Farnham Castle has watched over the town of Farnham for the best part of nine hundred years, sitting on the hill at the top of Castle Street on the border between Surrey and Hampshire. For a wedding it offers something few venues in the South East can: a ceremony, a dinner and an evening party inside a genuine medieval castle, with around five acres of gardens and historic buildings to wander between them.
Couples can marry in the Lantern Hall, in one of the chapels or out in the gardens, and the castle offers accommodation on site, which makes it easy for the wedding party to stay on after the last song rather than worrying about taxis.
Where the band plays
In an old building the evening room matters more than usual. Thick walls and high ceilings give a band a lovely natural sound, but they also mean the set-up has to be planned around the room rather than the other way round. Ask the castle's wedding team which space your evening reception will be in, how many guests it takes once the tables are cleared, and where the band and dance floor are normally placed. We don't hold published capacities or a stage plan for each room, so this is worth confirming early.
How the evening runs
The castle hasn't published a finishing time for music or whether a sound limiter is fitted, so please ask about both before you fix a running order. A typical evening with a band is two sets of 45 to 60 minutes, or three shorter sets, with a playlist between them. The later the finish, the more room there is to keep the dance floor full.
Practicalities
The castle sits up the hill from the town and the approach is historic, so ask how close a band vehicle can get to the load-in door, where it can park for the evening and whether there are steps between the vehicle and the room. A named contact on the night and a clear power point near the stage make for a smooth set-up. We'll pass all of this on to your band as part of the booking.
Bands available in Surrey and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Surrey.
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters at Venues: What You Need to Know. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.