If you are a couple getting married and finding there are so many stunning Gloucestershire wedding venues you are almost spoilt for choice, then help is at hand.
I’ve put together my very own top 10 list of wedding venues chosen simply because they are unique and beautiful and just perfect for getting fabulous pictures of your wedding day. So yes, you will find cheaper ones; bigger ones; ones with golf course’s and gym’s and chocolates on the pillow but if you want tradition and scenery, unashamed Englishness and everything that is beautiful about the Cotswold’s, then look no further…
Five minutes drive from historical Cirencester, Barnsley House is the perfect boutique Cotswold hotel with sublimely gorgeous private gardens and, when booked for a wedding, all yours for the day. Intimate, stylish, classy and understated with a great pub (The Village Pub) just across the road too. The grounds are wonderful for winter wedding photography too…
Nestling in 8 acres of rolling hills in Upper Slaughter, Lords of the Manor Hotel is a splendid 17th century manor house (formerly a Rectory) with it’s own lake and immaculately presented gardens and, they boast, not a gym in site! A majestic venue that lends itself perfectly to elegant wedding portraiture…
Idyllically positioned alongside the River Coln in Bibury, a quintessentially Cotswold village that William Morris once described as ‘the most beautiful village in England’, The Swan Hotel makes for an enchanting wedding experience with great wedding photograph opportunities to boot. The Signet Room is perfect for larger receptions and if you your guests want to add to their experience, they need just take a short walk across the bridge to Bibury’s very own trout farm where they can catch their own fish to take home and eat!
As the National Trust’s first restoration project in 1998, Lodge Park (formerly a grandstand for deer coursing) has been transformed back to original glorious self and makes for a unique and quirky wedding venue. Catering for large and small weddings and affording breathtaking views of the Cotswold countryside, I’ve heard Lodge Park is this year offering outdoor wedding ceremonies under the Grand Portico overlooking the lawn. One of Cheltenham’s finest wedding venues and a stunning place for capturing beautiful wedding photographs.
History has it that Tortworth Court, with it’s imposing Victorian mansion, manicured gardens and sweeping lawns, has played host to Earls, Barons and even members of our Royal Family so it’s no surprise to hear then that this magnificent house just outside Wotton under Edge features on my Top 10 list. If you want to mix traditional English architecture with state of the art mod cons then Tortworth has them all. A versatile venue too being able to cater for large and small ceremonies as well as having marquee facilities in the gardens. Tortworth Court isn’t a private house but still manages to offer a feeling of exclusivity nonetheless and has beautiful outside space perfect for weddings.
Now it’s not what the Bear of Rodborough is like as a hotel that makes it unique and worthy of a place on my list (and it is very nice), it’s where it is. If you are a bride reading this then here is a big tip: make sure you both steal yourself away from your reception for 20 minutes on to the nearby common for some really dramatic bride and groom wedding shots. There are some breathtaking views and if you are both up for having a bit of fun and your photographer (like me!) is adventurous then you won’t regret it and will capture wedding pictures you’d rarely have the chance to get elsewhere. As for the Bear itself, it has recently been luxuriously refurbished and when I’m not shooting weddings, regularly take my family there for delicious Sunday roasts. Praise indeed…
If getting married in a medieval Castle is your thing, then Berkeley Castle is pretty hard to beat and can be hired on an exclusive use basis if you want to really play King and Queen for the day! Sweeping lawns, a lily pond, and terraced Elizabethan gardens all make for a magical setting if you want a wedding that is just that little bit different. From a wedding photography perspective, Berkeley Castle lends itself perfectly with impressive backdrops everywhere including water fountains and a grand stone staircase…
8. Hilles House
It is hard to imagine a more beautiful house and location for a wedding than Hilles House: Country Life once said of it ” What a place for a house. What a house for the place!” . Perched 600 feet above sea level on on the Cotswold plateau near Painswick, Hilles House can be hired for exclusive use so you really do get the chance to have the wedding of your dreams and share your wedding day in private with just family and friends. Wonderful. And your wedding photographer will be kept very busy too trying to choose between so many wonderful locations…
9. Cripps Barn
Back in the 1990’s Cripps Barn was one of the first venues to cater for people wishing to move away from the more traditional church and hotel wedding day: today it is a unique, versatile and hugely popular family business and as a wedding venue is one of the few places your guests can actually camp in the grounds! Being a wedding photographer, I’m naturally drawn to interesting houses and locations that set themselves apart from the norm and romantic Cripps Barn with it’s camping, bonfires and licence until 2 in the morning certainly gets my vote…
10. Blaisdon Hall
If 86 acres of gardens and glorious parklands isn’t enough to whet your appetite, then this privately owned family home and lavish wedding venue set high up on a Cotswold Hill certainly will. West of Gloucester, Blaisdon Hall offers exclusive use of its house and grounds which are probably worth the entry fee alone and with guest accommodation available on site, makes for a great place to get married. I’ve been to Blaisdon Hall and there really is no limit as to how amazing your wedding pictures will look here so make sure it’s on your list too: it’s that beautiful.
So that’s my choice. Of course there are many more beautiful Gloucestershire wedding venues to choose for your wedding: in fact I can almost hear the cries of “What about Clearwell Castle!”, “What, no Kinscote Barn?”, so add those to your list too but my top 10 list is certainly a great place to start. And who’s to say there won’t be a little chocolate on your pillow…
