The Chairman’s Marquee sits up at the Celtic Manor Golf Club, away from the main hotel, with the Roman Road course running out under the windows. It’s the room at Celtic Manor that doesn’t feel like a hotel ballroom - lower ceiling, soft side, fairway view, fresh air a few steps out onto the patio. We’ve been playing Brotherhood weddings here long enough that the load-in is automatic: van up the lane, straight in the back, kit on the deck next to the dancefloor before anyone’s poured the welcome drink.
The Chairman’s Marquee at a glance
A permanent marquee structure at Celtic Manor Golf Club, sold together with the adjacent Via Julia Suite as a single wedding package. Capacity is 80-180 for a wedding breakfast and up to roughly 300 for an evening party. The marquee has its own private bar and leads out onto an outdoor patio with panoramic views over the Roman Road golf course. Civil ceremonies are licensed across the resort, and the golf club operates as a wedding venue in its own right, independent of the main Resort hotel. Catering and accommodation are handled through Celtic Manor itself - the resort is a 5-star hotel with hundreds of rooms a short shuttle ride away. Address is Celtic Manor Resort, Coldra Wood, Newport NP18 1HQ, five minutes off the M4 junction 24.
Setting up at The Chairman’s Marquee
Easiest load-in at Celtic Manor by some distance. The lane runs right up to the back of the marquee, so the van parks next to the playing area and the kit goes in the back door straight onto the floor by the dancefloor. No long carry, no lift, no goods route through service corridors. After the carry across the courtyard at Hensol and the wheel along the length of the barn at Sugar Loaf, it’s a fast set-up.
We bring our own PA and lighting and run in-ears - no floor wedges across the front of the stage. There’s no fitted sound limiter in the marquee, so we play at the level the room actually needs rather than nursing a dB meter on the wall. The marquee soft-side absorbs more top end than a ballroom would, so the mix tends to need a bit more presence and a bit less low-mid than we’d push in the Caernarfon Suite next door at the main hotel.
Recommended band size at The Chairman’s Marquee
We play this room most often as a 5-piece or 6-piece - vocals, guitar, bass, drums with keys or sax depending on the booking. For wedding parties pushing the upper end of the room’s evening capacity, the no-limiter situation means a bigger configuration is comfortable here too - 8 or 9-piece with brass works for the right party.
How a wedding day flows at The Chairman’s Marquee
Ceremony often in the Via Julia Suite next door or elsewhere on the resort, drinks reception out on the patio over the Roman Road course when the weather is doing its job, wedding breakfast in the marquee with the fairway view, then evening into the dancefloor. The marquee/Via Julia split means the room can be flipped without guests having to leave the venue - drinks one side, dinner the other, dancefloor the same room re-set.
Our usual wedding shape: a chilled first set of around 30 minutes, first dance and any other formal dances in there, more of a cocktail-hour feel - then two 50-minute dancefloor sets blended together in our own style. DJ playlists run in the gaps and after we finish. Music finish at Celtic Manor is set by the resort rather than us; pin it down with the events team when you book.
What we know that helps your day
Two things worth knowing. First, the Chairman’s Marquee is a different feel from the main hotel’s ballrooms - if you’ve been on a Celtic Manor show-round that walked you through the Caernarfon Suite, don’t assume the marquee will feel the same. The ceiling’s lower, the room’s softer, the view runs out onto the course rather than into a corridor. Couples who want the Celtic Manor name with a less hotel-style evening tend to land here for that reason. Second, plan the shuttle. Guests staying at the main hotel aren’t a short walk from the golf club; it’s a drive or a hotel shuttle at the end of the night, and that’s a real consideration when you’re picking finish times.
Wedding venues near The Chairman’s Marquee we also play
We’re regulars across the Newport and South Wales wedding circuit - Hensol Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, St Tewdrics House across the Severn near Chepstow, Sugar Loaf Barn out west in the Brecon Beacons. If you’re choosing between the Chairman’s Marquee and another local venue, ask - chances are we’ve played both.
The Brotherhood are South Wales’ premier wedding band and play regularly at The Chairman’s Marquee, Celtic Manor. Check our availability for your wedding date.
