Huntsmill is a working farm in the north of the county, out at Shalstone near Buckingham where Buckinghamshire runs into Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, and it has the great virtue of feeling like a real place rather than a wedding factory. At its centre is an 18th-century stone barn, converted with a light touch: exposed stone, a vaulted roof, and enough plain surface that you can dress it however you like without having to fight the building.
Around the barn there is a courtyard strung with festoon lighting and scattered with deck chairs, gardens that change with whatever is growing in the fields beyond, and the Shed — an open outdoor ceremony structure built from reclaimed roof timbers and corrugated tin, which sounds rough and looks wonderful, particularly with the countryside stretching away behind it. Ceremonies can be held indoors or out, and roughly 100 can sit down for the wedding breakfast, with up to 150 for a standing reception.
The other thing Huntsmill does well is time. Hire is exclusive and runs across three days, so you can get in the afternoon before to decorate rather than doing it all in a panic on the morning. Seven cottages on the farm — the Old Dairy, Blacksmiths Cottage, the Granary, the Stables, Mill Cottage, Well Cottage and Carters Cottage — sleep 32 between them, which usually covers the wedding party and the people you most want at breakfast. Food comes from the farm’s own caterers, there is a proper bar running beers, ales, gins and cocktails, and dogs are welcome.
Where the band plays
Everything after dinner happens in the barn. Stone walls and a vaulted timber roof make for a warm, generous sound, and barns of this shape flatter live music, which is a fair part of why so many couples who book one end up with a band rather than a playlist. It is a room for a band that can fill it: a five-piece with horns or a strong four-piece will lift the whole space, while a stripped-back duo can feel a little lost once 100 people are in and talking. Floor space is finite, so agree the set-up area early and tell the band how much of it they are being given.
Ceremony, drinks and moving people around
A ceremony in the Shed with the fields behind you, drinks in the courtyard under the festoons, dinner in the barn: it is a lovely, simple progression, and a solo guitarist or an acoustic duo outdoors during the drinks hour is money well spent here. Bear in mind that anything outdoors needs power and shelter from the weather, so check where the sockets are and have a wet-weather position agreed with the venue well in advance.
How the evening runs
Music tends to finish around 11pm, which in a setting this rural feels sensible rather than restrictive — it gives you two full sets after the first dance and leaves people with enough in the tank to walk back to the cottages rather than collapse into them. Weddings are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, parking is on site and load-in is level, but the approach is farm track rather than motorway, so allow your suppliers a little extra time to find you.
Bands available in Buckinghamshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Buckinghamshire.
- Wedding Bands in Buckinghamshire
- Events Bands in Buckinghamshire
- Buckinghamshire Tribute Acts
- Buckinghamshire Wedding DJs
- Buckinghamshire Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.