Slaugham Place Wedding Photography

There needed to be a first time for Slaugham Place Wedding Photography, as there is with any new venue, but my visit to Slaugham Place earlier this year couldn’t have been more perfect! Notwithstanding a little rain early in the day, the set up at this mostly outdoor wedding venue near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, managed perfectly to keep spirits up, and everyone dry! I had done an engagement shoot a few weeks earlier at the venue, which was a great way for all of us to explore the surroundings and prep myself ahead of my Slaugham Place wedding photography on the day itself.

On the day of this Slaugham Place wedding photography I arrived early to get the kind of establishing shots that I like to photograph at every wedding, before Alex the groom arrived in his finery and Scottish kilt. Shortly after, Hannah arrived and headed straight to the cottage on the grounds of Slaugham Place where she was able to do final prep with here bridesmaids away from friends and family as they arrived for the outdoor ceremony.

Music accompaniment was provided by a beautiful string quartet, and it was so much fun to see the amazed looks on the faces of the wedding guests as they were lead through the landscaped gardens of Slaugham Place.

Why I Love Slaugham Place Wedding Photography

Having photographed weddings now for well over fifteen years, what motives me more than anything else, apart from the individual stories of couples, is the way people are creating special memories during the day, and choosing to do things a little differently. That was so true of my Slaugham PLace wedding photography for Hannah and Alex. They had of course fallen in love with Slaugham Place as soon as they’d seen it, and so they wanted to capture the romance of the place in their photos, but they also wanted their wedding guests to have an amazing time.

The string quartet was a great start and at the end of the ceremony everyone was surprise by the bagpipes that lead every over the drinks reception and confetti which was on of my favourite Slaugham Place wedding photography moments. The couple even had an artist doing a painting of the ceremony and wedding caricatures of all the guests later in the day.

The History

According to the Slaugham Place website, there was an iron furnace on the site of Slaugham Place as early as the 1400s, and the house that once stood on the site was built around 1590. It fell into neglect in the 1700s and the remains of the original Elizabethan Manor that continue standing to this day, are now Grade II listed. The property passed though several owners before the current owners purchased Slaugham Place in the 1970s, although it wasn’t until the late 1990s that Slaugham Place began to be promoted as a wedding venue.

The Beautiful Grounds

My style of documentary Slaugham Place wedding photography is definitely about the people, more than the place, but when the surrounding landscape and architectural detail is as beautiful as it is at Slaugham Place then it’s bound to inspire the photography and work as a stunning backdrop to portraits and group photos, as I hope you can see from the images below. The moat created a beautiful approach to the ceremony area for guests and a slightly secluded area for portraits later in the day, and the mature trees and nature that had grown up among the ruins of the walls and arches of the old house created such an irresistibly romantic feel.

The Party!

I love rounding off my wedding photography with a good party, as you can probably tell if you check out any of my other weddings on my blog, and that was certainly the case with my Slaugham Place wedding photography. The remote nature of the wedding venue, means that there’s no danger of the music waking the neighbours, and the live band that Hannah & Alex had hired, certainly kept the dance floor full, even when the freshly made pizzas came out in the evening, which we all know is the true test for the wedding band or DJ!

If you’re considering getting married at Slaugham Place, or even have your date confirmed, then I’d love to check my availability for your big day, and capture more special moment like these…