End of an era as Escot bids a fond farewell to weddings

After 31 years of 'I Do', historic manor Escot House near Ottery St Mary will be hosting its final weddings in 2025.

In a streamlining move, the Kennaway family has decided instead to concentrate on other events which have become increasingly popular over the past two years.

Lucy Kennaway explains “We’ve experienced a rise in bookings for corporate events such as team building days, seminars, networking sessions and workshops, as well as for sporting and music events . We’re also holding more family celebrations, including wedding anniversaries, engagement and retirement parties as well as memorials.

“Much as we enjoy them, weddings require a lot of work. Although it wasn’t an easy decision to take we felt the time was right to make the change.”

The first commercial wedding was held at Escot in 1994 after Lucy received a request from a member of staff whose daughter was getting married. It was such a success that the family decided to promote the house as a wedding venue. In January 1996, Escot was one of the first private wedding venues in East Devon to receive a Civil wedding licence.

Escot became a venue of choice for local couples, many of whom were familiar with the house from childhood visits to the wildlife park, now run as a separate venture by The Wildwood Trust. In addition, the house attracted couples from farther afield, looking for a venue with character, charm and a beautiful backdrop for photos provided by the well-tended gardens and the wider Escot Estate.

Lucy adds “From the start, we didn’t want Escot to become a wedding factory, so we limited bookings to 25 a year. This meant that each wedding held here has been very special.

“There have certainly been some memorable moments over the years, including a Caribbean themed wedding, a fancy dress wedding held on New Year’s Eve - and the time a bride and groom arrived on horseback. It was the first time the bride had been on a horse and she almost fell off!”

In March 2018, the Beast from the East in combination with Storm Emma meant the catering supply for a wedding didn’t get through. The menu was quickly redesigned around what was available and Mish Kennaway drove off into the snow in search of potatoes which he finally sourced from a local farmer.

“And of course there were plenty of challenges during Covid for weddings. Depending on the various guidance issued, some were completely cancelled, others had to be held outdoors and some could only include 15 guests.”

The Escot team was kept busy working with couples to rebook wedding dates as well as putting in place Covid restrictions, including spacing out chairs correctly for social distancing and ensuring masks were worn.

After things settled down again, weddings once again took off, and there have been a series of wonderful, happy weddings and wedding celebrations, including Lucy and Mish’s daughter, Olivia, who celebrated her marriage to David at Escot in 2022.

The cut-off date for Escot weddings is Thursday July 31, and there is some availability between now and then.

“So if there’s a couple out there who decide at Christmas that they want an Escot wedding – then there’s just about time to fit them in!”