Sparkford Hall is a private Georgian house in south Somerset, a few miles from Yeovil and Castle Cary, which began life as a farmhouse and was extended into something considerably grander in 1828. The current owners took it on in 2011 and restored it thoroughly, and the result is a house that feels lived in rather than staged. That is the whole appeal: you hire it as a house, not as a wedding package.
The grounds are secluded and pleasingly eccentric — rolling parkland, a walled garden, an apple orchard, a kitchen garden, paddocks and a fountain, a swimming pool for the summer, and a resident cast of llamas, Shetland ponies and ducks who will appear in the photographs whether invited or not. The house has 15 bedrooms, there is a gardener’s cottage sleeping 8 alongside it, and glamping can be added for a bigger party, so a wedding here becomes a weekend without much effort.
Ceremonies can take place in the library for a very small gathering, in the barn for a large one, or anywhere outdoors that takes your fancy. The barn is the main event space, licensed for up to 250 and laid out with antique dining chairs and trestle tables, and a marquee is permitted if you want more room still. Catering is up to you — bring your own caterer or use the in-house option — and there is no corkage on your own drink, which on a guest list of any size is a meaningful saving.
Where the band plays
Most weddings here put the band in the barn, which is a good room for it: big, high and hard-surfaced, with space enough to give a five- or six-piece a real stage rather than a corner. A marquee on the lawn is the other common answer and behaves quite differently, since canvas absorbs a great deal and a band that fills the barn will need more from the PA under a tent. And then there is the Club, a cellar space underground with its own sound system and lighting, which is an unusually good asset — somewhere to move the night into once the band has finished, rather than watching a big room slowly empty.
How the evening runs
Evenings here point towards midnight, which is a full night by any measure and lets a band play properly instead of sprinting through a shortened set. Confirm it in writing all the same, because at a privately hired house the timings are more a matter of agreement than of a standing house rule.
A house, not a venue with a rulebook
Hiring a private house gives you freedom and hands you a little responsibility along with it. There is far more latitude over layout and timings than a hotel would ever allow; there is also less standing infrastructure, so power for the band, where a van can actually get to, and exactly where the stage is going all want establishing rather than assuming. None of it is difficult. It simply needs a conversation, ideally the same one in which you settle where everybody is eating.
Bands available in Somerset and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Somerset.
- Somerset Wedding Bands
- Events Bands in Somerset
- Tribute Acts in Somerset
- Somerset Wedding DJs
- Corporate Entertainment in Somerset
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.