Bath Spa Hotel Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A historic mansion with views over a world heritage city

Bath Spa Hotel is a Macdonald hotel on Sydney Road in Bath (BA2 6NS). The hotel's wedding page describes a honey-coloured Georgian mansion with views over a world heritage city, standing in 7 acres of private gardens with fountains and a grotto, reached by a sweeping tree-lined driveway. It lists a lawn and a terrace for photographs, wedding function rooms suitable for 6 to 120 guests, and a licence for civil ceremonies.

We photographed and filmed Emma and Jon's wedding here on 29 July 2021, and this page tells their day in photographs, with their highlight film further down. Our Bath guide and Somerset guide show the hotel beside other venues nearby, and here we stay with the venue itself. What we say about the hotel comes from its own website, and what we say about the day comes from looking at the photographs and watching the film.

For current venue details, explore Bath Spa Hotel. Ask the hotel which of its packages and rooms suit your date and numbers, and which rooms it uses for civil ceremonies, which its website does not state.

01 / The spaces / From the venue's own description

Function rooms, a lawn and a summer marquee

The hotel says its wedding function rooms suit 6 to 120 guests and that it is licensed for civil ceremonies. In summer it offers a Pavilion Marquee in the gardens for up to 250 guests, where guests can have champagne after an outdoor ceremony as part of its imperial package.

The hotel's meeting and event suites page names the rooms. The Avon Room, on the first floor, was originally the hotel's private chapel and has a dance floor and a private kitchen; the page gives it as 150 square metres, 15 metres by 10, for up to 130 people and calls it ideal for weddings. The Kennet Room next door can be a reception area or a separate room for smaller weddings and private dining, for up to 50, with a hidden bookcase bar. The Admiralty Room is a warm, wood-panelled room with a parquet floor and open fireplaces, also for up to 50. The page does not say which of them are used for civil ceremonies, and its 130 for the Avon Room is higher than the 120 on the wedding page, so ask the hotel for current figures.

It lists a dedicated wedding coordinator, award-winning food from its own chefs, spa days for the couple or the bridal party, complimentary parking and a choice of wedding packages, with the Vellore and Aqua Sulis packages named on its wedding page. The package page says Vellore includes an overnight stay in a Deluxe room on the wedding night with breakfast, and that Aqua Sulis Elite includes the bridal suite for the night before and the night of the wedding.

02 / Staying and getting there / From the hotel's own pages

131 bedrooms, parking and a short taxi from the station

The hotel's meetings page says it has 131 bedrooms. The getting here page places it just off the A36 on Sydney Road, with parking and electric vehicle charging at the hotel for guests. By train it is about an hour and a half from London and 15 minutes from Bristol, and from Bath Spa station it is a five minute taxi ride.

The wedding page lists complimentary parking, while the hotel's FAQs say parking is complimentary for guests staying on certain packages, so ask what applies to your guests who are not staying overnight.

03 / July 2021 / Emma and Jon

Emma and Jon: candlelit vows, a garden pavilion and confetti on the terrace

Emma and Jon married at Bath Spa Hotel on 29 July 2021. The photograph at the top of this page shows them walking hand in hand through a shower of confetti, Emma holding a bouquet of pink and white roses, Jon in a grey waistcoat, both laughing, with guests smiling behind them. The photographs here follow the day in order, and their highlight film plays further down the page.

The ceremony is in a wood-panelled room with tall curtained windows, candle lanterns on the floor and gilt chairs for the guests. Jon looks down as he puts the ring on Emma's finger, and then they kiss in front of the fireplace while their guests, some in pink, smile and watch.

They sign the register at a table dressed with a garland of pink roses, smiling, in front of a carved wooden fireplace with candle-style wall lights.

Outside, the portraits begin in the gardens. Emma and Jon stand with their foreheads together and their eyes closed, her bouquet between them, with the pale stone house behind clipped hedges.

On the lawn they walk towards us holding hands, each with a large white balloon, under tall trees. In the next frame they walk across the grass with the house rising behind the hedges, Emma leaning in as they laugh.

A small stone pavilion among the trees gives them a quieter frame: they hold hands and kiss between its columns, with sunlight falling in patches across the stone.

The last portrait is on the lawn below the house, where Jon lifts Emma into his arms with her veil hanging down and the steps behind them.

Planning your photographs and film at Bath Spa Hotel

A few things worth asking the venue, and how we would plan around the answers:

1. Where the ceremony happens: The hotel is licensed for civil ceremonies, and Emma and Jon's took place in a wood-panelled room. The hotel names the Avon Room, the former private chapel on the first floor, for up to 130, and the Kennet and Admiralty Rooms for up to 50 each. Ask which suits your numbers and tell us your choice so we can arrange the morning around it.
2. Rain: If you choose an outdoor ceremony, agree the indoor fallback with the hotel when you confirm the order of the day. On the day we settle portraits and group photographs together with you and the venue.
3. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. The lawn and the stone steps gave Emma and Jon's guests room for one large photograph, and the hotel's 7 acres of gardens leave plenty of other options. Ask a groomsman or bridesmaid who knows everyone to round people up.
4. Portraits: We usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together. The lawn, the garden pavilion and the terrace give very different backdrops within a few steps of each other, and the hotel also names fountains and a grotto in its gardens.
5. Getting ready: The hotel has 131 bedrooms, and its Aqua Sulis Elite package names a bridal suite, so you and your partner may be getting ready in different places. We move between you together, splitting our time as a team, and groom preparation typically takes about 15 minutes.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a historic hotel with a lawn, a terrace and a garden pavilion is familiar territory. You get one conversation about the timetable, one set of questions for the venue and one plan for the portrait walk.

The photo and video team package carries a £120 deposit and a £400 saving over booking photography and videography separately. We are based near Cardiff, and travel across England and Wales is included in standard full-day packages. When the drive is over two hours we always stay in a hotel the night before and cover it.

Questions about a Bath Spa Hotel wedding