Bekkjarvik Gjestgiveri

Bekkjarvik Gjestgiveri is a guesthouse in Austevoll, an island area south-west of Bergen on Norway's west coast. It has been a guesthouse since the 17th century, and the village setting gives weddings a seaside, small-community feel.

The site includes a main house, a gallery, a pavilion, a park behind the buildings and a boutique hotel called Beckerwyc House, plus a villa you can rent. The restaurant, Ørjan & Arnt, cooks with fish and shellfish from the sea outside, local lamb and wild herbs, and Mirabelle, from Bocuse d'Or winner Ørjan Johannessen, is the more exclusive dining room. It suits couples who want a food-led wedding in a coastal village, with room for between 10 and 150 guests.

The setting suits a ceremony with a difference, on the terrace or out in the park just beside the buildings, and the venue lends its own wedding arch for you to dress. For the celebration, Løo in the park holds 150, the Pavilion 110, the Gallery 80, Riggaloftet 30, the Gjestgiveriet room 24 and Herskapshuset 12. Menus run from tapas and cold buffet to three, four or five courses, with a tailored wine menu, aperitifs and after-dinner drinks, and dishes such as scallops, Austevoll lobster, halibut and Vestland lamb. You can book a tasting first. Menu and wine choices are due 14 days before the day.

Beckerwyc House, the boutique hotel on site, and a rentable villa offer places to stay, and Beckerwyc House has 20 rooms across two floors, four of them suites. Ask the team how many more guests the villa sleeps. Bekkjarvik can be reached by car, boat or bus, and travel from Bergen takes some planning, so ask about the best route and times. Chairs, tables, a red carpet and a sound system can be rented from the venue, which saves hiring outside. Ørjan & Arnt is open every day, so guests can eat there the day before and after.