Portmeirion is unlike anywhere else in Britain, and possibly anywhere else at all. Clough Williams-Ellis spent half a century building it on a private wooded peninsula on the Dwyryd estuary in Gwynedd, an Italianate village of campaniles, colonnades, domes and pastel-washed houses arranged with tremendous wit around a central piazza. He wanted to prove that developing a beautiful place need not spoil it, and he was gloriously right. Most people know the village from television; almost nobody is prepared for how enchanting it actually is when they walk in through the arch.
Ceremonies take place in Hercules Hall, which has a striking Jacobean ceiling, dark oak panelling, mullioned windows and a barrel-vaulted white interior, and holds up to 120. It sits about 100 yards from the hotel at the water’s edge, whose art deco dining room takes up to 120 for a wedding breakfast and looks straight out over the estuary. Drinks happen on the hotel lawn with the seascape in front of you, and Hercules Hall comes into its own again later for the evening party. Smaller gatherings use the Tudor, Estuary and Mirror rooms or the Ricardo Pearce Suite.
Beyond the buildings there are miles of woodland garden at Y Gwyllt, sandy beaches at low tide, subtropical planting and the mountains of Eryri behind. Guests stay across the village and at Castell Deudraeth nearby, which means the wedding party effectively takes over a small Italian town in north Wales for the night. There are very few settings in the country that give a photographer more to play with.
Where the band plays
Hercules Hall is the evening room, and its panelling and Jacobean ceiling give live music a warm, wooden, close sort of sound rather than the hard slap of a modern hall. At around 120 to 150 guests it suits a four or five-piece very comfortably. The private terrace off the hall is a bonus, giving people somewhere to step out to without leaving the party. Because the hall sits a short walk from the hotel, do talk to the events team about load-in: the village is pedestrianised in parts and vehicle access is managed, so a band needs to know the arrangements rather than turning up and hoping.
The shape of the day
A Portmeirion wedding tends to spread out across the village rather than staying in one room, which is the joy of it — ceremony in Hercules Hall, drinks on the hotel lawn above the water, dinner in the art deco dining room, then back up for the dancing. An acoustic act during drinks, with the estuary behind and the towers above, is very hard to beat. The village is a working destination with guests staying in its cottages, so there will be a finish time and a view on volume; ask for both when you book and check whether outdoor music stops earlier than the party indoors, as it generally does in a place this compact.
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.