Based on a weekday wedding in March.
Based on a weekday wedding in March.
These items are not included in the price above but can be added for an additional fee:
Please contact the venue for detailed prices.
Aswanley is a secluded fortified house and Victorian barn located on the edge of the Highlands in Aberdeenshire. The surrounding gardens and landscape provide various scenic backdrops for wedding photography, including garden ponds, a stream, the banks of the River Deveron, and the nearby woodland.
Aswanley offers both indoor and outdoor ceremony options.
Indoor ceremonies can be held in either the Fireplace Room, an airy space with wooden beams and a baronial fireplace (perfect for micro weddings to ceremonies with up to 132 guests) or in the ballroom, which can accommodate up to 250 guests.
For outdoor ceremonies, the lawn outside the barn is available, and the venue team can arrange various layouts depending on the couple’s preference. Of course, the weather plays a part in outdoor weddings! If there are adverse weather conditions and the ceremony is unable to go ahead outdoors, then they will relocate to the fireplace room. There will be no stress or fuss; their team will just move to Plan B!
For those interested in a church service, nearby options include a Roman Catholic Church in Huntly, six miles away, or St Andrews Glass is just down the road.
St Andrews has stopped operating as a Church of Scotland parish church, so you can use a celebrant of your choice, and they can arrange the service as you wish. The fee for opening up the church is £420.
There are multiple reception spaces at Aswanley to suit various styles and guest sizes.
The central Fireplace Room, with its oak bar, baronial fireplace, and local furnishings, is ideal for an intimate gathering. The adjacent Dining Room, located in a barn with original beams and cartwheel chandeliers, seats up to 154 guests banquet-style. The space can be extended into The Ballroom to accommodate up to 250 guests. For summer receptions, the river terrace doors can be opened to offer champagne overlooking the Deveron Valley, while the ballroom is perfect for ceilidhs and dancing.
Aswanley offers several self-catering holiday cottages for wedding guests:
Clatterin Brig, located near the River Deveron, sleeps six to eight people and features a spacious kitchen/dining room with beautiful natural light and a picturesque oak staircase, perfect for photos.
Westerpark, one of the larger cottages, accommodates six guests and offers a farmhouse kitchen and ensuite bedrooms. This is a great place for all the family to come together.
Straitinnan, situated across the river, sleeps four people.
For a romantic, secluded option, Jocky Milne’s cottage for two is tucked away in a forest clearing. The cottage has a double bedroom with a king-size bed and en-suite bathroom. The beamed living room has a wood-burning stove, a Sony Bravia 32″ LCD TV, and a Sony Music system. They can arrange for flowers, champagne, and chocolates to be left at the cottage for your arrival, a breakfast basket, or full catering if you wish.
Invermarkie Lodge & Farmhouse, approximately one mile away from Aswanley, is available for wedding parties and guests. This historic house has adorned the Glen since the 17th century. This private home has sweeping lawns reaching right down to the banks of the River Deveron, nine bedrooms, and can accommodate 17 people.
Invermarkie Farmhouse is a newly renovated, cosy farmhouse perfect for guests with pets. With three bedrooms, it can sleep five and up to a whole family an eight people. It also has a small enclosed garden and access to a nearby private playground.
Aswanley works with a select group of trusted caterers from Aberdeenshire and Moray, offering menus for various budgets, from champagne wedding receptions to hog roasts. The barn includes a well-equipped catering kitchen, which comes with the venue hire and provides cutlery, crockery, and glassware for up to 200 people.
For dining arrangements, the venue offers rectangular and round tables for up to 200 guests, with additional options for larger parties.
Aswanley provides a varied wine list and allows couples to sample a selection of wines before their wedding. There is also an option for couples to supply their own wine and champagne, with a corkage fee of £6 per bottle. The standard bar list includes a range of spirits, whiskies, and gins, with Peroni available as draught beer. Couples can also customise how the bar is funded, offering payment options that include tabs or a fully hosted bar.
Aswanley runs the bar, which opens immediately after the ceremony and remains open until 12:30am.
By Air
Nearest airports Aberdeen: 45 minutes Inverness: 1½ hours
By Train
Nearest train station Huntly: 10 minutes By car Aberdeen: 1 hour, Inverness: 1½ hours, Edinburgh: 3½ hours.
By Car
From Aberdeen: Take A96 to Huntly (signposted to Inverness). By pass Huntly (by continuing straight on at Asda roundabout) and take a left turn onto A920 to Dufftown (opposite Tesco). After 4.8 miles, take the left signposted to ‘Haugh of Glass’. The entrance to Aswanley is at the bottom of the hill, on the left.
“From the moment we drove up to the house we knew it was the perfect place and we were right. We could not have had a better wedding…”
“The way you looked after us all was fantastic. Aswanley looked terrific and everyone commented on how good the venue was…”
Firstly, we just wanted to say another huge thank you for your incredible support and efforts for our wedding day on Saturday. We honestly don’t know how you did it but it just ran perfectly and looked just how we imagined. Thank you so very much. Once again, a huge thank you to you and your team, Pam, and everyone, for all their amazing efforts. We have nothing to fault at all.
“Thank you all so much for our magical day at Aswanley. It was perfect and that was down to you and your team. Everyone is still speaking about how amazing the wedding venue was and we are just so lucky to have all those happy memories…”
We were married at Aswanley in May 2019. From the first second we went to visit the venue and met with Lauren we knew it would be for us. She’s so good at her job and answered all our questions without hesitating. She’s a total asset to the gorgeous venue. There was plenty space for our ceilidh and we loved the quiet corner of sofas for our elderly family. The bar is very reasonably priced (most of our guests commented on that!) and the grounds are gorgeous and well kept. We also used all 3 of the on site cottages. We’ll cherish our memories of Aswanley forever!
We were looking for a Scottish wedding venue that really showed the beauty of Scotland and Aswanley delivered that for us with the rolling green hills, stream, old forest and a hillside house with a barn. It was very relaxed but made enough of a statement for our wedding. The staff were also amazing. The wedding coordinators Lauren and Sarah worked so hard to make sure our day was special and ran it without any hiccups.
“Thanks again for all your help, not just in the run up to the wedding but for helping make the day itself run so smoothly, making it the best wedding I’ve ever been to! You really go that extra mile to make the Bride & Groom have a special yet chilled out day…”
We had an absolutely fantastic time, thanks to you both for your help with everything. We simply could not have had a better day.
The entire team at Aswanley were amazing in helping us with a virtual tour and shifting to digital communication at short notice. The impact of the coronavirus has been huge and our original intention of visiting the venue before making a decision was cancelled as a result of not being able to travel. To limit any impact to our planning the team quickly set up an online personal tour which was fantastic. We were able to walk through the venue asking questions and get a great feel for the space. Our e-mails have been answered quickly and video conference calls were set up when needed with no fuss. Overall we have had a great experience and we cannot wait to plan the rest of our wedding at Aswanley.
No, you have exclusive use of the venue on the day of your wedding.
Yes, you can supply your own wine and champagne, subject to £6 corkage per bottle. However, no beers or spirits can be brought in, but we are really happy to order specific beers or spirits for you. Our standard bar list includes a wide range of gins, whiskies, spirits, and Peroni as draught beer.
Yes, there are multiple accessible entrances to the barn. The doors from the fireplace room onto the river terrace have a small ramp, and we also have an accessible toilet.
No - there's no chance of disturbing the neighbours, there aren't any!
You are welcome to come to Aswanley the day before your wedding between 10am to 5pm to personalise the venue if there is no event. If there is an event, we will put your decorations in place on the morning of your wedding. We can also arrange a day for you to do a mock set-up or rehearsal the week before your wedding.