There are few approaches in England quite like the one to Fawsley. You turn off the lane into 2,000 acres of parkland, past three lakes — Big Waters, the Canal and the Horse Pond — and up to a Grade I listed house standing more or less alone, with the small church of St Mary on a grassy knoll behind its ha-ha and the ruined Dower House half hidden in the trees. The village that once stood here vanished centuries ago when the Knightley family turned the land over to sheep, and that emptiness is now the making of the view.
The Knightleys bought Fawsley in 1416 and stayed until 1913, and you can read the whole family history in the fabric of the building: a Tudor great hall, a Georgian wing added in the 1750s, and a Victorian north wing remodelled by Anthony Salvin. Elizabeth I came to stay in 1575. Today it is a Hand Picked country house hotel and spa with 60 bedrooms, and it wears its history lightly — log fires and stone flags at one turn, a spa and a 29-seat cinema at the next.
For weddings there is genuine flexibility. Ceremonies are licensed indoors and can also be held outside in the grounds; the Tudor Hall is a magnificent room for drinks; and Knightley Court, a Georgian wing with its own bar and courtyard, can be taken as a self-contained private venue in its own right. Numbers run to 150 for the ceremony and the wedding breakfast and 250 in the evening, with a marquee on the lawns capable of taking that as high as 400. Food is cooked in-house and built around what you actually want to eat.
Where the band plays
Knightley Court is the natural home for the evening if you want the party self-contained — its own bar, its own courtyard for stepping outside, and nobody else’s wedding to consider. Take the whole hotel and you have the run of the historic rooms as well, which means the day can move from ceremony to dinner to dancing without ever asking a hundred people to sit patiently while a room is turned around. Live music and discos are both permitted, and larger entertainment sometimes comes with a minimum number of bedrooms attached, so ask how that works when you first enquire.
How the evening runs
With almost everyone staying on site — 60 rooms is a great deal of wedding — the evening takes on an unusually unhurried shape, and nobody is watching the clock for a taxi that will not come. The hotel works to standard licensing hours and exclusive use can extend those on certain dates, so if you want a band playing late it is worth settling the finish time at the same time as you settle the date. Parking is free and plentiful, and the drive in is wide and easy for a van full of gear.
Bands available in Northamptonshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Northamptonshire.
- Wedding Bands in Northamptonshire
- Events Bands in Northamptonshire
- Northamptonshire Tribute Acts
- Northamptonshire Wedding DJs
- Northamptonshire Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.