Blenheim Palace offers a magnificent location, & is the perfect place to celebrate your wedding day, with more than six venue options suitable for up to 2000 guests. Small, grand or discreet, our experienced weddings team would love to hear from you.
As a country, the UK is well known for it's historical buildings, and none of these could possibly match a castle wedding. If you are wanting a beautiful fairytale wedding day, then a castle wedding venue is the ideal place to say 'I do'. From gothic fortresses to ivy-covered towers and feasting halls, having a castle wedding is the ideal way to feel like royalty for a day.
Most castle wedding venues in Oxfordshire will have a civil ceremony license, allowing you to get married legally in one of their rooms or in the grounds. If you want to marry in the castle grounds, contact the venue to make sure they have an outdoor ceremony license. If your chosen castle venue aren't licensed to hold civil wedding ceremonies, then you can always enquire about having your wedding ceremony at the nearest registry office or having a humanist ceremony, prior to having your wedding celebrations at the castle.
Often, castles have their own chapel or church on site, which is where its inhabitants would have religious services. This means that you may be able to have a religious wedding ceremony without leaving the castle grounds! If your castle wedding venue doesn't have a chapel or church, then you may be able to find one near by. It's important to check with your chosen castle venues to find out whether having a religious ceremony on site is possible.
If you are looking for a wheelchair friendly wedding venue, then you may be amazed to know how accessible castle venues can be. Most castles will be a tourist attraction in their local area and is therefore important that wheelchair users can be accommodated. However, the castle may have areas that are deemed unsuitable for wheelchair users. Be sure to ask your venues ahead of time if accessibility is top of your priorities list.
You may be surprised at how affordable a castle wedding venue in Oxfordshire can be. Even huge palaces and historical monuments don’t always need an extravagant wedding budget, so it’s always worth enquiring. If you are looking to save money on your castle wedding and are having to stick to a budget, then opting for a midweek package or marrying in an off-peak season is a brilliant way to cut costs.
If you're hoping not to do too much decorating at your wedding venue then a castle in Oxfordshire is perfect. After all, they’re often sumptuously decorated in the first place. With incredible artwork, hanging tapestries, candelabra and suits of armour, castle decor is hard to replicate. However, as they’re often listed buildings, there may be restrictions as to how you can decorate. Many castles will not allow paper confetti and you may be restricted on whether you can hang decorations or bunting.
A classic fairytale wedding theme works wonderfully for a castle venue. Think horse-drawn carriages, ball gown wedding dresses, roses and sparkling chandeliers and you have the perfect castle wedding theme.
If you’re a history lover, then a medieval wedding theme is also perfect for a castle. Castles in Oxfordshire often have recommended entertainers such a falconers and dancers that are ideal for this, and your guests will certainly enjoy a tasty medieval feast.
We also find that Christmas is a beautiful time for your castle wedding, as castles are often richly decorated for Christmas with candles, trees and traditional touches. Take advantage and have a beautiful winter wedding in a castle!
Elaine has over 8 years of experience working with wedding venues, and advises many of the top hotel and venue brands on their wedding marketing. She has a deep understanding of statistics that can accurately predict the online populaity of a particular venue and she is happy to share that knowledge with wedding couples and venues.
