There are very few wedding venues in England with a view like Raven Hall’s. The hotel stands 600 feet above the sea at Ravenscar, on the cliff between Scarborough and Whitby, looking straight down the sweep of Robin Hood’s Bay with the North York Moors at its back. The Cleveland Way runs through the grounds. On a clear day the bay is laid out below you like a map; on a wild one the weather comes in off the North Sea and the place turns gloriously dramatic. Either way, your photographs will not look like anybody else’s.
The site has been occupied a very long time. The Romans built here, and the hotel’s own history has it that George III came to Ravenscar to take the air. The Georgian hall that grew into today’s hotel is fronted by terraced gardens and castellated walls stepping down the cliff face, which is why so many couples end up outside for their group photographs whatever the forecast has to say about it. Around the house lie 100 acres, a 9-hole golf course laid along the clifftop, tennis courts and a heated indoor pool.
Inside there is room for everybody. The hotel has 55 bedrooms, with 8 Finnish-built eco-lodges in the grounds besides, so a large wedding party can settle in for the weekend rather than scattering itself across two coastal towns. The kitchen leans on local produce, and the Panorama Restaurant is named for exactly what you would expect. For the day itself there is a choice of rooms: the Great Hall, the original space, taking up to 120; the George III Suite, seating around 100 for a wedding breakfast; the Viking Suite for something smaller; the Good Hope Chapel for a blessing; and a licensed spot outside for the ceremony when the weather plays along, with an indoor plan held in reserve when it does not.
Where the band plays
The Great Hall is the room built for an evening — the largest of the suites and the one couples generally turn to once dinner is cleared. It is a traditional function room in the best sense, with the height and the hard architecture to give a band some lift, and a dancefloor that sits centrally rather than tucked into a corner. The one thing to plan for is the journey: Ravenscar is at the end of a long, steep and narrow road off the moor, and a band arriving with a van full of gear will want that flagged well ahead, along with where to park and how close to the door they can get.
How the evening runs
Evenings here generally run to around midnight, and with most of your guests sleeping upstairs the last hour tends to be the fullest of the night, because nobody is leaving early to beat a taxi back over the moors. The usual shape is a ceremony in the afternoon, drinks on the terrace with that view doing most of the entertaining, dinner, then the band from mid-evening through to the finish. An acoustic set outside during the drinks reception is lovely if you fancy it, though the coastal breeze is a real consideration up here — ask the hotel where the sheltered corner is.
Bands available in North Yorkshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in North Yorkshire.
- North Yorkshire Wedding Bands
- North Yorkshire Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in North Yorkshire
- Wedding DJs in North Yorkshire
- Corporate Entertainment in North Yorkshire
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.