The best Hertfordshire wedding venues

I absolutely loved photographing Katherine & Jonny’s wedding at Ashridge House. It has such a sense of importance and you can feel the history seeping out of the bricks! The point when it really hit home was when Katherine & Jonny cut their cake on the huge staircase and I was taking photos from the other side of the balcony and you really get a sense of scale of the HUGE hall. It’s breathtaking – I challenge you to visit and not be blown away by this venue.

Check out Jonny & Katherine’s Ashridge House wedding reception

Fanhams Hall is a huge Jacobean mansion with a real wow factor. The Long Gallery and Great Hall are the stunning ‘old’ areas.  Alternatively there is the more modern Lakeside Pavilion or outdoor Japanese tea house. All options have access to the grounds. The bridal suite was enormous and beautiful, definitely a great way to start your day!

Check our Paddy & Tom’s purple wedding at Fanhams Hall in Ware

I’ve photographed lots of weddings in the Oak Room (part of the Golf Club at Brocket Hall) and with the huge floor-to-ceiling you end up bathed in light! The only slight downside is it’s shared with your reception space so tables are out (behind a screen) during the ceremony and you move to a relatively small area for drinks if the weather is bad. But, there is a gorgeous terrace if the weather is dry! Other choices are Brocket Hall itself, one of the most elegant country houses Hertfordshire has to offer, or Auberge du Lac, a waterside fine-dining restaurant. All options have beautiful views over the golf course and during your wedding reception you can often use the country club grounds for photos.

Check out Lisa & Peter’s wedding at Brocket Hall

Knebworth is another flexible venue offering either the lovely country house or the two sets of beautiful barns a stone’s throw from the main house for a more rustic feel wedding. If Knebworth doesn’t suit you as a wedding venue then definitely visit one day; the gardens are absolutely stunning and they host a lot of fantastic events! The grounds here are so beautiful and I could have spent hours taking photos. The wedding coordinators at Knebworth could not be more accommodating and I can’t rave about them highly enough.

Check out Charlotte & Peter’s wedding at Knebworth House

North Mymms Park is a gorgeous Hertfordshire wedding venue with a multitude of ceremony options, both inside and out. I particularly love their outside ceremony area which is a beautiful marble arched canopy. The whole venue is elegant, opulent and stunning so when you pair that with the amazing food, great staff and numerous options for numbers of guests then can accommodate this is a great venue to consider.

You’ll have exclusive use of the beautiful Rothamsted Manor and impeccable gardens for your wedding day. The beautiful library is a stunning room for your ceremony followed by the huge ballroom for your reception; it’s like something out of a movie! There isn’t accommodation on site and not much accommodation in Harpenden either so that will need to be a consideration. I know the team well and they are all incredible.

Read my full Rothamsted Manor venue guide here.

Offley Place is a beautiful Hertfordshire wedding venue set in gorgeous grounds. They can accommodate weddings up to 250 guests so it’s a great size for larger weddings and hosts a lot of Indian and Greek weddings for that reason plus you can hire exclusively or not and dry hire or with corkage. As venues go it’s a pretty flexible one… The grounds are beautiful too making it a fab choice for warmer weather; I’ve seen weddings here with hired carousels, garden games and all sorts of fun!

Check out my full review of Offley Place here.

Coltsfoot is a real gem of an exclusive use Hertfordshire wedding venue. I kid you not when I say of the hundreds of weddings I’ve photographed, the meals I’ve had at Coltsfoot are the best meals I’ve ever eaten! So if you love your food definitely go and check this one out. They have a fixed marquee on the front of the recently renovated barn so it’s almost like having an outdoor ceremony in all weathers which is kind of special. Plus they’ve got gorgeous, fluffy little alpacas in a field that you can go and say hi to – adorable much?!

Check out my full guide to Coltsfoot here

Tewinbury Farm remains a super popular Hertfordshire barn venue. I’ve photographed a number of winter weddings in the Tythe Barn and it always lends itself to wintery, twinkly light weddings so beautifully. It’s popular for good reason; you have your choice of three beautiful barns hosting from 40 to 500 guests plus has plenty of on-site accommodation.

Check out my full round up of Tewinbury here.

The Priory Barn is a lovely little barn wedding venue tucked away in a quiet village near Hitchin and again offers civil ceremonies so you can have your entire day on one site, or just your reception if you prefer. The team at The Priory Barn is what sets them apart – the coordinator team is lovely. The outdoor space is fab and it’s great for a sunny day! On rainy days beware there is not a lot of scope for indoor photos and if you’re looking for a bright, airy space then this won’t be the barn for you…

Check out Carly & Laurie’s wedding at the Priory Barn near Hitchin

I only discovered Essendon Country Club recently but it’s an absolute corker of a Hertfordshire wedding venue! It’s actually on a golf course but it’s a beautiful bright, two-story barn venue overlooking the course. You marry up on the mezzanine level and then come down a wooden staircase into your reception room. You also get to use a golf buggy to go and take photos in the grounds which I love because I’m always up for a zip around in a buggy!

Check out Sam & Marie’s Essendon Country Club wedding

Milling Barn is another gorgeous Hertfordshire wedding venue that I’ve only discovered fairly recently. The barn itself has the feeling of a rural American church building somehow with the school style benches, I absolutely love it! It’s another good choice if you want the barn atmosphere but without compromising on the bright, airy feel.

See more of Milling Barn here.

St Michael’s Manor is absolutely stunning, romantic hotel wedding venue based in the heart of St Albans. Their bedrooms are spacious and great for getting ready before the ceremony and the beautiful orangery is large and bright; the perfect setting for ceremonies. Plus the grounds and lovely to enjoy for drinks and photos if the weather is in your favour. St Michael’s is known for it’s fine food so you won’t be let down here with your meal – always a bonus for foodie couples. Plus you have gorgeous accommodation right on site and plenty of other options right in the town centre if you have more guests than St Michael’s Manor can accommodate.

Read my review of St Michael’s Manor here.

Down Hall is a bit of a cheat because it’s actually right on the Hertfordshire-Essex border and it’s just into Essex but it’s right on the border so I’m counting it! I’ve only had the pleasure of photographing one wedding here but it was a corker. The bridal suite is absolutely massive so you have a huge amount of space to spread out and get ready which is something I think a lot of venues have overlooked. The ceremony room is lovely and the grounds are sprawling and delightful. The reception room is huge. The potential downside will be if you are looking for an exclusive use venue because this is a large hotel and spa as well as a hotel wedding venue so it will be open to the public at all points.

Hanbury Manor is a lovely hotel and golf club in Hertfordshire with numerous wedding areas. They run several weddings on the same day on popular dates (although very slickly and you’ll never see another couple but if exclusive use is important to you this won’t be the venue for you). There is the Poles Hall original chapel which is in the main house or the private walled garden which accommodates slightly fewer guests and is slightly removed from the main house (you can still have photos at the main house however).

Check out Glenn & Joanne’s Hanbury Manor wedding in the walled garden

West Lodge Park is another hotel wedding venue that you won’t have exclusive use of, but it does have a grand facade and the options for indoor and outdoor ceremonies. Although I haven’t done the research on costings for the venues in this list (numbers are not my speciality!) I have heard from couples that this is a bit more cost effective as they offer various different options for food such as afternoon tea weddings and so on rather than just formal wedding breakfasts.

Another large St Albans hotel, Sopwell House is a popular venue for weddings with ample and comfortable accommodation on site. They are now licensed for outdoor ceremonies in the pretty grounds and can host up to 300 guests. All of the rooms look out onto the gardens which is lovely. They also have a great spa so if you fancy pampering yourself (or your guests do!) around your wedding this is an added bonus of getting hitched here!

This hotel offers lovely surroundings both indoors and outdoors and the added bonus of great food! The Manor at Elstree had a beautiful Tudor frontage that certainly stuns as you approach and it’s a very flexible venue with five different rooms offering ceremonies from 20 to 150 guests, including an outdoor option.

If you haven’t checked out The Grove and you’re interested in a hotel wedding then don’t miss visiting it. The grounds are just so beautiful and always perfectly manicured and their indoor spaces match. It’s a big hotel so can certainly home you if you’re looking to host a big wedding; they host a lot of Indian and Greek weddings as well.

I think that Beechwood Park School is probably a lesser known venue and it’s probably a little less flexible because it only holds weddings during school holidays, but it’s a lovely little venue near Markyate. I’ve photographed a few weddings here and they have all been so sweet and unique. It’s sort of a hidden little Hertfordshire gem! It’s hidden away down a long driveway and you’re suddenly met with a gorgeous building with an imposing front – sure to wow your guests. Because it’s not a venue set up for mass weddings, you can bring all of your own suppliers, caterer and do what you want for your big day, but in a more formal setting than a marquee. There are huge gardens out back for drinks, games and photos plus a lot of space at the front for formal photos should you want them, with gorgeous fields where I took some lovely photos for Celine & Stuart. This is a little gem not to be overlooked.

Check out Celine & Stuart’s Beechwood Park School wedding

The Henry Moore Studios are in the pretty Hertfordshire village of Much Hadham, and as you’d expect, is where you can see a lot of Henry Moore’s iconic statues! You can have your ceremony in the traditional 16th century barn, decorated in unique Moore tapestries or smaller weddings can use the visitor centre offering views over the gardens. Obviously the benefit is having your photos among the iconic statues and nothing is too much trouble for the amazing team here.

Like Becky and Alan below, Minstrel Court is fabulous for couples wanting to get married outdoors as they have a beautiful gazebo overlooking a little lake. There are also two other outside areas for couples to marry at, but uniquely they are all weather proof. The reception is held in the marquee onsite so everyone is onsite all day. There is nowhere for guests to stay so you’ll need to find local accommodation and it’s not easily accessible by public transport.

You can check out a whole bunch more of Becky and Alan’s Minstrel Court wedding on that link.

South Farm is right on the Hertfordshire-Cambridgeshire border and is usually booked up well in advance, it’s very popular (my husband and I actually looked at it ourselves)! It’s a pretty Tudor barn venue with numerous smaller options for ceremonies, including outside. The grounds are really pretty too for photos. Check out their website for a fun map showing you all the options you can look into.

Home Farm Glamping is another perfect option if you love the idea of a boho feel wedding. You can have exclusive use of the glamping facilities, bell tent and yurts. And if you have guests a little squeamish about the whole camping/glamping thing, they even have proper flushing loos, haha!

The Tipis at Beaumont Hall is another stunning outdoor Hertfordshire wedding venue that gets cracking reviews both on the staff and the food. It’s an exclusive use, dry hire venue meaning you can make it completely your own for the day. There is no onsite accommodation unlike some other places that offer glamping which may be a consideration for you.

If you haven’t visited the newly renovated museum and gallery yet, you’re missing out. The St Albans museum is housed in a gorgeous in a beautiful 1831 building and also has the old courthouse and cells in tact which are fun to visit. But the space can hold a beautiful wedding for up to 400 guests. You can also hold a wedding breakfast in the old courthouse which I think would be incredibly unique. Check out the photos on their website to see how amazing it looks set up for weddings!

I love Brook Farm for being a Hertfordshire wedding venue that embraces their couple’s visions for their days and really seeming to run with that rather than prescribing anything for them. It’s a gorgeous lakeside outdoor ceremony area on their family farm and they’ve hosted festival feel weddings, blessings and everything in between. They really do believe that it’s your day, your way – something that I also strongly believe. Gives me the warm and fuzzies!

If you dream of marrying outside then Woodville Weddings could be the answer to your prayers… it’s a little gem of a venue hidden in 2000 hectares of farmland, wild flowers and woodland. Idyllic eh? The styling of the teepee at the events looks incredible and they offer glamping onsite. If you’re looking for a festival feel wedding you’d be crazy not to check this little peach of a venue out!

Do you want something a super quirky Hertfordshire wedding venue? Why not consider Whipsnade Zoo? Not only can you share your glass of Prosecco with a giraffe you’re also supporting conservation in the process. Plus, for every couple that comes to me saying they want “something unique” for their photos this is certainly one way to do it…!