Oldwalls occupies 50 acres of countryside at Llanrhidian, on the northern side of the Gower peninsula, and it has spent the past decade turning itself into one of the best-known wedding venues in Wales. The setting does much of the work: Gower was Britain’s first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the estate looks out over its own lakes and grounds, and the beaches that made the peninsula famous are a short drive away for photographs.
The centrepiece is a marquee that the venue reckons among the best in the country, and it is hard to argue — glass-panelled down the sides so the view of the lakes comes straight in, properly built rather than temporary, and large enough to seat 200 for dinner and hold 300 in the evening. Ceremonies take place in the Oakroom, a space designed for the purpose, or outdoors when the Gower weather obliges. Everything is exclusive use, so the estate belongs to you and your guests for the duration.
There are 30 bedrooms sleeping up to 70 people on site, including a honeymoon suite with its own garden and hot tub, and there is a rather good glamping village for anyone who fancies it. The kitchens are in-house, with feasting menus built on local produce and an outdoor kitchen running a wood-fired pizza oven and a barbecue later in the evening, which is exactly the kind of thing people remember. Breakfast the morning after comes with champagne. Dogs are welcome and there is parking and level access throughout.
Where the band plays
The marquee is where the evening happens, and it is about as accommodating a room as a band could ask for. There is height, there is width, there are no pillars in awkward places, and at 300 guests you have a serious crowd to play to — this is a venue that genuinely suits a bigger line-up, horns and all, in a way that a small country house simply cannot. The glass sides mean the space looks spectacular once it is lit, so it is worth talking to the venue about lighting and where the stage sits relative to the view before the plan is fixed.
How the evening unfolds
A day at Oldwalls has a very easy shape: ceremony in the Oakroom or outside, drinks and canapes on the grass above the lakes, dinner in the marquee, then the room turned over for dancing while the pizza oven fires up outside. With 70 guests sleeping on the estate and a glamping village behind that, nobody is leaving at half past ten for a lift, which is what keeps a second set worth playing. Confirm the finish time and any restrictions on amplified music, particularly outdoors, when you book — a rural site in an area of outstanding natural beauty will have them, and they are much easier to plan around than to discover.
Bands available in Swansea and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Swansea.
- Swansea Wedding Bands
- Swansea Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Swansea
- Wedding DJs in Swansea
- Corporate Entertainment in Swansea
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.