About
A hall, a barn, and one rule we have never bent.
One wedding a day. It costs us money and it is the only reason people describe their Saturday here as quiet.
Since 2009
Ruth bought it at auction with a bucket in the hallway.
The hall had been empty for six years and the tithe barn was storing straw for a neighbouring farm. The roof took two winters, the barn took three, and the first wedding here was forty-two people in the Drawing Room with the scaffolding still up outside.
Sixteen years on we host 62 weddings a year and a handful of company days in January and February. The barn takes two hundred, the gardens have grown into themselves, and Ruth still does the Thursday viewings.
Who you will deal with
Four people, and you will meet three of them before the day.
There is no events agency between you and the building. The person who shows you round is the person who answers your email in eighteen months.
Ruth Callaway
Venue director
Bought the hall in 2009 with a leaking roof and a barn full of straw. Still does the Thursday viewings herself.
Priya Nandra
Lead wedding coordinator
Runs forty of our weddings a year. Writes the running order, then stands quietly at the back of the room making it happen.
Michael Frost
Operations and duty manager
Turns the Orangery around from ceremony to wedding breakfast in fifty minutes, every time, without anyone noticing.
Tom Ashby
Head gardener
Twenty-six acres, a walled garden and the lime walk. Plants the beds so something is out in every month you can get married in.
The grounds
Twenty-six acres, and a gardener who plans around your month.
The walled garden is planted so that something is flowering in every month you can legally get married in, from the tulips in April to the dahlias still going in October. The lime walk behind it is where most photographers end up at six in the evening.
Croquet on the top lawn, a fire pit by the barn, and parking for ninety cars on hardstanding rather than a field that turns to mud.
How we work
The same six steps, whoever you are.
Come and walk it
Viewings run every Thursday and on our open days. Bring whoever you like. Forty minutes, no pitch, and you will see the barn dressed if there is a wedding the next day.
A free fourteen-day hold
We hold your date for fourteen days at no cost and tell you honestly if anyone else is asking about it. Nothing is signed and nothing is charged.
Twenty-five per cent and two pages
The deposit is 25%, the contract runs to two pages, and the price is fixed from that day. Nothing moves later except your guest numbers.
Caterer, tasting, suppliers
You pick one of four caterers and taste before you commit. The supplier list and the floor plans come in the same email.
Planning meeting on site
Two hours in the Orangery with your coordinator, walking the timings hour by hour: arrivals, speeches, cake, first dance, carriages.
Final numbers and balance
Final numbers, table plan, dietary requirements and the balance. After that your coordinator handles the suppliers so you do not have to.
Licences and cover
The paperwork, so nobody has to ask.
The Long Gallery, the Drawing Room and the Chapel Lawn pergola are licensed for civil ceremonies and partnerships. The premises licence runs to 00:30, with the bar closing at 00:15 and taxis on the drive from midnight.
Thursday viewings, forty minutes, no pitch.
Bring your parents, bring the dog. You will see the house set up rather than empty, because there is usually a wedding the next day.