knew the real number up front. (If you want the fuller picture on pricing, we’ve written a separate honest guide to what wedding catering costs per head in Devon.)
Venue “approved supplier” lists: what they are and how to work with them
Lots of dry-hire and marquee venues in Devon and Cornwall keep a list of approved or recommended caterers. If your venue has one, it’s worth understanding why.
A venue puts a caterer on its approved list because that caterer has worked there successfully, knows the site’s quirks, carries the right insurance and food hygiene certification, and leaves the place exactly as they found it. It’s a shortcut to trust, and it protects you.
If your chosen caterer isn’t already on your venue’s list, that’s usually not a problem. Most venues simply ask the caterer to visit beforehand, see the space, and provide their insurance and hygiene documentation. We do this as a matter of course. We’re already a recommended supplier at a number of South West venues, and we’re very used to introducing ourselves to a new one.
The venues we know
Over the years we’ve had the joy of catering weddings right across Devon and Cornwall, in exactly the kind of spaces this guide is about. A few we know well:
Huntsham Court — a grand exclusive-use country house near Tiverton, the sort of place you take over for a whole weekend. We catered Mollie and Kallum’s wedding here.
Ash Barton — a wonderful exclusive-use estate in North Devon that couples have entirely to themselves, perfect for relaxed, personal celebrations. We were there for Sasha and Callum’s day.
The Oak Barn and The Old Barn at Clovelly — classic Devon barn venues, all beams and character, where the catering has to be brought in and made to work beautifully. We catered Abi and Ben’s, and Tamsin and Jack’s weddings respectively.
Tawstock Court — a striking Grade II Georgian country house set in grounds and ancient woodland near Barnstaple, where we catered Sophie and Ed’s wedding.
Exeter Castle — a historic and characterful city venue, where we looked after Alex and Ben’s day.
Hallsannery, Bideford — a beautiful North Devon setting, where we catered for Eleanor and Andy.
We also cater regularly for marquee and farm weddings throughout North Devon, mid-Devon and into Cornwall and Somerset. If your venue isn’t listed here, please don’t take that as us not knowing it. We’re happy to visit anywhere in the region, and chances are we either know it already or will very soon.
Food that suits a relaxed, all-day South West wedding
One of the best things about a marquee or barn wedding is that the food can be as relaxed and sociable as the setting. You’re not bound to a formal three-course sit-down unless that’s genuinely what you want.
We love building all-day catering that flows with the celebration: canapés while the photos are happening, a wedding breakfast that suits your style whether that’s an elegant plated service or a generous sharing feast down the centre of the tables, and then something fun and warming for the evening when people have danced up an appetite. Grazing tables, hog roasts, and relaxed evening food all work especially well in these open, informal spaces.
If feeding everyone properly across the whole day is on your mind, we’ve written more about exactly that in our guide to feeding your wedding guests all day.
A short, honest checklist before you book
If you’re catering a dry-hire or marquee wedding in Devon or Cornwall, take this with you:
- Confirm with your venue whether catering is included or whether you’re bringing it in.
- Ask whether the venue has an approved supplier list, and whether your caterer is on it or can be added.
- Find out what’s on site: power, water, kitchen space, access, parking.
- Ask your caterer exactly what their quote includes: equipment, staff, tableware, clear-down, and whether VAT is in the figure.
- Make sure there’s a weather plan if any part of your day is outdoors.
- Choose a caterer who’s worked in spaces like yours and asks you the right questions early.
Get those things settled and the rest is the fun part: deciding what you actually want to eat on the best day of your life.
Frequently asked questions
Can you cater a wedding at a venue with no kitchen? Yes — it’s one of the things we do most. We bring in our own equipment and set up a working kitchen on site, whether that’s in a corner of the marquee, a back-of-house tent, or a barn. A bare venue is no obstacle at all when it’s planned for properly in advance.
Do I need a generator for a marquee or field wedding? Sometimes. It depends entirely on what power is already available at the site. Some farm and field venues have plenty; others have a single socket or nothing at all. Once we know the venue, we’ll tell you honestly whether a generator is needed and roughly what’s involved, so there are no surprises.
Can we self-cater or have friends prepare the food instead? Most dry-hire and marquee venues require food to be prepared by a professional, insured catering company, largely for food safety and licensing reasons. It’s always worth checking your venue’s specific rules. You can of course still bring in extras like your own cake, and many couples add a pizza van or similar for the evening alongside professional catering.
How far across Devon and Cornwall will you travel? We regularly cater throughout Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, and across the wider South West. If you’re unsure whether your venue is within our usual range, just ask — chances are we either know it already or are very happy to come and see it.
Is there a minimum number of guests for marquee catering? This varies with the style of catering and time of year, so it’s best to have a quick chat about your specific day. We cater everything from intimate gatherings to large marquee receptions for well over a hundred guests.
When should we book our caterer for a dry-hire wedding? As early as you sensibly can, especially for peak-season dates. Booking early also means we can visit the venue, sort the practical details, and design your menu without anyone feeling rushed.
Let’s talk about your day
If you’re planning a marquee, barn or dry-hire wedding anywhere in Devon, Cornwall or the wider South West, we’d love to hear about it. We cater fresh, we’ve worked in just about every kind of space the region has to offer, and there’s genuinely nothing we enjoy more than sitting down with a couple over a cup of tea to talk through their day.
Get in touch on 01271 858 505 or email enquiry@devoncatering.com, and ask us to send you our latest Wedding Collection menus.