Member Article

Venue says 'I Do' to new recruit

A LUXURY wedding venue has expanded its team of wedding coordinators by welcoming its latest recruit, 31-year-old Kirsty Tyers from Durham.

With a background working within the leisure industry and administration, Kirsty has joined the team at Northside Farm in Horsley as an assistant wedding coordinator, adding to the popular Northumberland venue’s existing 12-strong team.

The family-run business owned by husband and wife team Ralph and Olivia Lockey, has seen the team of admin, bar staff, coordinators, management and labourers grow rapidly since its launch and plans to recruit more are in motion over the next year.

Established in 2012 as a luxury glamping site, award-winning Northside Farm has enjoyed steady success as a wedding destination venue since completing the conversion of its 150-year-old barn in 2016 into a luxurious and rustic space to complement the on-site accommodation and facilities.

Looking to build upon a career as a dedicated wedding coordinator after developing an interest in the industry whilst planning her own wedding this year, Kirsty said: “After starting to plan my own wedding, I found myself more and more interested in what was on offer in and around the North East including the best suppliers and looking into the finer details that often you can take for granted when you attend a wedding.

“I had also been looking at a change in career so after seeing the opportunity to join Northside Farm as assistant wedding coordinator, it felt like perfect timing and I jumped at it.”

Working under experienced event and wedding coordinator Sam Whittingham, Kirsty will assist across many areas from organising plans and ideas with the couples, setting tables and dealing with suppliers to making sure the bride and groom do not see each other before the ceremony and ensuring all of the personal, bespoke touches are in place.

She added: “Not only do I get to work in such a beautiful place, I am able to learn so much from Sam and Olivia. Their attention to detail and ideas are inspiring, and the team is extremely focused in ensuring guests receive the very best experience which has been the winning formula in Northside Farm’s excellent reputation.”

A private use venue, the luxury rustic barn can accommodate up to 150 seated guests and 200 evening guests and offers 10 timber glamping pods on its luxury glamping site exclusively for up to three nights. The team is also adding four additional tiny-cottages which sleeps two people to be ready by spring.

Renovations are also well underway to restore and renovate a 19th century circular gin gang next to the barn into a unique ceremony room which is also set to open in the spring.

Head wedding coordinator Sam Whittingham said: “It is lovely to welcome someone into the Northside Farm family who is as passionate in providing a first class service to our couples as we are.

“It is a very exciting time to join as we have so many plans in place, so getting the right team in place now is essential to ensure the business continues to go from strength to strength, and it is great to be a part of that.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Northside Farm .