Gamle Logen

Gamle Logen stands on Grev Wedels plass in the centre of Oslo. It was built in the early 19th century as a Masonic lodge and a hall for concerts and celebrations, on the initiative of Count Wedel Jarlsberg, and it is decorated in a late Empire style. It opened with a grand civic ball attended by King Karl Johan, and Grieg, Ibsen and Ole Bull are among the artists linked to it.

Today it is run by Fursetgruppen, the Oslo restaurant group, and hosts weddings, parties, concerts and conferences. For weddings the rooms cover 10 up to 500 guests. It suits couples who want a city wedding with real history and a proper ballroom, rather than a hotel function suite.

Most weddings use the first floor, where a run of halls and salons sits side by side. Strangersalen is the main wedding room, for up to 140 guests at long tables, and the smaller halls, Amaldus, Kringla and Hoffpensjonisten, take 10 to 50. For a big celebration, Store Sal on the second floor is famous for its acoustics, rich decoration and long tradition of banquets and balls, and seats up to 320 at long tables. The kitchen mixes tradition with current ideas, and the sound equipment is first rate. The pages we checked do not cover ceremonies, so ask the team whether vows can be held in the building, and about the music curfew.

There are no bedrooms at Gamle Logen, so guests stay at hotels elsewhere in central Oslo. Grev Wedels plass is in the heart of the city, which makes it simple to book a block of rooms close by and keep taxis short at the end of the night. Ask the team which hotels they recommend and whether they can help with a room block. The team offers a no-obligation tour of the building, which is worth booking on a scouting trip. Fursetgruppen runs restaurants across Oslo, so ask about a welcome dinner at one of them. Ask too about getting there from Oslo airport and the central station, as the pages we checked do not give travel times.