The Pennsylvania Castle Estate, affectionately known as ‘The Penn Estate’, is nestled along the stunning Jurassic coast of Dorset and offers an exclusive wedding venue, quite unlike any other.
With seriously breathtaking sea views and luxuriously comfortable guest accommodations, it promises a wedding experience that is as unforgettable as it is unique. Today, I’m thrilled to delve deeper into the allure and unique appeal of this magnificent venue.
I recently caught up with Kiya Gould, the Marketing and Sales Coordinator at The Penn Estate. Kiya was eager to share a peek behind the scenes and reveal the reasons why this venue is so spectacularly special. For couples looking to marry in Dorset, this one’s for you…
thepennestate.co.uk
What makes The Pennsylvania Castle Estate such a special and unique location and venue for weddings?
The Pennsylvania Castle Estate is located on the cliff edge with honestly incredible sea views, and a backdrop like no other! You really do have to experience it for yourself, it’s magical here.
We offer exclusive use of Pennsylvania Castle, with additional luxury clifftop accommodation allowing for a truly unique wedding experience for our couples and their guests.
thepennestate.co.uk
Could you provide an overview of Pennsylvania Castle’s wedding logistics, including guest capacity for ceremonies and receptions, accommodation capacity for overnight guests, and any late-night license details?
Between mid-May and July, our indoor swimming pool is covered to create the Orangery, a larger room perfect for sea-view dining for up to 100 guests, this is the maximum we can accommodate. Either side of these months when the pool is available, we can accommodate up to 60 guests.
We offer exclusive hire of Pennsylvania Castle and Clifftops, sleeping up to 40 guests, which includes full use of the Castle grounds and the Clifftops roof terrace to host your ceremony and celebrations.
Our license runs until 11pm.
Can couples customise their ceremony and reception settings at the Castle?
Yes of course – we have a variety of different reception and ceremony areas, all of which can be tailored to your day exactly how you would like.
These vary from the traditional outdoor ceremony under the pagoda, indoor areas such as the orangery or library, to the more unique such as our new olive tree ceremony area and clifftops roof terrace with unparalleled sea views.
Our in-house floral design and styling team can work with you to create your exact vision or help create one for you if you’re unsure – they really are so talented and passionate about creating floral beuaty.
What accommodation options are available for wedding guests?
The Castle sleeps up to 20 people and we have 9 en-suite bathrooms.
We also have five luxury clifftops lodges, that sleep 4 each – sleeping another 20 guests. We have additional accommodation across the estate from caravan holiday homes and other lodges. Plenty of beautiful, comfortable space.
Are couples allowed to bring in their own suppliers, such as caterers, decorators, and entertainers – and if they need a little help, are you able to suggest trusted suppliers who are familiar with your Estate?
We’re always happy for our couples to bring in their own choice of suppliers for décor and entertainment – and we love to meet and work with talented new suppliers. However we also provide our couples with a list of our recommended suppliers who we trust and are familiar with the castle and our location. We only recommend suppliers we know are talented, who work efficiently and contribute towards the smooth running of your precious day.
We do also have an in-house Styling & Events Manager, Tessa, who will work closely with you to help you plan, design, and bring to life the wedding day and atmosphere that you are envisaging. With Tessa’s deep experience and the gorgeous Pennsylvania Castle as a backdrop, your vision will seamlessly come to life.
There’s no better feeling for us all as a team than witnessing our couples breath literally being taken away when they enter their ceremony space to se it looking so beautifully styled.
Our catering suppliers are simply the best. We are so fortunate to work with local suppliers who share our interest in sustainability. We know these suppliers well and they have worked with us to create wonderful food and drink options across the Estate.
What support does Pennsylvania Castle offer to help plan the wedding?
We provide a dedicated event planner from point of enquiry right up until after the wedding day. Our event planner provides great support and peace of mine reassurance for all our clients.
Our team are wonderful experts, passionate about about what they do.
We over-see the entire wedding day, leaving couples to enjoy the day and not worry about a thing.
How does the Castle handle logistics for outdoor ceremonies or receptions, considering the unpredictability of British weather?
We will always ensure our couples are aware of their ‘wet-weather back-up option’.Both our indoor and outdoor wedding ceremonies create beautiful moments and atmospheres – it can be spectacular looking out to see when it’s raining!
Literally, our couples never have to worry about anything – our job is to remove an aspect of concern for them so that they can enjoy the build up and the day itself regardless of what the weather has in store. We are here to do everything required to ensure they have one of the best days of their lives with an incredible sense of being really well taken care of by the time they leave – married and loved up!
