Sustainability at The Barn at Cott Farm


The Barn at Cott Farm wedding venue

The Barn at Cott Farm is committed to minimising our impact upon our beautiful environment by operating in an ethical, eco-friendly manner.

Our sustainability and environmental policy addresses the ways in which we help to maintain the countryside we are surrounded by here in glorious Somerset. As well as adhering to environmental legislation and regulation, our policy sets out our commitment to:

  • Minimise waste by reduction, recycling and re-use
  • Use our resources – including energy, water and fuel – efficiently
  • Support diversity and equal opportunities
  • Preserve and promote the local rural community, including agriculture

To minimise waste, we:

  • Operate from a renovated timber barn using natural, sustainable materials, from wood to coir carpet
  • Provide a permanent and insulated building, with furniture, carpet, LED lighting and kitchen, avoiding unnecessary deliveries of such equipment
  • Provide beautiful tables and chairs so that no linens or chair covers are required
  • Provide recycled props (from decorated vases to vintage watering cans) for no additional charge
  • Compost waste
  • Re-use plastic bags, cardboard boxes, packaging and fabrics wherever possible
  • Avoid single use plastic, and avoiding other single use materials where practical (and, where not practical, using compostable materials)
  • Provide reusable ‘proper’ crockery/cutlery and glasses
  • Operate a ‘no straw policy’, with recyclable straws available on request
  • Have a procurement policy with recycling in mind, including providing fewer one-portion bottled drinks, and recycling paper, cans and glass
  • Ensure future services are developed in line with this procurement policy

To use our resources efficiently, we:

  • Offer civil ceremonies to eliminate guests travelling from ceremony to reception, including being licensed for outside ceremonies with no artificial light required
  • Consider sustainability (along with reliability, cost efficiency and competence) in our procurement process
  • Provide locally-sourced food and drinks (which is fairly easy in Somerset!)
  • Encourage guests to reuse their own glass
  • Offer woodfired pizzas with sustainably sourced local wood
  • Operate a paperless brochure and invoice system
  • Limit meetings and encourage communication by telephone, email and video-conferencing
  • Strive to be energy efficient in our use of appliances, lighting and insulation
  • Ensure that our future services are developed to consider efficient use of our resources

To support diversity and equal opportunities, we:

  • Champion equal opportunities to be a successful, caring and welcoming place for staff, customers, suppliers and the wider community
  • Strive to create a supportive and inclusive environment by promoting diversity within the wedding industry
  • Use inclusive language regardless of sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender, gender identity, disability, race, faith, age, social class, employment status or marital status
  • Pay a fair wage
  • Source fair trade ingredients where food and drinks are not able to be easily and/or efficiently locally sourced, such as coffee
  • Ensure that our future services are developed to consider the needs of everyone

To preserve and promote the local rural community, we:

  • Engage the services of local suppliers, including locally-sourced food and drinks
  • Host a maximum of 50 weddings per year
  • Maintain gardens with year-round wildlife in mind (also meaning additional outside decor is not required), including planting bee and butterfly-friendly flowers
  • Provide feeders for local wildlife and birds
  • Minimise light pollution and energy power use, with minimal lighting in our campsite and rechargeable battery-powered LED lanterns in our bell tents
  • Ensure that our future services are developed to consider our community’s requirements

How you can help us to operate sustainably and ethically…

The Barn at Cott Farm is a wedding venue made from renovating a disused timber barn on the family farm. By choosing to host your ceremony and reception in a fully-furnished, permanent structure, you are taking the first step to reducing the carbon footprint of your wedding. We further encourage all nearlyweds and newlyweds to consider sustainability with the following recommendations and rules for weddings at Cott Farm:

  • We recommend using the services of local wedding suppliers
  • Only natural confetti (i.e. dried flower petals) is permitted
  • No fireworks are permitted
  • Opt for an outdoor ceremony if the weather permits – you’ll be surrounded by nature (meaning less decor), plus you’ll be lit by natural sunlight, reducing energy consumption, with the added bonus of gorgeous photos!
  • We operate a zero litter policy. Recycling and litter bins can be found around the site. Littering may result in fines and your damage deposit may be affected by this
  • We encourage the reduction of waste by providing a wide range of props, vases etc at the venue
  • If you require additional props, please consider renting these from a local company, or buying them second-hand
  • Don’t forget, you can reuse decor throughout the day (for example for your ceremony and reception)
  • Please recycle all bottles etc you have provided for your guests. You can do so – for free – at Yeovil Recycling Centre (by the football ground!)
  • Please encourage your guests to travel together to reduce the number of vehicles used
  • Have a look at invites printed on plantable paper, or skip paper invites  
  • Only invest in favours if they’ll be taken and used