If you are looking for the perfect venue for your marriage, civil ceremony or reception in Sherborne town, you are in the right place. Here we list some of the town’s best wedding venues for you to consider:
Marriage ceremony and civil ceremony
The Manor House is Sherborne’s council centre for civil ceremonies that has seating for forty inside. The building dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth century. Whilst a beautiful building, it was never actually a Manor House.
Religious wedding venues
Since the passing of the Marriage Measure 2008, it is now easier to be married in a church with which you have some historic connection, even if you and your family no longer live in the parish. If a marriage service proves impossible, a Service of Prayer and Dedication after a civil ceremony is an attractive alternative.
Sherborne’s Abbey Church of St Mary The Virgin is known as Sherborne Abbey and is one of England’s finest parish churches and known as the ‘cathedral of Dorset’, a perfect wedding venue for your marriage ceremony.
Other churches in the area for wedding ceremonies or blessings are Cheap Street Church, a joint Methodist/U.R.C. Church welcoming all denominations and none. Sherborne’s catholic church, Sacred Heart and Saint Aldhelm and Steps Community Church.
Wedding venues
Sherborne Castle
Sherborne Castle is a wonderful stately venue for civil marriage ceremonies, civil partnership ceremonies and wedding receptions. Built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, with lake and gardens landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, the Castle and Lakeside Gardens provide both a beautiful and historic setting for a stately home wedding.
The Castle has three rooms licensed for ceremonies; the Solarium, Sir Walter Raleigh’s original Front Parlour and the Tudor Entrance Hall within the Castle. Outside, elegantly landscaped within the surrounding lakeside gardens, stands the beautiful eighteenth-century lakeside Orangery that provides a light and airy setting for wedding receptions. It can accommodate a small celebration of up to 40 guests seated, but is most often used for larger ceremonies as the reception area to an adjoining lakeside marquee.
This marquee arrangement may increase the reception guest number to approximately 200 people. Together with the Gingko Lawn and lake pier, the Castle and surrounding gardens make this a truly romantic and magical setting, not to mention a wedding photographer’s paradise. Reception facilities are offered on a venue only basis, enabling couples to create their very own character for their special day.
The Grange at Oborne
For many years The Grange has been a favourite venue for wedding receptions and similar functions. The rural location of the Manor House together with the beautiful flood lit gardens help to make any occasion here very special. The Grange is a small privately owned and family run hotel with the expertise to guide and advise you to create a day uniquely for you. Dorset Tourism’s ‘Small Hotel of the Year’ 2015 will organise everything, leaving you to enjoy every moment with your family and friends. For a grand, lavish wedding or simply an intimate gathering, The Grange will exceed your expectations with their undivided attention.
Stockbridge Farm Barn
Stockbridge Farm Barn is situated four miles south of Sherborne and set in the glorious Dorset countryside famous on a small working farm. The Barn has changed very little from its original state hundreds of years ago. Carpeted and well lit, the barn seats 180 people comfortably, or more if you choose to have an adjoining marquee. You can organise your own supplies of everything from catering and flowers to balloons and music or use Stockbridge Farm Barn’s recommended list of suppliers.