Wedding Suppliers at Swanley Meadows - Our Honest Venue Approach

Building a Wedding Supplier Community at Swanley Meadows

Since starting Swanley Meadows, our Cheshire tipi wedding venue, I’ve been incredibly lucky to be welcomed into the wedding community with open arms. I’ve loved building new connections, meeting such talented people, and slowly growing a network of wedding suppliers who truly get what we’re creating here.

What I wasn’t quite prepared for, though, was navigating the world of the “recommended supplier list.”

You know the one.
The coveted, often gate-kept list.
The one some wedding suppliers are asked to pay to be on.
The one that can quietly determine who gets seen - and who doesn’t.

As a wedding venue owner, I understand the business logic. Wedding venues sit “top of the tree” in many couples’ booking journeys, and there’s real power in that position. But as a person - and as someone building a heart-led, values-driven wedding venue in Cheshire - that model never quite sat right with me.

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I don’t want a closed door - I want real relationships

At Swanley Meadows, I want to work with wedding suppliers who:

• feel right here
• champion what we’re creating
• show up with kindness, collaboration and good energy
• and genuinely make our couples’ wedding days better

Not people who have “earned” a slot through up-front fees, politics or behind-the-scenes arrangements.

If what you do fits the vibe, the values and the vision of Swanley - and it’s right for a particular couple - I will happily recommend you, whether you’re on the website’s trusted supplier list or not.

That’s it.

No gatekeeping.
No pay-to-play.
No weird hierarchies.

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The part nobody prepares you for when you open a wedding venue

When I announced Swanley Meadows, I was blown away by the number of DMs, emails and calls that landed almost immediately:

“Can we meet?”
“Can we collaborate?”
“How do I get on your supplier list?”

All of this before I’d even got the tipis up.

At the same time, I was:

• working my usual job
• recovering from cancer treatment and navigating the new ‘me’
• raising small humans
• and building a new wedding venue from scratch

None of that is a complaint - just context.

It was a lot.

Some messages came from people who hadn’t even looked up my name (it’s really not hard to find!). Others came via well-meaning friends and family telling me I had to work with someone I’d never met.

It was - and sometimes still is - mind-blowing.

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Why I won’t ever lock couples into one wedding supplier

I’ve been tempted, I won’t lie.

Locking in one catering team, one DJ, one florist - one of everything - would make life easier. It would make me more money. It would simplify a lot of logistics for our tipi weddings.

But every time I’ve considered it, something in me has gone, “Nope.”

Because Swanley is built around one core question:

“Would I want to book this wedding venue myself?”

And the answer, if I was told I had no choice in who I could work with, would be no.

Choice matters. Creativity matters. Finding your wedding team matters.

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The truth about our wedding supplier list

The honest truth is…

Our trusted wedding supplier list could already be hundreds long. And that would be totally unhelpful for our couples. So we have to curate. And that’s where things get tricky.

There are

• suppliers who supported Swanley from day one
• suppliers who came to drop-ins for a brew and a chat
• suppliers who have worked real weddings here and were an absolute dream
• suppliers who jumped in to help with styled shoot
• suppliers who constantly share and champion us
• suppliers who are so local and brilliant it would be daft not to support them

And then there are brilliant new wedding suppliers I’m still discovering.

I haven’t yet found a perfect, tidy way to reconcile all of that.

What I do know is this:

If someone quietly sits on a list without ever showing up, supporting, sharing or contributing - that doesn’t align with collaboration and “good vibes only.”

And if someone is upset they haven’t been invited to something despite never engaging, that’s a red flag for me.

I don’t do drama. I avoided it at school and I don’t have the energy for it now.

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Collaboration over competition - always
Swanley Meadows will always be a wedding venue where:

• multiple florists
• multiple photographers
• multiple caterers

can exist side by side.

If you aren’t comfortable being in a space with others offering a similar service (just with a different style), we probably aren’t the venue for you.

We believe in collaboration over competition - always. I'm proud to have wonderful relationships with some of our closest and fiercest “competition.”

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About our wedding fayres

This is the bit that I find hardest.

So many incredible wedding suppliers want to be involved, and I want to include as many as possible - without it becoming overwhelming for couples, without too much vendor crossover, and while keeping it valuable for everyone exhibiting.

That means I sometimes have to say no to people I’d genuinely love to have there. And that never feels good.

So, if you’re reading this and wondering where you stand for our 2026 wedding fayre, please know this:

None of my intentions are snubs.

I’m just one introverted human trying to juggle relationships, fairness, logistics and my own peace.

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In summary

I don’t love everyone (anyone who knows me personally will laugh - it’s true 🤣).
If something doesn’t align, I quietly step away.

But if you bring kindness, collaboration, creativity and good energy - there will always be space for you here, even if it’s not always in the exact way or at the exact time you’d hoped.

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With peace, love, and good vibes only.
Jenny x

Founder, Swanley Meadows – Tipi Weddings & Events