Plas Dinas sits at Bontnewydd, a few minutes south of Caernarfon, in 15 acres of gardens and parkland with views running out over the Menai, Foryd Bay and across to Llanddwyn Island. It was the Gwynedd home of the Armstrong-Jones family, and it is best known as the house Lord Snowdon brought Princess Margaret to — a piece of history the place wears lightly, but which lends the drawing rooms and the panelled hallway a certain glamour when you know it.
It is now a small, seriously good country house hotel with 11 individually designed bedrooms, and the food is a genuine draw in its own right. The Gunroom Restaurant is Michelin-listed and the kitchen is led by head chef Daniel ap Geraint, which for a wedding breakfast puts it in a different bracket from most venues of this size. The house can be taken exclusively, and its scale means a wedding here feels like a house party rather than a function.
How you use it depends on numbers. Civil ceremonies are held indoors for up to 40 guests, with the drawing room seating 50 for a wedding breakfast and the Gunroom taking 24 for something more intimate still. Outdoor ceremonies in the grounds take up to 100, and a marquee on the lawn opens the place up considerably — 120 for the day and up to 200 in the evening. There are twilight and elopement options too, for couples who want the setting without the guest list. Eryri, the Llyn peninsula and Caernarfon’s castle walls are all a short drive for photographs.
Where the band plays
The answer depends entirely on whether you are having a marquee. Inside the house, the rooms are domestic in scale and beautifully so, which makes them ideal for a duo, a jazz trio or a solo singer through drinks and dinner, and rather less suited to a full band with a drum kit. Put a marquee on the lawn, though, and you have a proper evening space for 200 with the height, the power and the floor that a five or six-piece needs. It is worth deciding this early, because it shapes both your guest list and what you should be booking.
How the evening unfolds
The day here has a lovely unhurried quality: getting ready in the house, a ceremony indoors or out on the lawn with the bay beyond, a long drinks reception in the gardens as the light goes gold over the water, then dinner and dancing. With only 11 bedrooms, some guests will be staying nearby in Caernarfon, so it is worth thinking about transport and timing so the floor does not thin out mid-evening. Confirm the finish time and any restrictions on amplified music with the house when you book, particularly for a marquee, as outdoor limits in a rural setting usually fall earlier than indoor ones.
Bands available in North Wales and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in North Wales.
- North Wales Wedding Bands
- North Wales Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in North Wales
- Wedding DJs in North Wales
- Corporate Entertainment in North Wales
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters at Venues: What You Need to Know. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.