Orchardleigh House

Orchardleigh is a grand old Somerset house, full of panelling, chandeliers and carved wood. You’ll marry in a panelled room with an old painting of the house behind you, sign the register in carved chairs and walk back out through the hall. The staircase is long enough to show off your train along its full length.

Outside, the front steps hold the whole guest list, with columns on either side. The spot we’d most want time for is the stone balustrade, where the parkland drops away to the lake behind you. In the late afternoon, light comes back up off the water.

Orchardleigh suits winter well, with bare trees along the gravel avenue and low grey light that makes the stone look even older, and there’s plenty of house to retreat into if the weather turns.