‘I grew up in a mouldy council flat – here’s what I did to own a £20m wedding empire’

When Samantha Gilchrist was growing up on a council estate, she never thought that one day, her wedding venue business would be raking in a whopping £20 million. Starting with a single venue in 2017, the founder and CEO of Gilchrist Collection has impressively expanded to own 12 luxury properties, which have since welcomed various A-list guests.

Speaking exclusively to OK! about her childhood, Sam said: “I had a magical upbringing, my mum was fantastic and I don’t remember anything bad about my childhood. My parents separated when I was four and we lived in council houses. I got my clothes from jumble sales, but for me, that was the most exciting thing ever until I was a teenager, I really enjoyed it.

“We moved into this flat. It was super mouldy and really disgusting, but it was my birthday, and because my mum needed to paint it, she painted ‘Happy Birthday’ on it and as a kid, it was the most exciting thing ever. I was standing there in a fairy dress made out of crepe paper and tinsel that my mum had handmade. It was really incredible.”

Reflecting back on her childhood, Sam said that it prompted her to strive for a ‘completely independent’ future. “It was definitely a struggle for my mum. I remember being aware of my mum working a lot of jobs to support us, and I’ve always had it in the back of my mind to want to be completely independent. I am very into a woman being able to be independent and stand on her own two feet no matter what’s happening in her life.”

With her experiences as a child and some meaningful words from her uncle, who sadly passed away, Sam’s passions were ignited, ditching her “boring” HR job for a career in photography before building a wedding collection empire. “My uncle had an influence on me leaving my job in HR that I wasn’t enjoying, and that’s when I started my photography business,” she shared.

For around 12 years, Sam was a wedding, baby and portrait photographer and opened her own newborn studio – but when a couple approached her in search of a wedding venue, she spotted a huge business opportunity. “This couple were looking for a wedding venue that would take a group of 20 to 25, and they hadn’t found anywhere yet. Because of my photography, I had a list of venues I had been to, so I made a list for them, and before I hit send, I thought of one called The Ravenswood in Sussex.

“I went on their website, but it was down, so I called them to let them know.” During this call, Sam found out the property was for sale and quickly after, she phoned her friend Stuart Guy, whom she dubbed a “serial entrepreneur, and they arranged a viewing.

Sam said: “We had joked about buying a wedding venue together and I got him interested.” Stuart, who already had a number of successful businesses, put down a “£150,000 deposit”, and the owner leased them the charming manor house dating back to 1426 for “£10,000 per month” in 2017.

The 43 year old went on to build the business from scratch, purchasing further venues, learning to run a hotel, managing weddings and employing over 300 staff. “I brought that first venue, and it just grew and grew. I’m now the founder and CEO of Gilchrist Collection, with 12 exclusive-use wedding venues, nine in the UK and three in the US,” Sam said.

This year, Sam’s business has turned over £17 million after more than 2,000 weddings across all 12 venues, with some yet to take place. The venue collection already has over 2,000 weddings booked for 2025 and over 1,000 secured for 2026.

Since the first purchase, the Gilchrist Collection has rapidly grown and has welcomed a number of celebrity guests, including Ellie Goulding, Amy Hart, Ella Henderson, Ekin-Su, Danny Dyer, and Holly Ramsay. With an aim to create the most magical day for the newlyweds, Sam says that “anything goes” along as it fits in with health and safety.

She shared: “We’ve had Harry Potter, Star Wars and Doctor Who themed-weddings – someone even requested an Elephant, and another had a petting zoo.” Reflecting on one of the most unusual weddings to take place, Sam revealed: “One wedding had a Monty Python theme, which included funny skits and one of the original actors even turned up.”

But it hasn’t always been easy as a business owner, as Sam recalled one challenging time when there was a water shortage in the area. “Two years ago, the entire county lost water, and every other hotel shut. I had five weddings back to back that would have been affected by it, but I said, ‘Whatever we do, we are not closing the venue, and we need to figure it out.’ Within three hours or so, we had portable loos, we had water arrive and the local Environmental Health Officer, who checked everything and gave us the sign off. I think it cost me almost £20,000 to do it and took any profit away but I didn’t care, I wasn’t phoning a couple to tell them that their two years of preparation were done because of water – that wasn’t happening.”

Sam shared the best part about her job: “I live for that look between the couples after the ‘I do'” before adding: “I always had it in the back of my mind, and it was on my vision board but not like this, on this another level.” The collection isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, as Sam already plans to expand to 25 venues if the right properties come up, having also looked at venues in the Caribbean, Italy and France.