Whitley Hall has been standing above Grenoside since the 16th century, and it has the uneven, characterful look of a house that has been added to by every generation that owned it. It is now a country house hotel on the northern edge of Sheffield, close enough to the city to be easy for guests and far enough out that the view from the terrace is all trees and water. The 20 acres of grounds are the making of it: mature gardens, sweeping lawns, a lake, and peacocks that have an unerring instinct for wandering into photographs at exactly the right moment.
Weddings are clearly the thing this hotel does best, and the operation is unusually complete. The Parker Suite looks back towards the main house and opens onto a covered, heated terrace with its own private bar, so a British summer holds no fear; from there it is a few steps down to the gardens and the lakeside. You can be married indoors or outside, with civil ceremonies, humanist and celebrant-led weddings and interfaith celebrations all catered for, and the suite will take around 110 for the ceremony and the meal, or up to 220 standing later on.
Food is cooked in house, with locally sourced ingredients and the traditional shape of things — canapes, a three-course wedding breakfast, wine and a toast, an evening buffet — done properly rather than cleverly. There are bedrooms and suites on site, including one for the two of you, along with a dressing room for the morning, a wedding coordinator, an in-house toastmaster and a resident DJ. Semi-exclusive and fully exclusive bookings are both available, so you can decide how much of the hall you want to take over.
Where a band goes
The Parker Suite is purpose-built for the evening, with a private bar in the room and the dancefloor at its heart, which is the arrangement bands prefer above all others — nobody has to leave the room to get a drink, so nobody drifts off mid-set. The covered terrace gives you a second option for something smaller and acoustic during the drinks, sheltered enough that a guitarist or a string duo will play happily even if it turns showery. The older parts of the house are lower and more intimate, and suit a soloist or a trio rather than a full band with brass.
The shape of the evening
The pattern here is a civil ceremony or a blessing in the afternoon, drinks and photographs down by the lake, dinner in the suite and then the floor cleared for dancing. With bedrooms upstairs, guests tend to stay rather than watch the clock for taxis, so a band can count on a busy floor for both sets. The hotel already runs an in-house DJ and toastmaster, so tell them early that you are bringing a band, and ask them to confirm the finish time for live music and where the group should load in and park.
Bands available in South Yorkshire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in South Yorkshire.
- South Yorkshire Wedding Bands
- South Yorkshire Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in South Yorkshire
- Wedding DJs in South Yorkshire
- Corporate Entertainment in South Yorkshire
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.