Live indie & rock for the Grade I-listed house and 90 acres of Capability Brown gardens. From £1,900.
Hartwell House sits in the parish of Hartwell, about three miles from Aylesbury, on 90 acres of Capability Brown gardens (laid out around 1750). The main house is early 17th-century Jacobean, with a Georgian front and Rococo interiors added by Henry Keene between 1759 and 1761. It’s Grade I listed. Louis XVIII of France lived in the house in exile between 1809 and 1814. The estate is owned by the Ernest Cook Trust and leased to the National Trust, and has run as a hotel under Historic House Hotels since 1989.
We’re a Hampshire-based live wedding band that covers Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire regularly, so Aylesbury sits comfortably inside our home patch. No travel surcharges, no overnight accommodation, no anxious 4am drives back from the wrong end of the country.
Hartwell’s reception spaces have the kind of period finish that doesn’t need help. National Trust-leased properties tend to have specific access and protection arrangements, and we work to whatever the venue sets. Our stage setup is built to dress around the room rather than fight it. Black-finished kit, restrained on-stage lighting rather than a stadium rig, and a PA sized for the room rather than the road. We dress in stage-blacks unless you ask otherwise.
A Hartwell wedding tends to pull a guest list that’s travelled in for the weekend, with a London-and-home-counties crowd that’s comfortable on a dance floor. The setlist flexes accordingly: Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and Kings of Leon for the late floor, Oasis and Stereophonics for the mid-evening, modern-pop crossover (Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Sam Fender) layered through for the chart-aware younger guests. Wedding non-negotiables (Mr Brightside, Don’t Stop Me Now, Sweet Caroline) take the back-half peaks. Between sets a DJ playlist (collaborated with you) keeps the floor moving. We learn one custom first dance per booking.
Curfews, sound rules and any in-house production arrangements at Hartwell House are managed by the venue’s own wedding team, and they vary by booking. We don’t make assumptions. We confirm the specific cut-off, limiter setup and any house rules with the wedding coordinator the week before, and pace the closing set so it lands at the actual end of the night.
If you’re booking Hartwell House and want a band that turns up briefed, properly dressed and with the dance floor firmly in mind, send us your date. We’d love to be on your shortlist.
Backbeat is an independent wedding band and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or a preferred supplier of Hartwell House. Venue specifics should be confirmed with the venue’s wedding team directly.
From £1,900
Live sets · full PA & lighting · DJ between & after
Public liability insured · PAT-tested annually · Sound-limiter ready
Backbeat plays across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the wider Thames Valley. A snapshot of other well-known wedding venues within about an hour of Aylesbury. If yours isn’t here, tell us anyway.
Notley Abbey
Long Crendon
Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
Great Milton
Hedsor House
Taplow
Cliveden House
Taplow
Stratton Court Barn
Bicester
Eynsham Hall
North Leigh
Caswell House
Witney
The Bay Tree
Burford
Venue names are used for descriptive reference. Backbeat is an independent wedding band and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or a preferred supplier of any venue listed unless stated.
Send us the date. We’ll come back with availability and a tailored quote within 24 hours.
No obligation · usually a reply within 24 hours
Anything else, drop a line through the enquiry form.
Live music packages from £1,900. Pricing depends on event location, performance duration, and specific requirements. Send us your event details for a tailored quote.
We perform across Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey and beyond. Whether your event is across the country or abroad, we're ready to bring live performance to you.
We require a minimum of 90 minutes to load in and set up. Ideally before your guests enter the performance room, but we're skilled at setting up quietly and efficiently with minimal disruption.
Yes. We'll collaborate with you to create a personalised DJ playlist for before, between and after our live sets. Whether you have a specific genre, a list of favourite songs, or a Spotify playlist, we'll take care of the rest.
Yes. We offer a 60-minute acoustic live-lounge duo set, ideal for setting the ambiance during drinks reception or dinner.
Yes. We use high-quality, PAT-tested equipment for top-notch sound and lighting. The band is fully self-contained, and we're experienced with sound-limiter venues.
Absolutely. As part of our service we'll learn a special song at no extra cost, whether it's your first dance or a standout main-set moment. Let us know and we'll include it.