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About

On Hitched.co.uk since 2022

Last update: September 2024

Surround yourself in over 400 years of history. Set within Hatfield Park, Hatfield Park has two wedding spaces for you to choose from. The setting of each venue is dramatically different but provide equally eye-catching qualities.

Our biggest indoor venue, the magnificent Tudor Old Palace, was built in 1485 and the childhood home of Elizabeth I where she held her first Council of State. It is one of the foremost examples of mediaeval brickwork in the country, and still retains its original wood beams and impressive high ceilings. The Tapestry, elegantly hanging in the Old Palace, is a replica of the original 'Devonshire Hunting Series', which you can now find in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The stunning and open Knot Garden, attached to the Old Palace, is based on Elizabethan patterns, and provides the most picturesque wedding photos. The Raised Lawn is perfect for outdoor blessings, drinks receptions, and lawn games, with breath-taking views of Hatfield House, home to Lord and Lady Salisbury who reside there today.

The Old Palace can accommodate large weddings from 80 – 250 guests on long or round banqueting tables, and space for a DJ and dancefloor. Our large bar is attached to the room, meaning guests do not have to wonder far for drinks, and is the perfect space to add additional entertainment such as photobooths.

The Riding School blends historic features with modern architecture to offer a contemporary alternative. Located in the Stable Yard, its origin was to accommodate the horses and families motor cars. In 2010 the Riding School was transformed into what it is today. Its glass roof allows the room to be flooded with natural daylight, and the mezzanine level adds versatile characteristics to this venue. This is a fitting venue for smaller weddings of 40 – 110 guests. The Riding School can also be hired out in conjunction with the Old Palace.

All our venues have ample free parking and direct train links with Hatfield Station adjacent to Hatfield Park. The Old Palace and Riding School are also licensed for civil ceremonies.

Hatfield House is a renowned filming location for blockbuster hits such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Batman Begins, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and Netflix productions such as The Crown, The Great, and Bridgerton.

Frequently asked questions

Venue type:

In the country
Unusual weddings
Asian wedding
Castle
Stately home
Historic
Landmark
Marquees and tents
Woodland and festival
Church
Outdoor license
Tipis and yurts
Vineyard weddings
Unique weddings

Ceremony options:

Fire ceremony
Civil ceremony licence
Religious ceremony license

Dining options:

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

Evening entertainment:

Marquee available
Entertainment licence
Live band facilities
Evening reception facilities
DJ facilities

Overnight accommodation:

Overnight accommodation for wedding couple

Venue staff assistance:

Master of ceremonies/toastmaster
Wedding coordinator

Venue leisure facilities:

Hairdresser
Beautician

Other features:

Exclusive use
Accessible facilities
Car parking
Changing room for wedding guests
Pet-friendly
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Do you have any questions?

Reviews for Hatfield House

We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to make your big decisions easier.
4.9 out of 5 rating
Hitched Wedding Awards 2024 Winner
4.9 out of 5 rating
60 reviews
98% recommend it
  • Quality of the service
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    5 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.9 out of 5 rating
R
Rosie L. Sent on 23/09/2023
5 out of 5 rating

September 2023 wedding

We had our dream wedding at Hatfield House in September 2023. Courtney was so helpful and attentive in helping us to plan our big day, going over all the key details to put our minds at ease. On the day itself, Chris, Tom and the rest of the team were absolutely amazing and so helpful. They really helped us to achieve our dream day. Everything ran as perfectly as we could have hoped - including the weather! The food was also amazing and we received so many compliments from our guests. Thank you to Alessio and the rest of the catering team for creating and delivering such a fantastic wedding menu for us. We're so pleased that we chose to have our wedding at Hatfield House. All of our guests had an amazing day and we have fantastic memories to last a lifetime. Big thank you to the Hatfield House hospitality team for helping to create such an amazing day for us!
Libby
Libby Sent on 23/11/2024
2.2 out of 5 rating

Amazing venue but management needs improvement

Hatfield House Old Palace is an absolutely beautiful location, my guests were blown away by the palace itself and the gardens - on the day everything was very smooth. The history of Hatfield has great significance to me so I wouldn't have wanted our reception to be anywhere else. However, the management of the venue changed hands during our wedding planning process and at first we had a coordinator that replied quickly and was very helpful - although did overpromise on certain points - but once she left and we were handed over to the new company, the communication was terrible. I would send emails and not ever get a reply particularly on key points like booking our food tasting - in the end I had to call up Hatfield several times to organise it. For the amount on money we spent on the venue, you really do expect more. Food was good but not outstanding. All in all I wouldn't have changed a single thing about the day but Hatfield Hospitality need to step up.
Ellie
Ellie G. Sent on 24/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing Wedding at Hatfield House!

We had our July 2023 wedding at Hatfield House and I couldn't recommend it more! Both my husband and I had a lovely space to get ready in (despite having our ceremony in a different place) and we had access to these rooms all day. The Old Palace is a gorgeous setting for a wedding breakfast and the space is large enough for half of it to be a dance floor - this meant the transition to the evening was completely seamless. The Rose Garden and Knot Garden are beautiful and private spaces for your drinks reception and our guests continually complimented us on such a gorgeous venue! I just wish we could go back and do the whole day again!
Ashni
Ashni T. Sent on 24/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

A true fairytale

Nothing could have prepared us for how beautiful our wedding would be at Hatfield house. The venue itself is straight out of a fairytale, and all of our guests were blown away by the location. Courtney and her team went above and beyond to make the day perfect for us, from answering our millions of questions to working tirelessly with all of our suppliers to be as accommodating as possible. We couldn’t have asked for a better venue!
Jess
Jess P. Sent on 12/05/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Wonderful, Adaptable, Generous, Versatile, Friendly

The people we were in contact with throughout the planning process for our wedding were all excellent, generous, helpful, responsive and kind.

Courtney, particularly, stepped in later in the process due to a couple of other staff members moving on (maternity leave and other things I think) and she was so supportive and genuinely excited to make our day amazing.

We had a very complicated dinner list with dietary requirements but everything was catered for - we even had an utterly delicious and chic menu tasting experience.

I didn't use any official suppliers as I was making everything myself and they were happy to let me see the venue and make arrangements and ask as many (possibly silly) questions as I liked!

We had a number of unusual requests, including putting up an aerial rig inside the hall and performing a fire show outside in the evening, and they didn't bat an eyelid! They were able to obtain permission and everything went totally smoothly. I'm just glad a few of the staff were there to enjoy the show!

They were open and attentive to my questions and knowledgable about the building itself, I didn't feel unsure about anything at any time. The day ran like clockwork (if a little behind, but that was entirely our fault).

The site itself is beautiful and great for big weddings, we had 150 guests. I definitely felt like I got my money's worth.
Beatrice
Beatrice M. Sent on 30/10/2022
5 out of 5 rating

The perfect venue

We had truly the most amazing day!! Courtney and the team on the floor - Chris etc were Absolutley amazing! Our day was a dream and more perfect than we could have ever imagined!! The room looked amazing everyone said it looked like a pop up fairytale. I just smile every time i think about it! The food was amazing, service incredible, it was all wonderful. Thank you so much xxx
Zoes
Zoe W. Sent on 27/10/2022
4.8 out of 5 rating

Can we do it again?

From the minute we stepped into the Old Palace back in Aug 2020, something clicked for us and we knew it had to be our wedding venue. We booked in June 2021 for our Oct 2022 wedding. It was the best day ever from start to finish. I've never been to a big event where everyone said how great the food was. And that's what people remember! Bar was perfectly sized for the numbers, and everyone was blown away by the venue itself. Makes me emotional thinking about our big day, I want to do it again and again. Everyone in one room, no waiting around in side halls, beautiful gardens on site, oozing history, it's perfect. Thank you Hatfield House!
Samantha
Samantha F. Sent on 10/10/2022
5 out of 5 rating

A perfect wedding day

My husband and I got married at the Old Palace in June 2022 and it was a truly wonderful experience. In the lead up to the day the HH staff (particularly Letisha) were friendly, accommodating, and always keen to help us with any queries or little changes we needed to make. On the wedding itself, Chris coordinated the events of entire day along with his team of staff and everything went perfectly. He checked in throughout to make sure all was well and his calm demeanor was just what we needed. The HH staff are clearly very well practiced at undertaking weddings here and it really shows. I couldn't recommend them enough and would love to do the day all over again!
Nina
Nina D. Sent on 26/05/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Pure perfection!

My husband (eek!) and I got married at The Old Palace, Hatfield House just a couple of weeks ago. Everything about the experience of getting married there was just incredible. Alice our wedding co-ordinator extraordinaire was amazing, from the very first time we got in touch, right through to the day of the wedding! Super professional and so organised, the day was seamless. Chris was an absolute superstar as well and made sure everything was prepped and ready to go on the day and that everything kept to time - this was a huge task as our wedding party met the venue's maximum capacity. We had the best day ever - the venue is stunning (inside and out!), the food was delish, the drinks kept flowing (wine selection was also fab!), the staff were attentive. We have had so many compliments from our guests who couldn't believe how perfect and magical the day was, and quite a few have asked for the names of the wine and champagne that was served. We were also so lucky with the time of year because there was beautiful wisteria everywhere. If you are thinking about getting married here then absolutely go for it! Thank you Alice, Chris and team for everything you did to make our day so special.
Joelle
Joelle A. Sent on 09/09/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Fairytale Wedding

We had the most beautiful wedding at Hatfield House. After some disappointments with other venues, Hatfield House were able to accommodate and help us put together our wedding in just 2 weeks!

The day was amazing, beautiful and completely stress free. Thank you so much to Perri, Letisha, Chris who was our coordinator on the day, and the entire team at Hatfield! They were extremely flexible and no request was too hard for them to meet.

Our guests really enjoyed the wedding and many people have described it as a fairytale wedding because of the stunning venue and pictures. Would definitely recommend and looking forward to celebrating at this venue again!
K
Kathryn Sent on 20/09/2023
4.2 out of 5 rating

The best day of our lives!!!

The setting was beautiful. Courtney and her team were so helpful and made it all an easy process. We wish we could do it all over again!
A
Anna C. Sent on 13/09/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Fantastic location, team and wedding

We had a great experience with Hatfield House for our wedding in August. Very responsive and professional during the the preparation and planning and really helpful on the day. Many guests commented on how great the venue was, how helpful the staff were, how good the food was etc. When planning the wedding, we obviously had the expectation that it would be great but we both commented afterwards that we did not imagine that the whole experience would be that great! We felt taken care of from start to finish!
S
Sally M. Sent on 06/09/2023
4.8 out of 5 rating

Wonderful wedding venue

We had an amazing wedding at Hatfield House, The Old Palace. The venue is absolutely beautiful and our guests all loved it. The Knot Garden provides many wonderful opportunities for photographs.
The Hatfield House team provided incredible support during the planning phase and on the day itself. We could not have asked for anything more.
Would definitely recommend this venue to any couple considering it for their wedding. It will be a day to remember!
C
Christina P. Sent on 22/08/2023
4.4 out of 5 rating

A beautiful day

This venue is spectacular & they were very flexible working with us on needing to change our date several times due to Covid restrictions. While the coordinator we worked with changed 3 times over the course of our planning, everything we wanted & had discussed happened in the end.
I would recommend reviewing all details of place settings, tables, chairs, etc and confirm in writing what will be available on your day, as that was the only issue we had - unfortunately this was sprung on us at the 11th hour, but was fixed in the end.
Chris on the day was stellar. He was calm, supportive and kept everything moving in a gentle way. He is a gem.
The food was delicious - we really appreciated the chef taking our feedback to heart and delivering exceptional dishes.
I would do it all again the same tomorrow if I could! :)
K
Kathryn H. Sent on 11/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect day!

Courtney was phenomenal from start to finish. We were constantly in touch with questions, which she answered quickly, and helped drive us towards decisions around suppliers which really made the day special. We couldn't fault any of the staff on the day either - the kitchen staff, waiters, bar staff and event management ensured the day went literally perfectly. Can't recommend this venue and team highly enough!
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Badges

Hitched Wedding Awards 2024 Winner
Hitched Wedding Awards 2023 Winner
Hitched Wedding Awards 2022 Winner

Hatfield House Real Weddings

Sophie & Andrew
37 photos · 18/09/2021
adeola & bova
43 photos · 14/07/2021
Larah & James
82 photos · 08/08/2019

Map

Hatfield House (Old Palace) AL9 5NB Hatfield (Hertfordshire)
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