Launcells Barton

Venue Spotlight

Searching for a beautiful countryside venue? Search no more, Launcells Barton is perfect for you! Located in Cornwall, just 50 minutes from Exeter, this exclusive-use venue is perfect for intimate and large weddings alike. We interviewed co-owner, Lara Gill, all about this beautiful venue!

Photo above: Pete Cox Photography


Who are you and what do you do?

Lara: The farm has been in my partners family for nearly 70 years and was originally ran as a dairy farm. With the house and barns in desperate need of repair, there just wasn't the time or money to sustain them due to ill health within the family, the decision came to sell the place or try and do something with it. It was hard for Matt and I to see the place slipping further and further into disrepair and couldn’t bare to see it leave the family. So after a lot of thought and research, we sold our house, left our jobs and moved with my little girl to Cornwall to start giving the farm the new lease of life it needed! We knew that if we combined our strengths, with my background in events and Matts in property, we would not only be able to save the place, but have something that we are both truly passionate about!

After just under a year of renovation, we opened in the summer of 2016 and I can truly say that all the sleepless nights, late nights working until 2 in the morning and being 10ft up on scaffolding lime washing a barn, was so, so worth it! When you see people enjoying the place again and saying what a fantastic time they are having, it makes all the hard work worth while. That’s why we wanted to do it really, over the many years that Matt's family have owned the farm, it has held so many celebrations and we wanted to bring it back to life and let others enjoy what a truly special place Launcells Barton is.

Rebecca Roundhill Photography
Rebecca Roundhill Photography
Rebecca Roundhill Photography

What makes your venue stand out from the rest?

We want couples and their guests to really feel like they are escaping for the weekend and enjoy every minute of their celebration, that’s why we only offer exclusive hire. We give each couple the time they need to set up the day before and enjoy a relaxed breakfast together the day after their wedding. Weddings can be such a stressful time, so we have tried to reduce this wherever we can, by not only offering on the day co-ordination as part of our packages, but by having both indoor and outdoor ceremony spaces and a separate reception barn too, so whatever the weather, you know that when you wake up on the morning of your wedding, everything is just how you want it to be.

We have couples from all over the UK - we even had one couple from as far away as Australia. We understand that it can be really daunting trying to plan a wedding somewhere you don’t know, which is why whenever you contact us, it will either be myself or Matt at the end of the phone, with a whole host of experience and local supplier knowledge ready to help point you in the right direction where we can. Although we have a list of recommended caterers and suppliers, couples are free to use who they want, so it means every wedding is different and personal to them, which we love!

Pete Cox Photography

What is the venue's greatest achievement to date?

I think the greatest achievement was our first wedding on our own, the first few weddings we had an amazing wedding planner (Jenny Wren) working with us to hold our hand as we entered the wedding world. Our first wedding on our own was a 300 guest wedding! So we had 6 bar staff all day and Matt and I ran the day, making sure everything went perfectly, which it did! The Bride’s family even told us how happy they were with everything and that we had gone above and beyond! To hear that, made our day as there is so much that people don’t see going on behind the scenes, so it meant a lot to us. 

What do you see as the future for your venue?

We have our brand new Events Barn opening this year, so it means that there is no turnaround and whatever the weather, guests have lots of places to relax.