Ever since Kate Middleton married her Prince last year, couples everywhere have fantasized about having their own Royal Wedding. And while getting married in West Minster Abbey isn’t a very realistic option, getting married in a castle is a very viable one!
I recently had the privilege of visiting Highclere Castle just outside of London. Set in the gorgeous English countryside, this victorian castle has been home to the Carnarvon family since the early 1600’s. In fact, the Earl and Countess still live here and I had the great honor of sitting down for tea with Lady Carnarvon during my visit.
To visit Highclere is to step back in time.... which makes sense why the popular series Downton Abbey is filmed on location there. It was fascinating to hear Lady Carnarvon talk about how she, her husband, their four sons and three dogs call this 300 room castle home. Yes, it takes a small army (a staff of 100 ) to keep everything running, there are no showers in any of the 80 bathrooms and no TV, but somehow- this family gets on just fine.
As I sat in the drawing room, sipping my tea- I took in my surroundings. Ornately decorated with antiques and glorious oil paintings, the room also had quite a cozy feel to it. A mixture of old and new- the room was filled with photographs- old black & white pictures of the royal family mixed in with colorful snapshots of the Carnarvon’s today.
The castle has become a wildly popular place to visit due to the popularity of the fictional, UK drama- “Downton Abbey”- set in the Edwardian period and depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King George V.
The castle is open for tours, but is also available to rent out for weddings.
There are multiple options within the castle and it’s surrounding grounds to accommodate weddings from 10 to 400 people. They’ve done everything from a proper English Garden wedding for 300 people under a marquis in the garden to a more intimate affair in the library. And while there are no overnight accommodations for guests in the castle itself, there are multiple hotels just down the road.
So for all those ladies out there who want to have a real Cinderella experience on their Wedding Day- Runaway Bride can help you make this happen at Highclere Castle or any of the other beautiful castles throughout Europe!
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