Kelham House stands in the village of Kelham just outside Newark-on-Trent, an Edwardian manor of generous proportions reached by a tree-lined drive and set in 9 acres of landscaped lawn and enclosed woodland plantation. It has been independently owned and run since 2009, and that shows in the way the place is looked after: this is a country house hotel that still behaves like somebody’s home rather than a conference venue with flowers added. The A1 is minutes away and Southwell, Lincoln and Nottingham are all within easy reach, which makes it an unusually painless place for guests to get to.
There are 12 luxury en-suite bedrooms and suites split between the main house and the adjacent Coach House, so the wedding party and the people who most need looking after can stay put and come down to breakfast together. The Kitchen Garden Restaurant handles the food, with the chef building menus around what you actually want rather than handing over a fixed list, and there’s a tasting before you commit. Small touches give the day its character — a prosecco bar, canapés on the garden terrace, drinks taken out onto the lawns while the photographs are done.
The house is licensed for civil ceremonies indoors, and more recently for outdoor ceremonies in a garden gazebo, so a dry day can be spent almost entirely outside. Numbers run comfortably into three figures inside the house and higher again when the gardens and parkland are brought into the plan. Most importantly, Kelham House is taken on an exclusive-use basis: yours will be the only wedding of the day, and you can book the entire hotel and grounds if you want the place to yourselves overnight as well.
Where the band plays
A house of this period gives you good, solid, high-ceilinged rooms rather than one enormous hall, which suits live music rather well — the sound stays warm and the dancefloor never feels marooned. Live music and discos are both welcome, and the venue is unusually relaxed about volume, placing no noise restriction on live bands. That is worth knowing, because plenty of country house venues do the opposite, and it means a band can play at its natural level instead of tiptoeing through the set.
How the evening runs
Carriages are at midnight, with a bar extension possible if it’s arranged in advance, so the evening has a clear and generous shape: ceremony, drinks on the terrace, the wedding breakfast, then two sets and a last dance while the room is still full. With bedrooms upstairs, a good number of guests simply carry on in the bar afterwards rather than scattering into taxis.
Getting there and getting in
There’s ample parking on site for all your guests, which also makes load-in straightforward for a band arriving with a van in the late afternoon. Newark itself is a few minutes away for extra accommodation, and the A1 junction nearby means suppliers rarely have trouble finding the place.
Bands available in Nottinghamshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Nottinghamshire.
- Wedding Bands in Nottinghamshire
- Events Bands in Nottinghamshire
- Nottinghamshire Tribute Acts
- Nottinghamshire Wedding DJs
- Nottinghamshire Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.