If you are going to have a wedding at a stately home in Hertfordshire you would be hard pressed to find a better all round and picturesque venue than Fanhams Hall near Ware. This is the place that Jess and Theo fell in love with, and it’s one of our favourites outside of London.

We have photographed there many times and our portfolio from this lovely wedding venue is one of the reasons we are often booked to capture a couple’s big day. There is something about our personal experience with the place that gets our creative juices flowing and we are always delighted to return. The air is fresher than central London too!

Fanhams Hall is grade two listed eighteenth century manor house that was further extended in 1901. We particularly like the tasteful mix of old and new, and of course the fantastic and extensive gardens.

Jess chose to get ready at Fanhams on the morning of the big day with the help of her bridesmaids, flower girls and mum. Theo arrived a little later with his family and groomsmen. Naturally we were there and everywhere to get all the details and magic moments as they happened.

The wedding ceremony was in the impressive Long Room which among other things, because of its length, gives a dramatic entrance to any bride and her bridal party. It’s long enough to really savour that classic moment, and it’s good for making the groom wait a little longer before he sees his wife to be!

Afterwards we had a great confetti throw outside on the lawn and then straight into the drinks reception for all the guests. A little time after that David took the bride and groom away for a while to get some couple shots, before some family and group shots with a difference. Nothing stiff and over formal here!

A typically fabulous wedding breakfast and speeches took place in the famous Jacobean Great Hall. After some memorable speeches, particularly the best men, it was time for cake cutting and dancing the night away.

Another brilliant day as Fanhams Hall wedding photographers.

By David Green

A couple of our many other Fnhams Hall wedding days previously on the blog here:

Another fabulous Fanhams Hall wedding day in sunny Hertfordshire

Fanhams Hall Wedding Photographer

It’s always great to return to Claridges as wedding photographers in the heart of London’s Mayfair. It’s probably the most famous and iconic hotel in that area, and always a real pleasure to work in. What was also a pleasure was to find that the lovely couple Xanthe and Steve lived just two streets away, so that made it pretty easy to meet up and discuss a plan for the day!

This particular wedding I did on my own (David) as the entire wedding party was a very intimate seven people, which I personally really enjoyed. It meant I got a real sense of what the people involved were about, and I believe it subtlety helped me photograph them even more sympathetically.

St Olave’s is a very special church with a rich history so I was excited to shoot there. I’ve photographed a great many central London and home counties churches but not this one. This was Samuel Pepys local and most favourite church, in fact he and his wife are buried there. The building as it stands today dates from around 1450, and managed to survive even the Great Fire of London. Xanthe and Steve’s service was conducted downstairs in the intimate crypt . The vicar told us that this was the original medieval street level, which is way below what we walk across today. With incense burning and one of St Olave’s best choir members singing unaccompanied, it was truly memorable.

Afterwards a few bottles of champers were cracked open and we took twenty minutes with the couple to shoot some shots around the surrounding streets. After that it was time to head to Claridges for the reception of afternoon tea, impeccable served by their staff of course! The couple were pleased to be sitting near Whoopi Goldberg because as anyone who is familiar with Claridges will know it is very popular with celebrities and of course those that can afford it!

I had a further ten minutes to discreetly get some shots in the hotel, before waving goodbye to the wedding party and heading off into the sunset.

By David Green.

We are looking forward to Sophie and David’s central London wedding day in July. They came to us through recommendation which is a frequent and pleasant occurrence in wedding photography, and always a good start! For them Kenwood on Hampstead Heath was a place with memories and meaning, and the perfect place for their engagement shoot photography.

Many is the time we have visited this lovely place to walk both the dogs and our children, and for this shoot it was half term so I (David) took two of our sons with me as well. The boys happily went off to play football in front of the stately home, while myself Sophie and David went on a little photographic adventure.

Kenwood House is a former stately home and dates from the seventeenth century. Notably it was a seat for the Murray and Guinness family of aristocrats. It was eventually bequeathed to English Heritage and had a complete refurbishment finished in 2013. Inside there is a fantastic art gallery with priceless paintings by Rembrandt and Van Dyck to name a few.

The back of Kenwood has been cleaned up so much compared to what we have been used to seeing over the years, and now it gleams bright white in the sunshine, to the point where it is almost blinding and I wanted to feature that at the end of our shoot. The hardest part is trying to get those shots without all the visitors walking past. Fortunately this was a Tuesday afternoon, it would have been impossible on a weekend, and besides we would probably be photographing a wedding then anyway!

I also wanted to feature the meadowy parts of Kenwood (“meadowy” – is there such a word!??) with lovely spring flowers and blossom, and also try and incorporate the lake nearby in some form. Of course an engagement shoot at Kenwood or anywhere for that matter is a good chance to get to know a couple better, and reinforce the fact that photography in the hands of experienced shooters is fun and rewarding.

They sent a quick email after receiving the shots saying:

“Hi David,

Thank you so much for the amazing photos! We love them and everything you captured. We’re now having difficulty trying to choose our favourite for the invitation!!

We are really excited for the wedding photos!

Thanks for also doing this so quickly.

Sophie and David”

By David Green