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Weddings

About

The Reading Room is a lovingly restored historic wedding venue located in Alby, in the heart of the beautiful North Norfolk countryside. With its dramatic vaulted ceiling and chandelier, this setting will capture both your heart and imagination and is exclusively yours for the day. Easily accessible, it's located close to the stunning North Norfolk Coast, an area of outstanding natural beauty, and 15 miles from the centre of Norwich. This property is conveniently situated next to the quaint Church of St Ethelbert's, and is just a stone’s throw from many other gorgeous Norfolk churches.

Facilities and Capacity

The Reading Room is an exclusive-use venue, so your chosen setting will be yours for the duration of your celebration. This property provides a unique atmosphere and intimacy for your special day. It's licenced for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies. The site seats 80 guests inside or in the garden as part of a ceremony, with additional guests welcome for the evening. Magnificent walled gardens surround the venue with an abundance of old English flowers that are teeming with wildlife. Take the path that wanders through the woods and make your way to a pergola walkway, complete with fragrant roses and honeysuckle. The lawns provide the ideal surroundings for welcome drinks and canapes followed by garden games, as well as somewhere to just relax in the afternoon sun.

Services Offered

As a family-run wedding venue, the team at The Reading Room is passionate about creating your happily ever after. They work closely with selected Norfolk caterers, who will create a bespoke menu from table feasts, afternoon teas, and formal dining to street food. This setting creates a magical setting for your wedding day, with enchanting gardens and a truly special building full of history and character.

  • Woman-owned
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Frequently asked questions

Venue type:

In the country
Coastal weddings
Unusual weddings
Historic
Woodland and festival
Church
Barn
Outdoor license
Unique weddings

Ceremony options:

Civil ceremony licence

Dining options:

Seated meal facilities
Corkage option
Private catering allowed
Alcohol licence
Buffet meal facilities
In-house catering

Evening entertainment:

Dance floor
Entertainment licence
Live band facilities
Evening reception facilities
DJ facilities

Venue staff assistance:

Wedding coordinator

Other features:

Exclusive use
Accessible facilities
Car parking
Confetti permitted
Pet-friendly
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Do you have any questions?

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5.0 out of 5 rating
55 reviews
  • Quality of the service
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    5 out of 5 rating
100% Recommended by couples
N
Nick Sent on 16/05/2020
5 out of 5 rating

The venue was everything it promised and more

My wife and I got married at the Reading Rooms on the 29th February 2020. At a chilly time of year it was amazing to be welcomed into the warm environment of the Reading Rooms.

The venue was everything it promised and more, and the service from Jo and Simon made everything exceptionally easy to organise. The caterers Jo and Simon recommended for us were also amazing.

A massive thank you to Jo and Simon from Mr and Mrs Sanders!
R
Rebecca Sent on 27/01/2020
5 out of 5 rating

The Venue is absolutely spectacular

Dear Simon & Jo
A huge thank to you both for all your help leading up to our wedding on 23rd November 2019.
Thank you so much for all your hard work around and on our wedding day, allowing it all to run as smoothly as possible.
The venue is absolutely spectacular! We are so very pleased we chose to have our very special day there. Everyone enjoyed it very much, and we had the best day of our lives!
A
Alice Sent on 11/12/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Such a beautiful, peaceful place

What a wonderful wedding day we had at The Reading Room! It is such a beautiful, peaceful place! Simon and Jo were so helpful and accommodating, allowing me to decorate to my hearts content! Thank you so much!
Z
Zoe Sent on 21/11/2019
5 out of 5 rating

We fell in love with The Reading Room

Me & my husband Joe got married here on the 19th October at this amazing venue, the first & only venue we looked at as we fell in love with The Reading Room.

Jo & Simon were very helpful throughout this as we planned our wedding in 4 months. They gave us lots of ideas & really helped to make this day our own.
We were also so thankful they allowed our dog to come!

The venue itself is beautiful, perfect for our small but intimate wedding day, we also loved how private it was. All of our guests loved the venue & really enjoyed our day.

Overall we both would highly recommend The Reading Room because we really loved our big day here & wouldn't change any part of it.

Thank you!
C
Charlotte Sent on 16/05/2020
5 out of 5 rating

The venue and grounds are absolutely stunning

Me and my husband got married here 12th October 2019 and had the most perfect wedding day. The weather was very kind to us and it just made it that extra bit special being able to enjoy our beautiful surroundings.

The venue and grounds are absolutely stunning. We held our entire day at the Reading Room and cannot thank Jo and Simon enough for all of their help and input from suggestions to helping set up/clear down the following day.

We would highly recommend this venue to any couple. All of our family and friends found it just as perfect as we did

Thank you!
Love Mr and Mrs Naylor
J
Joe Sent on 21/11/2019
5 out of 5 rating

The most magical & special wedding venue

One of the most magical and special wedding venues in Norfolk. Beautiful beyond belief and cared for by owners who have a passion for delivering first-class service.
Simon and Jo have created a wonderful venue where you can create your own wedding and plan everything to fit exactly to your ideas. They are helpful, reliable and friendly, and very accommodating when it comes to planning something unique and personal.
The communication, service and product are undeniably fantastic. Combine this with the beauty of the location and the special feeling that comes with pristine Norfolk countryside and you have a winning recipe.
For anyone planning a wedding or celebration, visiting this gem is an absolute must. Cannot recommend highly enough!
L
Lesley Sent on 16/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

The Reading Room a magical gem

Had our wedding at The Reading Room on the 17th August 2019. A beautiful stunning venue we couldn’t have wished for a better place to have our wedding. Jo and Simon helped make our day absolutely perfect . Everybody keeps mentioning how wonderful The Reading Room and beautiful grounds are. Would highly recommend anybody looking for a venue to book here you wouldn’t be disappointed. What a magical gem The Reading Rooms are.
E
Emma Sent on 21/11/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Our guests are still talking about our day!

Wow. What can we say. Amazing from first time we met you and your stunning venue. Jo and simon were so helpful and dedicated to help make our memories so very special. We had such a fantastic day with vintage games. A band and crazy photographers. Our guests are still taking about our day x
S
Sian Sent on 23/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Looks incredible!

Me and my new husband had a wonderful day at this beautiful venue.

Jo and Simon were very accommodating and helpful from start to finish. From viewing the venue and seeing how stunning it looked to how smoothly the day ran thanks to their help.

It is a venue which is picturesque in itself and so needs minimal decorating (even when empty it still looks incredible!).

We were married outside, fortunately, in their beautiful gardens and guests commented on how special it was.

We used Oyster Catcher Catering who we would also highly recommend!
A perfect venue, thank you!
K
Kirsty Sent on 01/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Best day EVER!!

Thank you so so much to Simon and Jo we got married in your beautiful venue on the 3rd August and you made sure everything was just perfect. I can't recommend highly enough.. You have been so kind and helpful throughout and every single one of our guest were blown away at how beautiful the venue was. Thank you so much it really was the best day EVER!!! - Mr & Mrs Cishion :)
Y
Yasmin Sent on 23/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Our dream wedding

We got married at The Reading Room in July 2019. It was such great venue - we couldn’t have asked for anywhere better!

We had approx 60-70 guests and the venue was just the right size. There was plenty of space for people to enjoy themselves, but it still had a really intimate feeling.

Jo and Simon are fantastic and support you every step of the way. They were really flexible and worked with us to help us achieve our dream wedding.

Fully recommend The Reading Room as a venue!
E
Emma Sent on 01/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

More than we dreamed of

Dearest Jo & Simon, thank you so much for allowing us to have our wedding in such a special place. From the beginning you have been incredibly supporting and full of very helpful advice. It was more than we dreamed of and more importantly we had a blast!!
Emma & Tom x
B
Ben Sent on 27/07/2019
5 out of 5 rating

A beautiful venue.

We celebrated our wedding and reception at The Reading Room. We had originally booked for a November wedding, but due to a family member's ill health, we decided to move it forward to July. Simon and Jo were exceptionally understanding and worked with us to find a date that worked.

They genuinely made the whole process so seamless and were beyond helpful with the setup, the day itself and the pack up.

All of our guests commented on what an amazing job we did of picking a beautiful venue. It really is such a great place, with an amazing team, I can't recommend it highly enough!

Ben & Amber Taylor x
E
Ellie Sent on 16/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

The most idyllic English country wedding

Nick and I got married at the reading rooms on the 9th of July, it really was the most idyllic English country wedding. Simon and Jo are priceless and were there on hand to help wherever we needed it. Thank you so much for helping us achieve our dream wedding. Love Mr and Mrs Austin xx
J
Jade Sent on 16/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

The most magical day.

Myself and James got married at The Reading Room on the 6th July, we had the most magical day.

The venue itself is beautiful and the grounds are kept immaculate. From our first viewing of the venue we knew it felt special to us. We received lots of comments from our guests saying how amazing the venue was.

We would like to say a massive thanks to Simon and Jo for making sure everything ran perfectly on our big day and for all of their help along the way.
We would highly recommend the Reading Room as a venue to anyone looking for an intimate & picturesque venue.

Thank you,

Jade & James x x
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Church Road NR11 7HF Calthorpe (Norfolk)
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