Highden Estate - A Sussex Marquee Wedding Venue

I love having the opportunity to visit our wedding venues, so was really excited to be invited to see the beautiful Highden Estate in West Sussex.  It was a pleasure to meet one of the owner’s daughters, Toshky, who showed me around and explained all the future wedding plans for Highden.

The Highden Estate can be found behind Windlesham House School in the village of Washington, near Pulborough and is part of a working farm.  The family work really hard to maintain the estate and have been busy setting up their venue for weddings just like yours. This is a fairly new wedding venue, despite this, they have already hosted a number of their own family weddings on the estate and had a wedding last year with more booked in for 2021.  Bookings are filling up fast!

There’s a selection of beautiful event spaces that are available for hire, one of which is the stunning walled garden. On the day of my visit, the weather was amazing, the sky was blue and the sun was out. The walled garden looked idyllic, the marquee used for their weddings was up and ready for the summer – the gardens make for a truly fabulous backdrop!

If you are planning your own marquee wedding and currently looking for suitable wedding venues, it’s common practice in the wedding industry that you have to organise and arrange the hire of your own marquee.  However, the amazing wedding team at Highden take care of all that difficulty and provide a dedicated marquee for couples to enjoy helping enormously with your wedding budget!

There is the option to personalise your marquee and adjust the size to best suit your special day ensuring everyone has a great time. For intimate weddings, the 30m x 30m section can comfortably fit up to 40 of your beloved wedding guests. Additionally, there is a 60m x 30m option for up to 100 guests and the largest size available is 90m x 30m which comfortably holds a maximum capacity of 200 wedding guests.

The marquee has coconut matting in place so all you need is the tables and chairs, linen and to add your finishing touches.  It really is that simple!

So much thought has been put into the facilities at Highden Estate, the family have converted an old building within the gardens into luxury toilets.  They have provided a freshwater supply essential for your caterers and an electricity supply to the site.

Oh, did I mention…that they have also put free Wi-Fi in place!

Before I guide you through the beautiful gardens, I’m going to fill you in on the other elements in place and future plans for their weddings. There is another wonderful building on the perimeter of the garden - an old apple store - the building is currently used by the wedding caterers; however, we think the space inside would make the most superb wedding ceremony room.  There is an original fireplace on one of the walls and the room is a great size. The family is looking to possibly licence this in the future to hold civil ceremonies.

At the far end of the walled garden, there is a gate which leads out to a pretty orchard, quintessentially placed within the rolling English countryside, this is going to be used for glamping tents!

Now for the walled garden, it encompasses an entire acre and is rather gorgeous, we love it!  In the middle is a pathway with an exquisite archway formed by apple and pear trees.  At the other end of the path, lavender flowers surround you with their unmistakable fragrant scent. The garden has a wild meadow, a fig tree and a very rare Chelsea Lady Sylvia rose tree.  This was in flower during my visit and the roses are a delicate pink.  Your marquee sits on the perfectly flat lawns positioned with plenty of space for an alfresco drinks’ reception. This is a glorious secret garden which is surrounded on all sides with a rustic brick wall separating it from the equally beautiful surrounding Sussex countryside.

For weddings, Highden offers exclusive use of the walled garden, including the marquee, most couples hire the gardens over a two-day period allowing their wedding suppliers to set up the day before.  The barn next to the walled garden has a room available for bridal changing, it has been wonderfully restored and is perfect for this use.

Alternatively, for those seeking breath-taking views across Sussex and the South Downs National Park, the second event area suitable for weddings is Cowdown.  A 20-acre area situated in the middle of the farm; this really is a blank canvass.  There is an abundance of space for your marquee and the field sits on top of chalky soil which drains really well.  Luxury portable toilets are available to hire supplied by a local company called ‘Shepherds Hut’.

We recommend hiring Cowdown if you are looking to have a glamping-based or festival- themed wedding.  Hire is on an exclusive use basis and there’s not a neighbour in sight! A complete tranquil haven.

For church weddings, there’s a choice of pretty local parish churches nearby, St. John the Baptist is a five-minute drive away from Highden and has an impressive tree-lined entrance.  St Mary Church is in the tiny village of Washington, many generations of the Highden family have been married in this beautiful church.

For church weddings, there’s a choice of pretty local parish churches nearby, St. John the Baptist is a five-minute drive away from Highden and has an impressive tree-lined entrance.   St Mary Church is in the tiny village of Washington, many generations of the Highden family have been married in this beautiful church.

If you would like to make an enquiry about celebrating your wedding day at Highden Estate either in the walled garden or at Cowdown, please enquire here.