A Small,  Exclusive Yorkshire Dales Wedding Venue

With the magnificent backdrop of Barden Tower and the splendid Upper Wharfedale valley, this is an ideal location for your special day whether a wedding, civil partnership, naming ceremony or even the renewal of your vows.

The Priests House has a civil wedding licence for the Oak Room, which is ideal for small ceremonies and receptions of up to 34 guests. Whilst space is limited, this adds to the intimacy and romantic feel of the day. The Priests House is not a hotel, it is a family run restaurant and we pride ourselves on our service, cuisine and the personal touches that make you feel like the most important person in the world. We don’t employ wedding coordinators  - as the proprietor, Debbie, will liaise with you directly throughout your planning and on the day itself, even designing and making your floral arrangements, including room displays, bouquets and button holes.  

Booking the Priests House as your exclusive Yorkshire wedding venue means it will be reserved solely for your private use, enabling you to enjoy the day and not worry about mingling with guests from other than your own party. Furthermore, we never host more than one wedding a day thus ensuring our total dedication to you.

The photo opportunities are endless, with superb backdrops of the ruin of the once magnificent tower, the Priests House itself, the orchard, the woods or the valley stretching into the distance. We can recommend several local photographers who have extensive experience of working with us and albums of their work are available to view at the restaurant.

Being a top restaurant the cuisine is excellent with all dishes being individually prepared. There is a choice of menus which can be refined to suit your individual requirements and most special needs can be catered for.

We can also provide our home made wedding cheese cakes which are becoming increasingly popular or traditional wedding cakes.

This historic Yorkshire venue also lends itself superbly for receptions with a difference, especially medieval themed weddings.

Whilst not a hotel and thus cannot provide individual guest accommodation, there is the Barden Bunk Barn on site which sleeps up to 24. This is used by many wedding parties as accommodation but also to extend the day or for an evening buffet or reception.

See our wedding services page for more information about our services, including our recommended photographers.

“Quite stunning

the venue, the food, the service, everything.

We are so glad we held our special day here”

Exclusive wedding venue

Everybody wants to make that special day the most memorable day of their life, and the venue for a wedding plays a huge part in making the day as memorable as can be. So what could be nicer than hosting your dream day, the most important day of your life, at one of the most beautiful locations in the country? As a memorable wedding venue, The Priests House, located at the very heart of the breathtaking Yorkshire Dales, is just about as picturesque as it gets as well as being an intimate and exclusive destination to have that perfect ceremony and reception. Perched in front of the stunning backdrop of the historic Barden Tower and nestled in the natural beauty of the Upper Wharfedale Valley, The Priests House makes for an idyllic wedding venue which has proved universally popular with guests of all ages. The Priests House is a Grade 1 listed building and enjoys an excellent reputation for the quality of its restaurant and for the high calibre of the wedding services it hosts. Since people of course want the most heavenly and exclusive venue for their special day, This superb North Yorkshire venue makes for a dream wedding venue by having a perfect blend of historic and natural beauty as well as offering fantastic quality food in beautiful architecture. The buildings of The Priests House themselves hark back to medieval times and are truly a picture of dramatic beauty in a striking natural environment. As far as it goes for an unusual wedding venue, anybody thinking of making plans to tie the knot and who wants a charming wedding venue to make their day even more memorable would be well advised to investigate the options offered by The Priests House in Yorkshire.

Small wedding venue

Intimacy and privacy as often cited as key factors when choosing a wedding venue, and The Priests House enjoys a reputation as a romantic wedding venue thanks to the cosy nature of its architecture and its private but picturesque surroundings. A wedding should benefit from having everything about it be absolutely perfect, and The Priests House has a team of experienced, expert staff on hand to help manage every element of the big day. The intimate wedding venue holds a civil wedding license which allows registrars to carry out civil marriage ceremonies in either its beautiful Stargazers Room or classy Oak Room. There is a choice of menus available to suit all palates, at a range of prices including vegetarian options, and wedding breakfasts and receptions can enjoy dining to be as formal or as informal as the guest chooses. There is also a pretty outside terrace available for any guests who wish do host their drinks receptions outdoors, and the terrace offers spectacular views over the Upper Wharfedale Valley. The terrace proves particularly popular as an extension of The Priests House function rooms when the weather is fine and sunny. Many guests like to take advantage of the outside terrace to use it as a splendid and picture-perfect backdrop for their wedding photographs, blending the happiest moment of their lives with some of the most eye-catching natural scenery in the country. The gorgeous natural beauty of the surrounding area, the beautiful and historic architecture of the buildings and top class dining all come together to make The Priests House one of the most spectacular wedding venues in the country and many people who have held or attended wedding ceremonies here have commented that they found it to be the most perfect wedding venue.

Fine dining and accommodation to match

One of the nicest additions to a wedding day is the option of staying over at the venue where the wedding has been held. After all, the last thing that guests and family want to do having had a wonderful day and a sociable evening is to have to get into taxis or coaches to be ferried off to another location. So for guests who wish to stay over at the historic wedding venue which is The Priests House, there is accommodation available in the next-door Barden Bunk Barn. Lying next to the ancient and historic ruin of Barden Tower, the Barden Bunk Barn is a historic building in its own right and was converted from former stables and stores in medieval times into the quaint accommodation it is today. The Barn can sleep as many as 24 guests and many guests like to extend their wedding day by hosting an evening drinks reception in the barn thus making the whole day on one secluded site The barn is also grade 1 listed as is The Priests House, and represents one of the most popular historic buildings in the whole of the North of England. Guests staying in the Barden Bunk Barn can wake up in the morning and look out on fantastic views of the Upper Wharfedale Valley and the beautiful surrounding hills. Guests who have chosen to continue their wedding party by staying overnight in the Barden Bunk Barn rarely report any disappointments, only compliments and thanks.

Plans are in hand to develop an accompanying historic, derelict barn into delightful, luxury bedrooms where the ancient will meet the future and become a truly unique wedding venue.

Wedding intricacies

Perhaps the biggest stress people cite when planning and executing a wedding is that of fearing that things will go wrong on the day. There are so many different elements to remember and even the best-laid plans do go wrong. The Priests House recognizes and understands this. Be assured however that Debbie will ensure the day runs smoothly once at The Priests House, which will take as much weight off the shoulders of the guests and family as possible, allowing them to fully enjoy their day. On top of the room hire, wedding service, and food and accommodation, additional services on offer at the premier wedding venue we can organise alll the wedding requirements for flowers and place settings, provide decorated, cheese cakes and also recommend experienced professional wedding photographers who knows the special wedding venue intimately and can therefore take the perfect pictures for you. The Priests House is able to provide and arrange all the room flowers, plus also buttonholes and bespoke cake decorations to meet your needs. All of these different elements, flowers, buttonholes and cake adornments can be colour-coded to match and complement the surrounding décor of the venue and also of course match up with the colour schemes you have chosen for your wedding and outfits. Staff have years’ worth of expertise and knowledge in making sure that your big day is absolutely perfect. The Priests House might be a quiet wedding venue but its attention to detail is first rate, so please contact Debbie today with any questions you might have about the little details.

A wedding with a difference

Since the wedding day is generally accepted as the biggest and most important day in anyone’s life, isn’t it worth reaching out a little further and choosing a venue which is entirely memorable? Why choose a 1960s designed and built registry office or a municipal or council building when you can have the most beautiful and alternative wedding venue around? Among the many reasons so many people have stated that they enjoyed having their wedding service and ceremony at The Priests House is that they like the difference and uniqueness inherent in having their marriage ceremony in a medieval wedding venue. The day should be as memorable as possible, so The Priests House even offers the unusual option of having a ‘themed’ wedding. If they so choose guests can go as far as dressing up in period costume, though this is perhaps for certain types of people only! The Priests House is happy to help guests who want to stage a themed wedding, not necessarily medieval although it does work well with the themed wedding venue look and feel. The Priests House is a small wedding venue but we have found over the years than many people do appreciate the intimacy, attention to detail and personal service which go with that and many satisfied customers have stated that they enjoyed being able to visit and utilize such a bespoke wedding venue. At The Priests House we understand the importance of the day to the happy couple, their guests, their friends and their families, so we like to ensure that people have as memorable a day as possible. Our licensed wedding venue makes for the perfect location for the perfect day and we take a pride in not only meeting but very much exceeding guests’ expectations.

Privacy and peace guaranteed

A wedding is a unique, personal occasion where people have specific desires and demands which are particular to them alone. One of the things mentioned by many people when planning their wedding ceremony is that they would like to have as much peace and quiet and as much privacy as possible so as not to disturb the ceremony – after all bride and groom are usually nervous enough without any outside intrusions or distractions! At The Priests House we believe that our private wedding venue makes for the perfect place to get away from it all in intimate surroundings, have the ideal marriage ceremony and also of course relax and enjoy the beautiful views and exquisite surrounding landscape of the Yorkshire Dales. The Priests House is considered by many people to be perhaps the most picturesque wedding venue in the country, being as it is a perfect mix of architecture, landscape, food and seclusion. Also, and unlike many wedding venues these days, we are happy to be an informal wedding venue. Many other destinations these days have gone to the killjoy step of banning confetti at their ceremonies, but not The Priests House. We believe that people should enjoy their day the way they want, and if that means them having fun by greeting the happy couple in the time-honoured way by throwing confetti at them, so be it! The Priests House might be a peaceful wedding venue but that doesn’t mean that guests don’t have a fantastic time and loads of fun at our wedding ceremonies. For further information about the amazing and memorable wedding ceremonies available at The Priests House, download our brochure or give us a call today to discuss your requirements. You won’t regret it.