There is nothing else quite like getting married at Eden. The biomes sit in a reclaimed china clay pit at Bodelva, just outside St Austell and a few minutes from Par, and once the day visitors have gone home the whole strange, magnificent place changes character. The paths are lit, the arched ceilings glow, and you find yourself holding a drinks reception inside the world’s largest indoor rainforest. It is not a subtle venue, and it is not trying to be.
Ceremonies and receptions can be held in the Rainforest Biome, the Mediterranean Biome, the Gallery or the Eden Kitchen, and each has a distinct personality. The Mediterranean Biome is the one most couples fall for, with its olive and citrus trees, herbs you can smell from the aisle and warm terracotta light; the Rainforest is sheer spectacle, humid and green and vertical. Between October and March there is also the Stage, set on the ice rink, which is as good a piece of winter theatre as any venue in the country can offer. Numbers run to around 200 standing.
Catering is in-house and taken seriously, with menus built by the head chef around produce that is roughly 80 per cent locally sourced, which feels entirely appropriate given where you are standing. Eden is licensed for civil ceremonies, so the legal part happens here too, and there is no shortage of arrival options for couples who enjoy a bit of drama — the land train, an abseil entrance, or the SkyWire across the pit. Guests go home with a voucher to come back and see the place properly the next day, which is a thoughtful touch after a late night.
Playing inside a biome
A band playing inside a biome is a memorable thing, but these are unusual rooms and worth understanding in advance. They are vast glazed structures with hard surfaces and a great deal of height, so sound behaves quite differently from a barn: a well-run PA and a sensible stage position matter more here than in a conventional room, and a band travelling with its own engineer will get far more out of the space. The Gallery and the Eden Kitchen are more ordinary rooms and take a dancefloor in the ordinary way. Whichever you choose, talk to the events team early about power, rigging and where a band can actually set up.
How the evening runs
The biomes are yours exclusively from 5pm and the evening runs through to 12.30am, with the Eden Kitchen going a little later still — a long night by any measure, and one that begins late enough to feel like a proper event rather than a day that gradually drifts. Practically, there is parking on site and good accessibility throughout, but no accommodation at Eden itself, so guests stay nearby in St Austell, Par or Fowey. Load-in needs planning with the team, since getting a band’s gear into a biome is not quite the same as reversing up to a barn door.
Bands available in Cornwall and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Cornwall.
- Wedding Bands in Cornwall
- Events Bands in Cornwall
- Cornwall Tribute Acts
- Cornwall Wedding DJs
- Cornwall Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.