Couples can borrow stately homes for weddings

It's definitely old and it is a novel idea – to borrow a historic Shropshire house for a bride and groom's big day.

And some of the county's least known stately homes are joining together to open their historic front doors for top class bespoke wedding celebrations. Historic House Weddings is a new concept for couples hoping for a true fairytale wedding.

Wedding parties can dance their way through a grand hall with 13th century oak panelling and a spectacular stained glass ceiling in the imposing Leighton Hall, between Ironbridge and Shrewsbury.

With an original Queen Anne-style dining room and a second dining room renovated to Victorian splendour, the hall even has a pretty parish church in its grounds which is available for marriage ceremonies. For the first time, wedding couples have the opportunity to dine in elegance at Grade one-listed Mawley Hall, near Cleobury Mortimer, a Georgian country home.

Mawley Hall is offering just five couples the opportunity to stage their wedding celebrations at the venue in 2012.

Hannah Hall is director of Historic House Weddings and with her husband Ed also runs The Wroxeter Hotel, between Shrewsbury and Telford.

She said: "The idea is to borrow these homes for the day. They are stately homes but still lived in by families and not normally open to the public.

"This will be a unique experience for brides and grooms who will have a dream wedding day with the most beautiful backdrops for photographs."

Leighton Hall owner Camilla Corrie said that Hannah and her team had the professionalism, management and 'personal touch' to make a perfect dream wedding.

Visit www.historichouseweddings.com or call Mawley Hall on (01299) 660034.