Chelsea Physic Garden

Chelsea Physic Garden has grown behind its walls between Royal Hospital Road and the Embankment since 1673, when the Society of Apothecaries planted it to study the medicinal use of plants. It is the second-oldest botanic garden in Britain, and four acres of it survive largely unseen from the street: two lawns, a pond rockery, Mediterranean beds and a range of Victorian glasshouses, all a short walk from Sloane Square.

The garden hosts only a small number of private events each year, in keeping with its work as a horticultural and educational charity. Most take the whole garden on an exclusive basis, with a marquee raised on the lawns for dinners and receptions. The Gallery, a light, high-ceilinged room facing south over the beds, suits daytime meetings and seated dinners, and the café is available for evening hire. Catering is arranged through the garden's own caterer or an accredited supplier.

For a summer reception or wedding in central London, the appeal is the setting itself: a walled four-acre garden, largely to yourselves, in the heart of Chelsea.