England's Top Destination Weddings Locations

Following the news that Prince William and his long-term girlfriend, Kate Middleton, are getting married, a date and a place for England’s royal wedding was announced. The nuptials will take place on April 29 at Westminster Abbey, where Prince William’s grandparents and great-grandparents were also married.

Visit England, the tourism body for England, is recommending their top 10 spots around the English countryside as alternative locations for destination weddings:

1. In London, the HMS Belfast can accommodate 350 guests with plenty of space for speeches and dancing and views of Tower Bridge and the London skyline.

2. The Eden Project offers eco-friendly weddings with food sourced from local suppliers. Couples can choose from a ceremony among the lush foliage at the very top of the Rainforest Biome or in the gallery overlooking the grounds; in the evening the Mediterranean Biome can be lit with low lights that create the illusion of thousands of stars across the biome canopy.

3. The Brighton Pavilion, built for the extravagant George IV, offers weddings in the Red Drawing Room, while photos can be taken outside in the Regency gardens.

4. The Fleece Inn, a 15th century inn in the Cotswold’s, offers a ceremony in a 16th century thatched barn, with a traditional English pub for the reception.

5. The Holy Island in Northumberland and the castle of Lindisfarne can serve as a backdrop for any ceremony, steeped in history and once owned by Sir Edward Lutyens.

6. A wedding located at Highclere Castle in Kent offers the options of either a marquee in the grounds, or a ceremony inside the house with a dramatic staircase for the bride to sweep down.

7. Denbies Vineyard, in the Surrey hills, can arrange weddings surrounded by 265 acres of vines, with drinks held in the atmospheric candlelit cellars.

8. Pendennis Castle was built in the 1540’s on the orders of Henry VIII, and has protected the Cornish coast from invasion for five centuries. The circular fort is a spectacular wedding location, set high on a headland with views across the sea and several different room options, holding up to 160 people.

9. Dungeness Lighthouse in Kent is an unusual venue for a wedding, with space for 30 people at bridge level and just 10 in the Gallery.

10. At the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship Wisley in Surrey, wedding guests can have a private tour of the garden and an evening reception in the Conservatory.