A husband and wife celebrating 30 years working at a popular wedding venue are planning a big party with 30 couples who have married there.

Janet and Philippe Sorak have organized hundreds of weddings at The Barn in Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, since they joined as general managers in 1992.

The building is licensed for civil ceremonies and has hosted up to 60 weddings a year since it was first used as a wedding venue in 2011.

The Leybourne pair rarely have a free weekend and have become friends with some of their former couples, suppliers, photographers and florists.

The Barn was named Boutique Wedding Venue of the year at the recent Kent Wedding Awards, and also won in 2013, 2016, and 2019, and was highly commended last year.

In January, Janet and Philippe will celebrate the 30th anniversary of them taking on their roles, and several of their former brides are expected to attend the event in their original gowns.

The couple also recently held a week to mark the anniversary by offering a 1992 menu at 1992 prices, including classic dishes such as prawn cocktail and knickerbocker glory.

When the pair began managing the Shepherd Neame pub 30 years ago with licensees Ron Zanre and Patrick McGuire, who has recently retired, their first day was particularly memorable as Jane went into labour with their first child, Chloe. She was later christened in the pub's garden.

Philippe said: “We did 17 weddings a year to begin with, and we worked hard to raise our profile, show what we could offer and convince people to choose us for their special day. You have got to have the will to want that business.

"From then on we did an average of 60 weddings a year – every week is just solid.”

The venue has space for 70 guests for the ceremony and wedding breakfast, and 150 guests for the evening reception.

The pair do their best to cater for every couple's specific needs, with Philippe in charge of whatever decorations are requested.

He said: “They want to feel you are going to look after them. They can be anxious so we have to reassure them and make it all go smoothly.”

Janet said: “Our team is absolutely brilliant and a lot of them have been with us many years. This isn’t a 9 to 5 job for us – we always put the wedding couples first.

"We are always around and available to them. And in return they keep in touch and even bring their children in with them later. It is lovely.

“It has also been wonderful to work with Ron and Patrick over the years. They have been amazing and looked after us so well.”

Despite organising hundreds of weddings over the years, the couple themselves did not have a big wedding, instead having a hastily-organised event with few guests.

They married in the 1980s when the firm they worked for insisted their general manager couples were married.

Janet said: "It could be that we are so committed to our wedding offer because we didn’t have the opportunity ourselves. We like to think if it was our wedding, what would we like?”

The pair, who also have a son named Jean-Luc, have raised thousands for charity over the years, including for the RNLI during their 1992 menu week.

Following Patrick’s retirement, Janet and Philippe are now co-licensees of The Barn with Ron, who said: “Our success is due to Janet and Philippe’s personal great efforts – commitment, customer relations, quality of food and service."

To visit the pub's website, click here.

You can also find the pub at 1 Lonsdale Gardens, Mount Pleasant Road, Tunbridge Wells, or call them on 01892 510424.