Your wedding

Credit: John Scofield Photography

The Walled Garden has always been a firm favourite at Tilgate Park, playing host to peaceful formal gardens and ponds, an evergreen hedge maze, events arena and café, making it the perfect location for celebrations like yours.

Entering the magnificent tall wooden gates of the Walled Garden is like stepping into a secret garden, where you are greeted by a 40-metre long pergola of beautiful wisteria, roses, clematis and grape vines. The Family Garden within has been transformed into a magical private garden, able to seat up to 100 guests either side of the aisle leading to a wooden arbour where the ceremony can take place.

Afterwards, it’s the ideal location to serve your guests with some pre-reception drinks whilst you take the opportunity to explore the rest of the park with your photographer.

At the other end of the pergola, the Arena is the perfect location to host a wedding breakfast and/or evening reception in our brand new marquee. Our 24m x 12m marquee is fully lined with ivory drapes, has chandeliers, fairy lights, and a hard floor which is carpeted. It also includes an amazing Zone Array speaker system which provides fantastic sound for dancing but also ensures your guests can chat amongst themselves comfortably whilst sitting only a few metres away.

Outside the marquee the Arena, which measures more than 1,000 square metres, provides ample room for extra entertainment like giant garden games, a mobile bar or caterer and it’s conveniently located next to the evergreen hedge maze where both young and old enjoy finding each other around each twist and turn.

Although there’s no guarantee that the sun will shine, we have the advantage of also having The Barn, which is licensed, so you can choose to move indoors if you prefer.

Tilgate Park is a Dry Hire Venue which means you are free to decorate the venue and choose which suppliers you use for catering, styling and entertainment, for a completely unique day. We have a list of known suppliers who have worked regularly in Tilgate Park if you would like to obtain quotes.

We are happy to arrange a meeting with your suppliers and answer all of their questions such as access to water and power. To enable you to relax and enjoy your day knowing that the safety of your guests is a priority, we insist that all caterers on our premises are registered with Environmental Health and hold a minimum three-star food hygiene rating. Additionally all suppliers must have at least £5 Million Public Liability Insurance, have all their equipment PAT Tested and be able to provide a risk assessment for their service.

There are public toilets available for the use of your guests in the Walled Garden. If it suits your event and guests you may hire in some additional toilets to be sited within the events arena.

The Barn has an enclosed courtyard, two unisex toilets, a large disabled toilet, a kitchenette and a selection of tables and chairs.

Marriage Licence

We have licensed two areas to get legally married: The Wedding Garden and The Barn.

If you wish to have a celebrant wedding in our ancient woodlands, on the main lawns, under your favourite tree or anywhere else within the park just contact us and we will see what we can do!

Alcohol and entertainment

You can bring in a bar to serve drinks for the reception or you may wish to purchase your own. Certain licenses may apply.Serving alcohol must cease at 11pm.

All entertainment must be turned off and guests return home at 11pm. Your suppliers may stay until midnight to clear down and vacate the site. We will lock the gates at midnight.

Parking

We will reserve one space for the wedding car and two spaces for the registrars or celebrant. All guests will be able to park in the main pay and display car park or use the free parking areas nearby.

From having a guided tour of the venue and booking through to the big day, you’ll be looked after by our Events Manager. We will guide you or your wedding planner through everything you need to know about your wedding at Tilgate Park.

Contact us to make an enquiry.