Appuldurcombe is one of the most romantic ruins in southern England, and it makes for a wedding venue quite unlike anything else on the Island. Begun in the early 18th century for the Worsley family, it was the grandest house the Isle of Wight has ever had — a full-blown English Baroque mansion set in a valley below the downs at Wroxall. It lost its roof long ago, and what stands now is a shell: still symmetrical, still beautifully detailed, and a great deal more moving for having the sky above it.
The grounds were laid out by Capability Brown in the 1780s and they remain the point of the place, rolling green parkland framed by hills with the shell of the house set into it like a piece of sculpture. English Heritage looks after the site and opens it to visitors through the season, but the Great Hall survives intact and is used for functions, which gives you a rare combination indeed — a genuine ruin with a real room at the centre of it.
Weddings take place on Saturdays, when the site closes to the public and becomes exclusively yours. It is a blank canvas in the truest sense: you bring in the marquee, the furniture, the lighting, the caterer, the bar and the music, all of it chosen to suit you and all of it working within English Heritage’s guidelines for the site. That is more organising than a hotel asks of you, but it also means nothing about the day is off the peg. A few house rules are worth knowing early — confetti must be dried petals, drones are not permitted, and given the ground underfoot you might quietly warn guests off stiletto heels.
Where the band plays
In practice the band plays in the marquee, and that is no bad thing at all. A marquee is an honest and forgiving room for live music, and you choose its size and where the stage sits rather than inheriting somebody else’s layout. Talk to your marquee supplier early about a level boarded area for the band and about power, because a five-piece with a PA and lighting draws rather more than people expect, and the generator specification is a conversation far better had in advance than at 7pm on the day. The Great Hall itself makes a wonderful backdrop for the ceremony and the photographs.
How the evening runs
Numbers are flexible, and the site takes an intimate wedding of up to 70 as comfortably as a party of more than 100, so the shape of the day is yours to set. Music, dancing and the bar all run through to midnight, which gives a band a generous evening, though one detail is worth knowing from the outset: after 11pm the bass should not be audible from the nearest houses, unless your party has taken all the accommodation on site. That is a planning point rather than a problem. A good band will simply draw the arrangement in for the last stretch — softer kit, less low end, more voices — and plenty of couples take the on-site accommodation precisely so the question never arises.
Getting everyone there
Guests use the main car park, with rear access kept for deliveries and set-up, so suppliers unload and then move their vehicles round. Set-up runs from the Friday and everything has to be cleared by 10am on the Sunday, a tight but perfectly workable window provided your suppliers know it well in advance.
Bands available on the Isle of Wight and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music on the Isle of Wight.
- Wedding Bands on the Isle of Wight
- Events Bands on the Isle of Wight
- Tribute Acts on the Isle of Wight
- Wedding DJs on the Isle of Wight
- Corporate Entertainment on the Isle of Wight
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters at Venues: What You Need to Know. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.