There’s no prettier setting for a classic country wedding than Melmerby. This rose-gold sandstone 17th Century manor house is set in magnificent grounds with a walled garden, archery lawn and a valley of ancient trees leading down to a tributary of the River Eden. Live like lords and ladies in achingly beautiful Melmerby Hall, the historic manor house to this dreamy Cumbrian village.

A wedding at Melmerby Hall is distinctive, providing romantic grandeur, discreet service and exceptional flexibility. At Melmerby Hall you set the timetable. The menu is all yours. Your celebration is the only event happening. You know every face. You have free run of the space.

You’re assured of the luxurious standards and attention to detail you’d expect at a five-star hotel. But you bypass the conveyor-belt anonymity of a corporate venue. No competing activities or other wedding parties. We limit the number of weddings held in a year at Melmerby Hall so you’re guaranteed individual attention. We want you to feel as if your wedding day is being hosted by a loving family member who just happens to have a magnificent home in which to celebrate. Our weddings expert is available to help with suggestions and recommendations.

Marry in the village church or Melmerby’s drawing room:
If you’re having a church wedding, a secret path runs through our grounds to the pretty parish church of St John the Baptist with its restored bell tower and Estates woodland beyond. If you prefer a civic ceremony, hold it in our elegant chandeliered buttermilk drawing room with marble fireplace and tall windows overlooking long lawns.

Celebrate your wedding feast in our candlelit, claret dining hall with regal hearth. Catch up with with old friends by the fire in the panelled library. Prepare for the day and then relive it over breakfast in the sunlit orangerie by the cobbled courtyard and knot garden.

For parties over 45, as there is not enough space to accommodate all of the guests in the Hall for dining, we request our guests to bring in a marquee, tipi or similar plus associated facilities to ensure you have enough room for your group for dining and dancing in the evening. We charge a marquee facilitation fee if a marquee or similar is erected on our grounds. Guests with larger parties may book Melmerby with the adjoining Stag Cottage or neighbouring Kirkbride Hall which is reached directly through the Hall’s walled gardens.

Party at the estate or the local village hall:
Just a short procession down the drive and through the arch is Melmerby Village Hall, newly built from traditional Cumbrian red stone with handsome pillars, a large dance floor, a caterer’s kitchen and safe gardens for children. So if you’re looking to throw a party that rings out into the small hours, here’s your (very reasonably priced) solution.

Grand and traditional but with 5-star facilities:
The bedrooms at Melmerby are elegant and luxurious. Four posters, roll top claw baths, rainfall showers, feather bedding encased in Egyptian cotton, fresh flowers in every room. The kitchens are fully equipped with a four oven Aga and Bosch gas hob and full size oven, two fridge freezers to pack with champagne and two dishwashers, so local caterers can prepare the feast of your dreams.

We have several catering options from trusted providers whom we have handpicked and know well for their excellent standards and creativity. We can recommend all of them wholeheartedly and they would be happy to work with you on your menus. Unlike some of the bigger hotels and venues, we do not build in any sort of mark-up on catering or wine corkage.

Melmerby has been restored to offer you five-star modern comfort: underfloor heating, fibre optic broadband, I-Pad docking, and fully en-suite bathrooms yet it retains the warmth, grace and beauty of a bygone era of grand house parties.