Englefield House stands above its own park near Theale, a Tudor house much reworked in the nineteenth century and all the handsomer for it. It is Grade II* listed, the gardens and parkland are registered in their own right, and the whole thing belongs to the Benyon family, who still live there. That is the appeal: this is a private house that occasionally holds a wedding, rather than a wedding venue with a house attached. You may well recognise it before you arrive, since the place has stood in for half the grand interiors on British television, The Crown and The King’s Speech among them.
The gardens are the reason to come. The formal gardens run to about 5 hectares, falling away from the house in long balustraded terraces, lawns and specimen trees, and above them an informal woodland garden laid out in the 1930s climbs the hillside on curving paths through flowering shrubs. Below, the landscape park drops to Cranemoor Lake, and deer have grazed the old park here since something like 1600. There is a walled kitchen garden to the east and a church spire on the northern approach. The gardens open to the public on Mondays, which tells you what they are worth.
Weddings work across the state rooms — the entrance hall, the library, the drawing room, the long gallery — and out into the gardens, where a marquee on the lawn is the usual answer to a larger guest list. It is hired privately and exclusively, so the house and its setting are yours for the day, and the estate is big enough to absorb a celebration of almost any size without ever looking as though it is hosting one.
Where a band would play
Because a day here is built rather than slotted into a fixed function room, the live music question gets settled early and specifically. A marquee gives you space, power and freedom to put the stage where you want it. A state room gives you atmosphere, plaster and panelling and rather less room to spread out. Both can be wonderful and they suit different line-ups, so it pays to know which one you are working with before you choose an act.
The grounds also open up the afternoon. Acoustic music outdoors during drinks, on the terrace or down towards the lake, sits beautifully in a landscape like this one, and it means the day has live music long before the evening band arrives.
An evening that ends earlier than you expect
This is the thing to build the day around. Evenings at Englefield tend to draw to a close a good deal earlier than they do elsewhere in Berkshire, with 10pm or thereabouts the usual shape of it and some dates earlier still. That is no bad thing in itself; it only becomes a problem if you plan for midnight and find out late.
With a 10pm finish the band needs to be playing by around eight, which means the wedding breakfast has to end by seven and the speeches have to be kept honest. Couples who know that from the start get a proper evening out of it, two full sets and a dancefloor that never has time to go flat. It also makes a strong case for daytime music, so that the live element isn’t squeezed into 90 minutes right at the end of the day.
Bands available in Berkshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Berkshire.
- Berkshire Wedding Bands
- Events Bands in Berkshire
- Tribute Acts in Berkshire
- Berkshire Wedding DJs
- Corporate Entertainment in Berkshire
Worth reading before you book: First Dance Guide. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.