Broadoaks sits in woodland between Windermere and Ambleside, which is about as central as the central Lakes get, and it has the unhurried feel of a private house that happens to take guests rather than a hotel that happens to have a garden. The building is Edwardian, and its great treasure is the music room, designed by William Morris — a room with genuine pedigree that most venues in the county would build an entire marketing campaign around and that Broadoaks mentions almost in passing.
The rest of the house has been handled with a light touch. There’s an orangery that manages to be contemporary and cosy at once, with crackling fires going in the colder months and light flooding in during the warmer ones; there’s Figgy’s Bar for the hours that need a bar; and there’s a Celebration Room and a dedicated prep room for the morning. Outside, manicured gardens give way to woodland, and the fells do what fells do. Ceremonies are licensed both indoors and out, so the weather need not dictate the plan until fairly late in the day.
With 20 bedrooms, including a rather grand honeymoon retreat, most of the important people can stay the night, and exclusive use is available if you would rather not share the house at all. Numbers run to 120 for the day and 150 in the evening, which is the sweet spot for a country house wedding — big enough to feel like an event, small enough that the place still feels like yours. The food and drink side is handled in-house, and there are coordinators who know the building inside out.
Where the band plays
This is a country house rather than a barn, so think in terms of handsome rooms rather than vast ones. That suits live music well: a room of this scale wraps around a band, and a four or five-piece will fill it richly without anyone needing to work hard. With up to 150 in for the evening, there is a proper crowd, and the dancefloor tends to be close enough to the bar that people move between the two all night rather than settling on one side of the room. A larger line-up with a full horn section is possible but wants the stage footprint and power checked in advance, as in any period house.
Ceremony, the gardens and the drinks hour
The music room is, as you would hope, a lovely place to be married in, and a string quartet, a harpist or a classical guitarist sounds superb in it with no amplification whatsoever. Outdoor ceremonies in the gardens are the other option, and those do want a small PA, because open air and surrounding woodland absorb sound faster than couples expect. Afterwards, when everyone drifts between the orangery, the terrace and the lawns, a roaming acoustic act is the thing that stitches a scattered drinks reception back together.
How the evening runs
Music tends to run through to around midnight here, which gives the evening a generous shape — the first dance lands unhurried after dinner, the band gets two proper sets, and the last song goes in while the room is still full rather than thinning out. Access for load-in is via a country lane and a private drive, so a band arriving with a van will want directions and a set-up window agreed beforehand.
Bands available in Cumbria and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Cumbria.
- Wedding Bands in Cumbria
- Events Bands in Cumbria
- Cumbria Tribute Acts
- Cumbria Wedding DJs
- Cumbria Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.