The best wedding venues (well, my personal favourites from 2021)
These are the best wedding venues, ever! Well, these are my personal favourites that I’ve shot at in the crazy whirlwind year 2021. I might be biased and tend to rate venues on how photogenic they are, I have no idea how they actually rate in any other way. But I do know that if you book one of these wedding venues you are guaranteed to get amazing photographs from your wedding photographer.
Falcon Manor Hotel, Settle, North Yorkshire
In Settle, North Yorkshire this wonderful hotel is perfect for a fairytale wedding. It’s a photographer’s dream. The bridal suite is absolutely stunning with natural light oozing through the large windows. So much attention to detail with the decor, it would be amazing to spend a night in this room. If you have your wedding here, you can do just that! The ceremony/reception room is absolutely gorgeous too, again with a lot of natural light spilling in to light up the ceremony beautifully. It may have helped that bride, Nicole, had thought of everything and put a lot of effort into all the details for her wedding.
Falcon Manor is an exclusive venue, which means there won’t be anybody else wandering around the venue, you can have it all to yourselves. There is plenty of space for guests to mingle and guests can hang out in the bar, the reception room and outside which means anyone who likes a bit of quiet time isn’t forced to sit in the same room that the band are playing (great for weddings with friends who like to party and family who like to natter!). This wedding venue is ideal for medium to large weddings, the dance floor is quite tightly packed in which actually creates an amazing atmosphere whilst the band play. I got some of my favourite party shots at this venue, I would love to photograph more weddings at Falcon Manor.
The Pumping House, Ollerton, Nottinghamshire
I’m pretty sure every photographer must get excited at being booked for a wedding at The Pumping House. The layout and different themed rooms make it a unique wedding venue. Again, it’s an exclusive venue so you’ll have the whole place to yourselves. It also has a few (very stylish) accommodation rooms so you and your favourite people can stay here before and after the wedding. Photography wise there are (pretty much!) unlimited opportunities for doing your couples portraits here, indoors in the various themed rooms, as well as outdoors around the beautiful pine trees. More opportunities than are possible to do on a wedding day, you’d have to book the place out for a whole day photography session to make the most of it! There is also a games room with an air hockey table, bean bags and DVDs to keep children entertained, they’ve thought of everything at The Pumping House.
Baumber Walled Garden, Lincolnshire
Wow! When I got to Baumber Walled Garden I was amazed! Walled garden venues are always pretty but this one really stood out to me. For a start it was huge, with lots of little themed areas, a Japanese structure, a big lake (which gave off some wonderful reflections, perfect for some couple portraits!). Lots of space for guests to explore and deck chairs to relax in. There’s also plenty of cover in case it rains. Then a marquee for the food, speeches and band to play. I’m not certain how many people they can accommodate but it’s rather large so I imagine it’s perfect for large weddings with a lot of guests.
Those are my top three favourite wedding venues of 2021, I can’t wait to see what’s on my list for 2022.