Unusual wedding venues
Indulge your fantasy on your special day and choose one of our unusual wedding venues. We have ships, castles, film studios, race courses and museums. Here is a selection for your delectation.
If you want your venue to be featured on this page, please contact us
The Royal Scotsman
You could have an intimate celebration aboard one of the world's most luxurious trains, The Royal Scotsman, flying through the Highlands.
Exchange your vows then feast on world-class cuisine, prepared freshly onboard using the finest local ingredients.
Enjoy lively entertainment in the Observation Car into the small hours, or even dancing on the station platform! All this, with unbeatable views as you pass through the magnificent Scottish countryside.
The R. S. Hispaniola
A tastefully furnished, fully air-conditioned, permanently-moored ship offering high-quality private event facilities close to the West End.
The Hispaniola's beautiful and elegant interior is equalled only by her spectacular location on London's riverside under the gaze of the London Eye with far-reaching views from St. Paul's round to Big Ben.
Pinewood Film Studios
The world-famous Pinewood Film Studios offers a dramatic and fascinating venue for your civil partnership ceremony and celebration. The Studios are situated at Heatherden Hall in Buckinghamshire amidst beautiful, sculptured gardens.
Civil ceremonies can be held in one of two rooms: The Gatsby, which was originally built for the film The Great Gatsby, or The Hitchcock. After the ceremony, guests can enjoy drinks on the terrace overlooking the gardens. Wedding receptions can be held in either of the above rooms, The Green Room or The Ballroom.
HMS Belfast
Voted eighth best wedding location in the world by The Independent, HMS Belfast offers an exceptional and unique venue to host your wedding.
Situated on the Thames, next to Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, your guests can take in some of the capital's best scenery from any of the decks.
Kept in her traditional naval splendour, HMS Belfast offers you and your guests a truly memorable experience for this very special occasion.
More unusual venues in alphabetical order
To find out more about individual venues, type in the name of the venue in our search venues facility. This will show you pictures, a description and further useful information.
Academic venues
Universities promoting themselves as gay-friendly include the University of Hull, The Royal Institute of British Architects and Craighouse Napier University in Edinburgh, with its Baronial hall and minstrel's gallery - a great venue for a ceilidh.
Airports
Shoreham Brighton City Airport has a beautiful Art Deco Main Terminal Building, built in 1936, which still has some original features.
Charter a helicopter or fixed wing aircraft for your civil partnership ceremony to fly you to a romantic destination for your honeymoon.
Arts venues
The De Morgan Centre is a beautiful small museum in London. It houses a fine collection of Arts and Crafts ceramics by William De Morgan and paintings by his wife, Evelyn. Ceremonies are held in the grand Longstaff Room where the De Morgan collection is displayed. The room has a timber-roofed Arts and Crafts interior.
You can also get married in some theatres, cinemas, galleries, concert halls, arts centres or film studios. Those with licences include Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and Shepperton Studios in Middlesex.
Associations and institutions
The Royal Exchange in London has a fabulous high-ceiling hall in which you can entertain your guests. Other options are Arundel House, on the north bank of the Thames or Middle Temple, an Elizabethan hall in London.
In the heart of London, Merchant Taylors Hall in the City is one of the Great Twelve livery companies surviving from medieval times. The hall has sumptous oriental carpets, long dining tables and chandeliers. It also has a beautiful courtyard garden. You have exclusive use of the venue and it can host up to 290 people for both the ceremony and reception, or up to 400 for a buffet.
The Royal Institute of British Architects has a fantastic room that can cater for 200 people as well as a roof terrace.
Barns
The Priory in Hertfordshire is a tithe barn, built in 1540, with its own moat - very romantic. The Dark Barn in Gloucestershire is another gay-friendly wedding venue, and is a 400-year-old restored barn. Laughton Barns is a brand new barn venue in East Sussex.
Boats
You can get married aboard HMS Belfast, the battleship moored on the Thames near Tower Bridge. Or for you reception, charter a boat from Absolute Pleasure Boats or Thames Leisure Ltd. Both companies have boats that can cater for over 240 people, although you can't actually hold the ceremony on the leisure boats. You can also sail up the Solent near Southampton on the Princess Caroline.
Castles
The National Trust of Scotland has a number of castles licensed to hold gay weddings. Guthrie Castle, near Dundee, looks like something out of a fairy tale, with multiple turrets, its own loch, manicured lawns and a golf course. As with many castles, you can hire it on an exclusive basis.
Some castles are privately owned such as Fingask Castle in Perthsire and can provide a unique insight into how the other half lives - why not pretend to be queens for the day! Studley Castle in Warwickshire, Blairquhan Castle in South Ayrshire, Dornoch Castle Hotel in Sutherland and Lympne Castle in Kent are also gay-friendly.
Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire hosts gay weddings and provides a fabulous setting. It has had weddings with a pink theme, where the organ in the long library was lit with pink fairy lights, the huge urns in the hallway filled with pink flowers and the seats decked with pink bows. The ceremony can be held in the Orangery and you can have your photos taken on the bridge overlooking the ornamental lake, by the water terraces or the temple where Winston Churchill proposed to Clementine. A golf buggy can take you around the grounds to find different places to pose for photos.
Church-like buildings
The The Lost Village of Dode is very much like a church with pews and an altar.
Michaelhouse in Cambridge is a church where you can have a blessing and hold the reception, although you can't hold a civil partnership ceremony there - all same-sex ceremonies have to be held in civil wedding venues.
Farms
Gay-friendly South Farm in Hertfordshire offers exclusive use and can cater for up to 250 people.
Gardens
The Swiss Garden in Bedfordshire is a romantic and picturesque setting for wedding and commitment ceremonies providing many beautiful and unique photographic opportunities. The venue is licensed for civil ceremonies with capacities of 20 seated in the Swiss Cottage plus 60 outside in the garden.
Gay owned venues
Some gay owned venues have wedding licences, such as Over the Rainbow, a country house in Ceredigion, Wales. It has a ballroom, where you can hold the ceremony for up to 40 people.
Egerton Grey Country House Hotel in South Glamorgan, has a croquet lawn to add to that 'place in the country' feel. Owner, Richard Morgan-Price says they have held successful civil partnership ceremonies from an intimate celebration in their drawing room for two men in their 80s to a camp garden party for two younger men who had a Shirley Bassey look-alike walking among the guests.
In East Sussex you can stay at Saltcote Place, with its beautiful gardens and stunning interiors.
Grand country houses
Ston Easton Park Hotel near Bath or Heythrop Park Hotel in Oxfordshire. You can hire Silchester House in Berkshire for the weekend, on an exclusive use basis, including accommodation and a marquee.
Shuttleworth Old Warden Park, in Bedfordshire, is a magnificent grade two listed Victorian Country House, that still retains many of its original period features.
You can also hire historic country houses for the day, such as Anne of Cleves House in East Sussex, where you can arrange your own caterer and supply your own booze.
Hotels
There is a wide range of hotels on our site. Here are some of the more unusual ones. The Dorchester, with its prime location overlooking London's Hyde Park has spacious elegant rooms.
The Rubens at the Palace, a luxurious hotel, located opposite Buckingham Palace's Mews, is an ideal location for your gay wedding.
Hotel Felix in Cambridgeshire combines a contemporary feel - a carved male torso on a wall, with Victorian features - sweeping stone stairs down to the lawn.
Museums
The Science Museum is also gay-friendly - you can hold the reception in the Flight Gallery where guests dine under Amy Johnson's 'Gipsy Moth' and other flying objects. They can even try out a flight simulator as a bit of after-dinner entertainment.
Other gay-friendly museums include St Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff, the National Glass Centre in Sunderland and Canal museum in London.
Pubs or inns
Gay-friendly pubs with a wedding licence include the Bell Inn Hotel in Stilton, Cambridgeshire, the aptly-named Queens Inn in Kent and the The Black Horse in West Yorkshire.
Private clubs
These are in London and include The Caledonian Club, the Century Club, which also caters for Jewish civil partnerships and the The Groucho Club.
Restaurants
Restaurants in London such as the Coq d Argent with a roof garden overlooking the City or the Spanish Tapas restaurant, Meza in the heart of gay Soho are gay-friendly.
Some restaurants have civil wedding licences. A small chain, Hotel du Vin, has restaurants with civil wedding licences in Harrogate and Birmingham which host civil partnership celebrations.
Safari parks
You can tie the knot at gay-friendly Port Lympne Mansion in Kent and take your guests on a safari ride afterwards.
Spas
If you want a truly relaxing wedding, you can hold your civil partnership in a spa. There are over 10 gay-friendly spas on our site, including Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa in Surrey, Bailiffscourt Hotel and Spa in West Sussex and The Stoke by Nayland Hotel Spa and Golf Club in Suffolk. Type spa into our search venues section to find more.
Sports venues
Gay-friendly football clubs on our site include Hibernian in Edinburgh and Derby County Football Club's Pride Park Stadium, which can cater for 400 guests. You can have your photo taken framed by the goal posts, have a tour of the stadium or pose in the executive box.
Another aptly named gay-friendly wedding venue is Epsom Downs Queen's Stand. Based in Surrey, it has has a number of suites available for civil partnerships and receptions with magnificent views over the racecourse.
Over ten golf clubs have signed up to promote themselves as gay-friendly. These include The Kendleshire Golf Club in Bristol, St Mary's Hotel and Golf Club in Bridgend and the Whiston Hall in Staffordshire, which has its very own Cinderella ballroom decorated with cherubs dancing on the walls.
Venues with a view
The Point Hotel in Edinburgh has a fabulous view of Edinburgh Castle.
Other unusual venues
We have a lot of other unusual venues in London, so check out our London page as well.
To find out more about any of the venues listed above, click on their names highlighted in green. This will lead you to their own page with a description of the venue, photos, price structure, capacity and contact details. Good luck in finding the perfect venue for your gay wedding.
