Goodnestone Park was built in 1704 and has the settled, unhurried look that only comes with three centuries in the same landscape. It is a listed Georgian house about an hour from London, surrounded by gardens that are reckoned among the finest in Kent, and it counts Jane Austen among its visitors — a fact the house wears lightly rather than putting on a tea towel.
What sets it apart from most country-house venues is the length of the hire. Goodnestone goes on exclusive use for a weekend rather than a day, which changes the character of the whole thing: the setting up happens the day before without anyone panicking, people arrive on the Friday, and Sunday morning is a slow breakfast in the garden rather than a checkout. There are 12 bedrooms in the house sleeping 24, with Bonnington Cottage alongside for another 4, and the interiors have been refurbished to a standard that would not embarrass a boutique hotel.
The Church of the Holy Cross stands a short walk from the front door, so a church ceremony and a reception on the estate are genuinely one day in one place rather than a convoy between two. The Orangery is a handsome timber-framed structure with ash flooring, purpose-built for the house; the Coach House and the Old Dairy handle ceremonies, dinners and everything in between; and the Round Room is the intimate option. Catering is in house with the option of bringing your own caterer, there is no corkage on wine you supply yourself, and fireworks are permitted, which not every listed house will allow.
Where the band plays
The rooms scale up through the day. The Round Room takes around 30 for a small civil ceremony, the Coach House up to about 100, and the Orangery up to 120 or so. In practice that means your evening band is playing to somewhere near a hundred people, which is comfortable four- or five-piece territory — big enough to need a real rhythm section and a proper PA, not so big that you need a horn section to fill the room. The Orangery is the livelier room of the two once the dancing starts.
Summer and winter are different weddings
The Orangery is a seasonal space, up from around March to October, so a winter wedding at Goodnestone is a smaller and cosier affair built around the Coach House and the house itself. Size the band for the room you will actually be in: a line-up that suits a full Orangery in July will feel like a lot in a January Coach House, and the reverse is true too.
How the evening runs
Evenings here run through to midnight, which is a generous stretch and lets the band pace the night properly instead of rushing at it. There is a PA in the Orangery that is perfectly good for speeches and background music during the day — useful, and one less thing to hire — though the band will bring its own system for the evening. Because the closest guests are sleeping upstairs and the rest of the weekend is still ahead, the dancefloor tends to hold right to the end.
Bands available in Kent and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Kent.
- Kent Wedding Bands
- Event Bands in Kent
- Tribute Acts in Kent
- Kent Wedding DJs
- Corporate Entertainment in Kent
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters at Venues: What You Need to Know. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.