Have a Wedding Weekend, Not a Wedding Day

Your wedding doesn’t have to be over in a few hours. A Wedding Weekend gives you more time together, more time to celebrate and more time to enjoy the people who have travelled to be there.

One of the best things about choosing a wedding venue with accommodation is the chance to spend proper time with the people you’ve invited.

Instead of arriving, celebrating and saying goodbye all in one day, you can turn your wedding into a whole weekend together.

That idea has always been at the heart of how we think weddings should work. Our Holly House brochure put it simply: wedding celebrations should last as long as possible, with time to arrive, get ready together and enjoy the people who have travelled to be there.

There’s something lovely about everyone arriving before the main event begins.

Your closest friends and family can settle in, unpack, catch up and start the weekend without the pressure of the wedding day already being underway.

You might organise a relaxed meal together, order food in, bring in a private chef or simply open a bottle of wine and enjoy having everyone under one roof.

It also gives you time to get the venue ready without trying to squeeze everything into the morning of the wedding.

When your wedding party is staying at the venue, the wedding morning can feel much more relaxed.

There’s no travelling between hotels, no worrying about taxis and no disappearing off in different directions before the ceremony.

You can have hair and make-up come to you, get ready with the people closest to you and enjoy the build-up to the day together.

At Holly House, for example, overnight accommodation for up to 40 guests means a substantial part of your wedding party can stay right where the celebration is happening. Similarly at Standlow Farm – we have accommodation for 41 guests overnight.

A weekend wedding gives the whole celebration a different rhythm.

You still have the big moments — the ceremony, food, speeches, music and dancing — but the day doesn’t have to carry the entire weight of the occasion.

You’ve already spent time together before the wedding, and you know there’s more time afterwards.

That can make the wedding itself feel much less rushed.

For us, this is one of the best parts.

Instead of everyone disappearing at the end of the night, many of your closest friends and family are still there the next morning.

You can have breakfast or brunch together, sit around talking about the night before, head out for a walk or simply enjoy a very slow morning.

It gives you time with people you may not see very often — particularly guests who have travelled a long way to celebrate with you.ou.

Derbyshire works particularly well for a wedding weekend because of its central location.

If your family and friends are spread around the UK, it gives you a practical meeting point while still feeling like a countryside escape.

And once guests have arrived, having accommodation at the venue means they don’t have to spend the weekend travelling backwards and forwards between different hotels and the wedding itself.

They can arrive, put their bags down and enjoy the weekend.

Hiring a venue for a weekend also gives you time to actually enjoy the place you’ve chosen.

You’re not simply seeing it dressed for the ceremony and reception.

There’s time to use the house, gardens and social spaces, have drinks together, relax between events and make the venue part of the whole experience.

At Holly House, the house and grounds can become the base for the entire celebration, while Standlow Farm offers the same opportunity for couples creating a countryside marquee wedding with accommodation alongside it. you the freedom to make it yours.

There’s no rule about what the rest of the weekend has to look like.

You might keep it completely informal, or plan extra moments around the main wedding day.

Ideas could include:

• A welcome dinner the night before
• Drinks in the garden
• A relaxed barbecue
• Breakfast together on the wedding morning
• A post-wedding brunch
• A countryside walk
• Games and activities
• A private chef dinner
• Simply spending time together

You decide how much you want to plan — and how much you want to leave completely unplanned.

Weddings bring together people from different parts of your life, often from different parts of the country.

It can feel strange to spend months planning something that is over almost as soon as everyone arrives.

A weekend wedding gives you more of the thing that really matters:

time together.

Time before the ceremony.
Time to celebrate.
Time the next morning.
Time to actually talk to the people who came to be there.

That’s why we love wedding weekends.

Both of our venues offer the opportunity to create more than just a wedding day.

Holly House is ideal for couples looking for a large house wedding with accommodation, celebration space and exclusive use for the weekend.

Standlow Farm offers a countryside setting for DIY marquee weddings, with accommodation on site and the freedom to create your celebration your way.

Every DIY wedding is different, so the easiest way to understand what you could create is to come and see the venues.

Tell us approximately when you’d like to get married, your guest numbers and the kind of wedding you’re imagining, and we’ll help you decide which venue is the best fit.

We provide the place. You create the wedding.