Our 2025 Wedding Season was wonderful. Six couples joined us for truly unique days of celebration and joy. The Gardens, once again, made the most beautiful backdrop for everyone’s ideas and plans and we were very proud to be able to share the gardens and be part of something so important! One of the many beauties of dry hire is that we get to see the gardens reinvented over and over, it is always surprising and never gets boring!

So, as we look towards our future couples, here is some lovely inspiration and advice from Josh and Courtney, who had their very relaxed and elegant wedding reception in August. They had married the week before in a small ceremony, meaning that their reception was all about celebrating them, and their favourite people, with delicious food, flowing drinks and plenty of dancing!. It was a very joyous day, the weather was beautiful, the gardens played their part perfectly and looked flawless, as did Josh and Courtney.

I have asked them some questions about the dry hire process and Wedding planning at Riverhill, in the hope that it will give you a good idea of how it works here. They have added in lots of useful advice and some recommendations for suppliers. I hope that it is helpful. Any questions, please do get in touch.

Favourite suppliers you would like to recommend to other couples?

All our suppliers were incredible, so it was very hard to choose!

The Riot Band were a real highlight — they read the room brilliantly and kept the dance floor full all night! We’ve had so many guests mention how much they enjoyed the music and how it helped create such a fantastic atmosphere for the evening.

James Polley Photography made both of us, and our guests very at ease in front of the camera and as a result has taken the most beautiful photos of the day, which we will cherish forever.

MyTipi were fantastic at creating a great atmosphere and running our bar all night, keeping the drinks flowing for our guests.

Tandem Caterers were wonderful to work with and so accommodating of all dietary requirements, all while giving us free rein over what we wanted to serve to our guests.

What made you decide you wanted a dry hire wedding venue?

We wanted a venue that we could make our own and not feel restricted — somewhere beautiful, with a team we knew we’d get along with throughout the process — and Riverhill ticked all those boxes! Kate and her team made us feel so welcome and were open to everything we planned.

What did you find to be the hardest part of the planning process?

Choosing the right vendors for the wedding we wanted!

What did you like most about dry hire?

The flexibility to make the day unique to us. It allowed us to prioritise our budget in a way that works best for us and our guests.

Is there anything you wished you had known earlier in the planning process?

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from your vendors, they are experts in the wedding industry and we’re great at advising us!

Best advice for future Riverhill Couple

Book Riverhill immediately, you will not regret it!

Favourite part of your day?

Later into the evening, both of us pausing on the dance floor, taking it all in. Seeing all our friends and family dancing and laughing, having the best time meant the world to us both.

What did your guests have to eat?

Leak and goats cheese tartlet

Lamb shoulder or vegan wellington

Dessert table, with every dessert you can imagine!

And late night snacks of cheese toasties and chips cones so guests could carry on dancing the night away whilst eating!