Something borrowed, something new, something with an infinity pool overlooking the Aegean.
There has never been a better time to get married somewhere spectacular. Destination weddings are up, micro-weddings are up, multi-day celebrations are up, and couples are, quite sensibly, deciding that if you’re going to go to all the trouble, you might as well do it somewhere genuinely unforgettable. The result is a golden era for venue-hunting, with newly restored estates, architecturally ambitious hotels and centuries-old monasteries all competing for the honour of hosting your big day.
The options, as ever, are almost paralysing. A Provençal château or a Maldivian overwater villa? An English estate with helicopter access or a private Belizean island with a helipad and a reef? A Somerset manor house or a cliff-top in Oia? The possibilities are enough to make you want to elope.
We’ve done the shortlisting for you. From the American Finger Lakes to the Bologna hills, the Algarve to Santorini, these are the venues our editors keep returning to: places that earn their place not just on aesthetics, but on food, service, atmosphere and the specific feeling that this is, without question, the right setting for the most important day of your life. Here’s where to start looking.
Wedding venues at a glance:
Best for cliffside drama: W Algarve
Best for architectural obsessives: The Lake House on Canandaigua
Best for Italian countryside maximalism: Palazzo di Varignana
Best for English heritage: Orchardleigh
Best for Aegean romance: Canaves Oia Suites
Best for royal credentials: Penha Longa Resort
Best for celebrity-approved Provence: Château de Tourreau
W Algarve, Armação de Pêra, Southern Portugal
Best for: Clifftop ceremonies with an edge
The Algarve has always delivered on scenery. W Algarve delivers on scenery and then keeps going. Perched on the iconic cliffs of southern Portugal, this is a venue that suits couples who want something genuinely dramatic without sacrificing the kind of service infrastructure that makes a large wedding run smoothly. The on-site event planner handles everything end to end, which matters more than people admit until they’re three months into planning and deeply regretting not having one.
The venue options across the property cover every scale and mood. The Garden Fountain accommodates up to 250 guests for receptions and moonlit sit-down dinners. The cliff-top space at AIR is built for seaside ceremonies with actual altitude. Sea Sky overlooks the golden bay of Armação de Pêra. Studios spread over 515 sqm and 2,000 sqm of outdoor space complete the picture, along with live music, signature scents and a catering programme broad enough to satisfy everyone. As the sun drops over the Atlantic, the scenery takes care of the rest. No further decoration required.
The Lake House on Canandaigua, Finger Lakes, New York
Best for: Design-forward couples who want their venue to have a point of view
The Finger Lakes is not the obvious answer, and that is precisely what makes it the right one. The Lake House on Canandaigua is a MICHELIN Guide-recommended lakefront resort with the design credentials to match: conceived by PostCompany in collaboration with The Brooklyn Home Company, it blends contemporary architecture with natural materials, floor-to-ceiling windows and the kind of considered interiors that photograph well without trying to.
The Event Barn is the centrepiece: a modern timber-frame space with exposed beams and sweeping views of Canandaigua Lake that manages to feel both grand and properly relaxed. Beyond it, lush lakefront gardens and a long private dock offer a dramatic ceremony aisle or sunset portrait setting that few venues of any kind can match. The surrounding Finger Lakes wine region keeps guests occupied across a full wedding weekend, with award-winning wineries, boating, spa rituals at Willowbrook Spa and seasonal outdoor activities filling every available hour. This is the venue for couples who want the celebration to feel like an experience, not just an event.
Palazzo di Varignana, Bologna Hills, Italy
Best for: The couple who wants Italy to pull out every stop simultaneously
Twenty minutes from Bologna, set across 30 hectares of parkland, Palazzo di Varignana is the kind of place that makes restraint feel beside the point. At its heart is Palazzo Bentivoglio, a 1705 country castle with four towers, surrounded by a contemporary stone village built in architecture that respects rather than competes with the landscape. The gardens are listed in the Grandi Giardini Italiani network. There is a 1921 vintage railway carriage converted into an intimate dining venue. There is a natural amphitheatre among the vineyards that seats 250 people. The VARSANA Spa runs to 43,000 sq ft. This is maximalism in the very best Italian tradition.
Wedding venue options run from Spazio Belvedere, a 770 sqm space across two floors for larger receptions, to the vineyard amphitheatre for outdoor ceremonies, to historic cellars beneath the palazzo for something more atmospheric. Five restaurants cover every register from fine dining at Il Grifone, led by Chef Francesco Manograsso, to the traditional Trattoria Le Marzoline. Everything is sourced from the resort’s own 650-hectare agricultural estate. Couples can incorporate wellness programming for guests, arrange wine cellar tastings, hold ceremonies among the olive groves, or symbolically adopt an olive tree as part of the celebration. Six private villas sleep up to 12 guests each for wedding parties wanting their own contained world. It is a lot, in the best possible sense.
Monkey Island Estate, Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire
Best for: Thames-side romance with 300 years of distinguished guests already on the books
There is something genuinely special about a venue that has been attracting interesting people since the 18th century and still manages to feel like a discovery. Monkey Island Estate sits on the calm banks of the Thames in Bray, originally constructed by the Duke of Marlborough as a fishing retreat, subsequently visited by monarchs, aristocrats and artists, and now operating as a luxury hotel with the kind of romance credentials that require no marketing.
The Wedgwood Suite, Grade I listed, overlooks the estate and the river in a way that makes the photographs inevitable. A Floating Spa sits on the water. Bray’s restaurant scene, one of the most decorated in Britain, is on your doorstep. The Romance on Monkey Island package covers the suite, breakfast, and a scattering of the sort of touches (rose petals, you know the ones) that feel genuinely indulgent rather than off-a-checklist here. For couples who want an English wedding venue with history baked in and the Thames outside the window, this is where to look.
Baros Maldives, North Malé Atoll, Maldives
Best for: The couple who needs the Indian Ocean as a backdrop, non-negotiable
Nine consecutive years as Most Romantic Resort at the World Travel Awards. That is not a detail you gloss over. Baros Maldives has built a reputation on the kind of considered, unhurried romance that makes a destination wedding feel genuinely private rather than just tropical. Ceremonies are timed for the dry season, November to April, when the skies are clear and the Indian Ocean behaves itself.
Accommodation runs from beachfront villas to overwater bungalows suspended directly above the lagoon, where guests fall asleep to the sound of water below. Post-ceremony options include sunset sailing aboard a private luxury yacht or the Nooma Love Boat, a handcrafted traditional Maldivian dhoni designed for two. A private beachfront dinner follows, candlelit, set metres from the shore. For couples who have decided that the Indian Ocean is the only appropriate setting and are not interested in further debate, Baros makes the case conclusively.
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
Best for: Cinematic beachfront celebrations with legendary service
Fifteen oceanfront acres on Maui’s Wailea Coast, legendary Four Seasons service, and a series of settings that range from barefoot beachfront ceremonies to elegant terrace receptions overlooking the Pacific. The Four Seasons Maui has been doing this long enough to make it look effortless, which, as anyone who has planned a wedding knows, is the hardest thing of all.
The signature Ultimate Dinner Experience is worth singling out: a fully customised, chef-curated five-course dinner in a secluded oceanfront location, complete with a personal planning consultation, sommelier-selected pairings, curated florals, candlelight and live music. For proposals, anniversaries and wedding nights, it creates something that sits outside the usual vocabulary of hotel dining and into something properly memorable. The Hawaiian sunset does the rest. It’s very good at it.
Cayo Espanto, San Pedro, Belize
Best for: Complete privacy, a private reef, and a wedding for eighteen people maximum
Three miles off the coast of San Pedro, Cayo Espanto is a private island with seven recently renovated villas, a helipad and the world’s second-largest coral reef system on its doorstep. Weddings here run from an intimate ceremony for two to a full island rental for up to 18 guests, which is either a limitation or, depending on your perspective, the entire point. The award-winning on-island chef handles the food. The hands-on staff handle everything else.
Standard packages include the marriage licence processing, minister, registration, certified marriage certificate, bouquet and boutonniere, and a small wedding cake. Extras, including a sunset cruise, can be added. For couples who want total seclusion and a reef you can actually swim on the morning after, Cayo Espanto has the argument essentially won before the conversation starts.
Borgo Antichi Orti, Assisi, Umbria, Italy
Best for: The slow-wedding couple who wants ceremony, wellness and Umbrian hills in the same weekend
Just outside the ancient walls of Assisi, this former 15th-century Benedictine monastery is the kind of venue that makes the phrase “destination wedding” feel freshly earned. Twelve elegantly restored residences, 10,000 sqm of organic gardens known as The Hortuli, and panoramic views across Umbria’s rolling hills form the setting. It is deeply, quietly beautiful in a way that owes nothing to interior design and everything to eight centuries of considered habitation.
Ceremonies unfold beneath the Pergola, beside the gardens or overlooking the basilica skyline. Guests can join foraging walks, eat farm-to-table dinners with ingredients harvested on-site, and book Elemental Massages in the Herbarium Path wellness space. Bridal yoga at sunrise is available if that’s what you want from your morning. For couples drawn to the growing trend for multi-day celebrations with genuine soul rather than just added nights, Borgo Antichi Orti makes the case better than almost anywhere on this list.
Orchardleigh, Somerset, England
Best for: The quintessential English estate wedding, done properly
Five hundred acres of Somerset countryside, a lakeside boathouse, a secluded island church, a castle and a stately house. Orchardleigh has the complete set, which is one reason why couples keep choosing it and why multi-day bookings here have become the norm rather than the exception. Arrival options include helicopter and a fleet of Rolls-Royces. The on-site golf course, shooting and fishing keep a wedding party occupied from Thursday to Sunday without anyone needing to leave the estate.
The flexibility is genuinely unusual. One, two, three or four-day celebrations are all available. Dry hire or fully inclusive packages. Guest accommodation on-site throughout. A dedicated weddings team led by co-owner Heather Vincent, who has the kind of institutional knowledge that only comes from years of doing this at one specific, extraordinary place. For an English country wedding without compromise, Orchardleigh is the answer.
De Vere Tortworth Court, Gloucestershire, England
Best for: The hometown-wedding couple who wants a Victorian manor and Cotswolds countryside without the Italian transfer costs
Hometown weddings are having a moment, and De Vere Tortworth Court is well placed to benefit. A Victorian manor on the southern edge of the Cotswolds, it underwent a multi-million-pound restoration and has emerged with its 1874 bones very much intact and a genuinely impressive set of spaces to show for it. The glass-panelled Orangery, dating to 1874, is adorned with indoor trees, exposed brickwork and subtle lighting, accommodating up to 120 guests with direct access to the manicured gardens, terrace and bandstand. The Westminster Suite handles up to 280. The newly refurbished Victoria Suite offers original wooden beams and panelled walls for something more intimate.
The Exclusively Yours package covers exclusive use of the Mansion House and Leaf Spa, including treatments, a five-course wedding breakfast, departure morning brunch, discounted room rates and an anniversary stay. The 201 bedrooms include newly refurbished courtyard suites available for private hire for wedding parties of up to 50. The spa runs to six renovated treatment rooms, a swimming pool and a sauna. Every couple gets a private rehearsal dinner the night before, followed by a nightcap in the library bar. There is something to be said for a venue that takes the entire weekend seriously, not just the Saturday.
Château de Tourreau, Sarrians, Provence, France
Best for: Provence doing what it does best, only privately
There’s a reason this estate became famous, and it has nothing to do with the celebrity wedding that happened here. Arriving through the north gates, past the Tourreau family’s lion statues and down a cypress-lined avenue that takes its time, the 18th-century pastel façade stops you properly in your tracks. The bas-relief sculptures, the warm stone, the unhurried grandeur of it. We were, frankly, done for.
Set across 20 acres near Avignon, the estate encompasses six grand salons, nine suites, manicured jardins à la française, an infinity pool, orchards, fountains and a consecrated chapel dating to 1614 that seats 70. Outdoor receptions accommodate up to 150 guests. There are no noise restrictions and no ballroom template to follow, just a blank canvas of an estate waiting for fairy lights and al fresco dinners under a darkening Provençal sky. Marseille Provence Airport is an hour away, Avignon is 30 minutes. Don’t miss the lavender. Obviously.
Le Grand Contrôle, Versailles, France
Best for: Getting married in the literal shadow of Versailles, because why not
Built in 1681 and meticulously restored, Le Grand Contrôle sits with Versailles as its neighbour and history embedded in every detail. It is the kind of venue where the guest WhatsApp group simply stops being ironic and everyone is, without qualification, impressed. Available for exclusive hire for intimate gatherings or multi-day celebrations, the estate offers royal garden backdrops, private grounds and a once-in-a-lifetime setting with absolutely nobody else around.
If your idea of a wedding involves the words “Baroque,” “private,” and “no really, the actual Palace of Versailles is right there,” this is your venue. The level of grandeur is considerable. The level of satisfaction, presumably, higher.
Son Brull, Pollença, Mallorca, Spain
Best for: The Relais & Châteaux couple who wants Tramuntana views and genuine soul
Son Brull has something a lot of Mallorcan fincas don’t: actual character. A 17th-century monastery turned boutique five-star hotel, it sits just outside Pollença in the north of the island, surrounded by vineyards and the kind of quiet that makes you realise how loud everywhere else is. The ceremony area shelters under a mature oak tree in the courtyard, with mountain views beyond it. Twenty-three rooms, a spa using locally sourced Mallorcan products, and a restaurant that takes its seasonal menu seriously complete the picture.
Mallorca has no shortage of venues that look good in photographs. Son Brull is one of the ones that actually feels like something. Its membership of Relais & Châteaux tells you everything you need to know about the standard of hospitality. The mountains do the rest.
Penha Longa Resort, Sintra, Portugal
Best for: Fairytale weddings with genuine royal credentials
Once the retreat of the Portuguese royal family, this Ritz-Carlton property sits inside the Sintra National Park, 16 miles from Lisbon and ten minutes from the beaches of Estoril. The history goes deep: the monastery at its heart dates to the 14th century, and the Coroa ballroom was the sleeping quarters of visiting royalty, which it handles with the quiet confidence of a place that has never needed to shout about it. The room accommodates up to 570 guests. The 16th-century chapel, for those who want something more intimate, offers vows in an atmosphere that feels properly earned.
Two Michelin-starred restaurants are on-site, along with a 27-hole championship golf course, a full spa and a team who have been doing this long enough that nothing, apparently, surprises them. Portugal just keeps winning.
Canaves Oia Suites, Oia, Santorini, Greece
Best for: The caldera view. Everything else is secondary
Santorini weddings have a reputation. Canaves Oia Suites has done more than most to deserve it. Perched on the iconic cliffs of Oia, the rooftop venue holds up to 40 guests with 180-degree panoramic views of the caldera, while the Sunset Terrace offers something more intimate for a gathering of 25. Weddings are timed at sunset, when the Aegean turns every shade of orange and red behind you in a way that is, frankly, unfair to every other venue on this list.
The suites feature private plunge pools overlooking the water. Post-ceremony options include a private beachfront dinner, and for the wedding night itself, the option to spend it aboard the hotel’s own yacht in the middle of the Aegean Sea. It is, by any measure, a lot. We mean that entirely as a compliment.
