Chepstow Racecourse is one of the venues we’ve played longest - going back to some of the first Brotherhood gigs, and a regular fixture in the years since. The Corals Suite is the wedding room: glass back wall onto the course, dancefloor in the middle, band tucked across the far side. Load-in is one of the easiest in our diary - the van parks straight in front of the glass doors at the back of the room while guests are in the bar or outside, and the kit goes from van to playing area in about as many trips as it takes to carry it.
Chepstow Racecourse at a glance
A racecourse and wedding venue on the edge of the Wye Valley in Monmouthshire, ten minutes off the M48 over the old Severn bridge. Three named wedding spaces in the grandstand: the Corals Suite as the big function room (up to around 300 for an evening party), The View as a glass-fronted dining room on the Premier Stand’s first floor, and the Trackside Marquee on the lawn for bigger summer events. Plus private boxes for smaller wedding parties up to around 40. Licensed for civil ceremonies indoors and outdoors, with in-house catering and the option of self-catering on request. No accommodation on site; couples typically use Chepstow town or the St Pierre Marriott five minutes away. Address is Chepstow, Monmouthshire NP16 6EH.
Setting up at Chepstow Racecourse
The Corals Suite has a glass door wall at the back of the room. We pull the van up in front of those doors, unload directly onto the floor and set up at the far side. Guests are usually in the bar area or out on the lawn at that point, so there’s no carrying past tables or weaving round seated people. After service routes and lifts at venues like St Tewdrics, it’s a fast in-and-out.
We bring our own PA and lighting and run in-ears - no floor wedges. There’s no fitted sound limiter, so the room runs at the level the wedding actually wants rather than against a dB threshold on the wall.
Recommended band size at Chepstow Racecourse
The Corals Suite is one of the most lineup-flexible rooms we play. Most weddings here are a 5-piece to 8-piece - vocals/guitar/bass/drums as the core, plus some combination of keys, sax, second vocalist or brass depending on the booking. For wedding parties pushing the upper end of the room, the no-limiter setting and the stage area on the far side give us plenty of headroom for the full 11-piece configuration with the horn section and double vocals. It’s a room that scales.
How a wedding day flows at Chepstow Racecourse
Ceremony in the Corals Suite or out on the lawn when the weather plays, drinks reception in the bar area at the front of the room or outside with the course view, wedding breakfast in the same room re-set, then evening into the dancefloor with the glass back wall behind the band. Same-day flips are the norm; the venue staff are practiced at it.
Our usual wedding shape: a chilled first set of around 30 minutes - first dance and any formal dances in there, more of a cocktail-hour feel - then two 50-minute dancefloor sets blended together in our own style. DJ playlists fill the gaps between, and after we finish. Music finish here is set by the venue rather than the band; nail the curfew down with them when you book.
What we know that helps your day
Two things worth knowing. First, the glass back wall is a real asset in the evening - the room opens up to the course at dusk and the photos late in the set with the dancefloor full and the sky going through the glass behind the band are some of the best we get. Worth briefing your photographer to grab the band-and-sky shot before the room peaks. Second, plan accommodation early. The racecourse has none on site, and Chepstow town fills up around any wedding weekend; the St Pierre Marriott is the obvious overflow but blocks of rooms book a long way out.
Wedding venues near Chepstow Racecourse we also play
We play wedding venues all round Chepstow and the Wye Valley and Monmouthshire more broadly - St Tewdrics House five minutes down the road, the Chairman’s Marquee at Celtic Manor ten minutes up the M4, Sugar Loaf Barn out west near Abergavenny. If you’re choosing between Chepstow Racecourse and another local venue, ask - chances are we’ve played both.
The Brotherhood are South Wales’ premier wedding band and play regularly at Chepstow Racecourse. Check our availability for your wedding date.
