Ramside Hall sits in 350 acres of private grounds just outside Durham, and it has grown into something more like an estate than a hotel. It has been in business since 1965 and the family running it have clearly never stopped adding: two championship golf courses, an award-winning spa, treehouses in the grounds with private hot tubs, and 127 bedrooms and suites, which is a great deal of accommodation by any standard and means nobody is ringing round for taxis at midnight.
The wedding spaces are the most varied of any venue in the county. The Bishops Suite is the grand one, entered beneath an Austrian crystal chandelier and taking anything from 80 to 400 for dinner and up to 500 in the evening. The Ballroom is the more classic choice at 80 to 180 seated and 250 for the evening, and — unusually and very usefully — it comes with a proper stage and dancefloor built in. For smaller numbers there is the Fountain Room, seating up to 60 with garden views, and the Green Room for 10 to 30. Between May and September a Barn Marquee takes 160 to 200 with festoon lighting and an outdoor bar, and the Dove Treehouse will host an elopement or an intimate wedding for up to 40.
The kitchen ranges from an elegant three-course dinner to barbecues and buffets, with genuine experience of Asian weddings, and the couple get their wedding night on the house. The combination of scale, choice and a spa on site makes Ramside particularly good at the long version of a wedding — the one that starts the afternoon before and finishes with breakfast the next morning.
Where the band plays
The Ballroom is the standout room for live music, simply because the stage and dancefloor are already there: a band walks in, loads onto a proper stage rather than improvising on the carpet, and the sightlines are right from the start. At 250 in the evening it is a fine size for a five or six-piece. The Bishops Suite is a different animal — at up to 500 guests it demands a bigger line-up and a serious PA, and a modest band will be lost in it. The Barn Marquee, canvas and summer evenings, is more forgiving acoustically but needs power arrangements agreed in advance.
Ceremony, the grounds and drinks
The Fountain Room, with its garden outlook, is a lovely small ceremony space where an unamplified string trio or classical guitarist is plenty. In a room the size of the Bishops Suite, even an acoustic act should be lightly amplified so that the guests at the back hear the same thing as the guests at the front. With 350 acres outside, the drinks reception inevitably spreads, and a roaming acoustic player holds it together far better than a fixed stage.
How the evening runs
Music tends to run to around 11.30pm, which leaves a satisfying stretch of evening after dinner — a first dance, two full sets and a bit of room for the encore everybody pretends to be surprised by. With this many bedrooms on site the party rarely ends when the band stops. Load-in is simple, with good vehicle access to the function suites and plenty of parking.
Bands available in Durham and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Durham.
- Durham Wedding Bands
- Durham Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Durham
- Wedding DJs in Durham
- Corporate Entertainment in Durham
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.