Tucked into a two-acre Victorian walled garden at Thorpe Constantine, a few miles from Tamworth, Thorpe Gardens is one of the more imaginative wedding venues in the Midlands. The centrepiece is a hand-crafted wooden yurt, which sounds whimsical and is in fact quietly spectacular — a warm, timber-lined room built for feasting, with underfloor heating, roaring fires and a great deal of candlelight. Beside it sits a contemporary ceremony room designed by the RIBA-award-winning architect Seth Stein, its glass doors opening onto terraces that look out over the gardens. The combination of old walled garden and confident modern architecture is what makes the place; it feels designed rather than decorated.
The garden itself does most of the work on a summer day. There are terraces for drinks, outdoor fire pits for when the light goes, and room for an outdoor ceremony for up to 140 seated within the walls. Inside, 140 can be married and fed together, and the numbers rise to 200 for drinks and dancing in the evening, so there is scope to invite the wider circle for the party without cramming anyone in.
Food is cooked in house and cooked in front of you, which is one of the great pleasures here: an open kitchen with a French rotisserie and open barbecues, a curated wine list and the venue’s own award-winning house spirits. If you want to try before you commit, they run feast nights where couples come and eat the signature dishes. Accommodation is at Constantine House nearby, a Victorian manor with Scandinavian-leaning interiors that sleeps up to 40, so the closest family can stay together and roll back for breakfast. Ceremonies are licensed on site, with the Lichfield registrars looking after the legal side, and couples marrying in a church are equally welcome to bring the celebration back here afterwards.
Where the band plays
The yurt is a wonderful room for live music. Timber and fabric take the edge off in a way that hard-walled barns rarely do, so a band sounds warm rather than harsh, and the round-ish shape means the dancefloor is never miles from the stage. There is a Funktion-One sound system installed, which is a serious bit of kit and considerably better than most venues run, so it is well worth asking the team how they prefer a band to work with it — whether you plug into the house system or bring your own rig — before you get too far into the planning. Access from the courtyard is straightforward, though as with any walled-garden site it pays to agree the load-in route in advance rather than discovering it on the afternoon.
How the evening runs
There is a late licence to midnight, which gives the evening a satisfying arc: drinks and photographs in the garden, a long relaxed feast in the yurt, then the tables pushed back and the fires lit for the dancing. A first dance somewhere in the mid-evening leaves room for two full sets, with the band’s biggest songs landing while the room is at its fullest and the fire pits still going outside. Playlists, DJs and live bands are all part of the furniture here, so the team will have seen whatever you have in mind before.
Bands available in Staffordshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Staffordshire.
- Wedding Bands in Staffordshire
- Events Bands in Staffordshire
- Staffordshire Tribute Acts
- Staffordshire Wedding DJs
- Staffordshire Corporate Entertainment
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.