Colwick Hall Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A hall in over sixty acres of parkland

Colwick Hall Hotel is in Colwick Park on Racecourse Road in Nottingham (NG2 4BH). The venue says it sits in over sixty acres of parkland, and its wedding packages page lists a ballroom, a lakeside pavilion and a brasserie, with lawns and a lake and fountain in the grounds.

The venue's history page says the present hall was built in 1776 for Sir John Musters, to a design by John Carr of York, and that the manor passed to the Byron family in 1362. It says the original dining room became Byron's Brasserie in 2013.

We photographed and filmed Charlotte and Jake's wedding here on 1 October 2022. Theirs is the wedding in this guide, a day that moves from robes and a bright ceremony room out onto the lawn and into the garden.

For current venue details, explore Colwick Hall.

01 / October 2022 / Charlotte and Jake

Charlotte and Jake: robes, a bright ceremony room and a dog on the lawn

Charlotte and Jake married on 1 October 2022. The photograph at the top of this page is the two of them face to face during the ceremony, in a bright, high-ceilinged room with chandeliers and their guests seated behind them.

The morning starts with Charlotte and her wedding party laughing in matching robes on a bed with a coral canopy headboard, and Charlotte alone beside a tall sash window with her bouquet of greenery and pale flowers.

Out on the lawn, Charlotte stops in her long-veiled dress to greet a dog standing up on its back legs. In the garden, the whole wedding party laughs and kicks up their legs together among the trees.

Their highlight film is on this page as well.

02 / The spaces / From the venue's own pages

The Grand Ballroom, the Lakeside Pavilion and the smaller rooms

The venue's spaces page names the 1776 Grand Ballroom and Champagne Lounge. The ballroom has a hand-painted ceiling resting on four ionic pillars, and the venue gives it as 90 for a civil ceremony or wedding breakfast and 150 for the evening. The Champagne Lounge next to it opens onto lawns overlooking the lake and fountain, near the great oak.

The Lakeside Pavilion is an all-year marquee beside the lake, with views of the country park, its own decking, private bar, dance floor and stage. It is given at a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 500 for the ceremony, the wedding breakfast and the evening, and the venue says it suits bands, discos and other entertainment.

For smaller days, Byron's Brasserie is the house's original dining room, with an ornamental ceiling of eight cherubs and a private entrance at the front of the hall. The venue gives it as 20 to 40 for a wedding breakfast and up to 80 for the evening. DeColwyck Hall and the John Carr Suite is a private first-floor room with views over the gardens and lake, given as 12 for a wedding breakfast. The venue's boutique weddings are pitched at 20 to 40 plus.

03 / Ceremony, rooms and arriving / From the venue's own pages

Civil ceremonies, bedrooms and parking

The wedding packages page says Colwick Hall is licensed for civil ceremonies and that couples book their own registrar. It does not say which rooms hold the licence, so confirm that when you view. It gives 16 bedrooms on site, and its packages name a Bridal Suite (Unity and Enchanting) or a Signature Suite (Eternity and Everlasting Winter).

The page describes private grounds with lawns for drinks receptions and canapés and garden games, and its summer packages include a barbecue on the grounds, weather permitting. The venue offers free onsite car parking, according to its parking page, which does not give a number of spaces. None of its pages gives a finish time or says whether a wedding has the hall to itself, so ask both.

Planning your photographs at Colwick Hall

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

1. Which space you are using: the venue gives the Grand Ballroom as 90 for a civil ceremony or wedding breakfast and the Lakeside Pavilion as 100 to 500, so your guest list usually decides the room. The room changes the timetable and the light, so tell us your plan and we will arrange the morning around it.
2. Your registrar: the venue says couples book their own registrar. Send us the ceremony time once it is fixed, since the morning and the first photographs all work back from it.
3. Getting ready: the venue lists 16 bedrooms, with a Bridal Suite or a Signature Suite depending on the package. Ask when your room is yours on the morning, since that is where the first photographs happen.
4. Group photographs: the Champagne Lounge opens onto lawns overlooking the lake and fountain, and the venue describes lawns for drinks receptions, so a large group has room. We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes.
5. Portraits: we usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together. The lawns, the lake, the fountain, the great oak the venue names and the parkland give you very different backdrops. We check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you.
6. Rain: agree an indoor option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day. The Grand Ballroom, the Champagne Lounge and Byron's Brasserie are indoor spaces the venue lists, and the Lakeside Pavilion is an all-year marquee with its own decking, which gives you a covered spot beside the lake.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a hall with lawns, a lake and a bright ballroom 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 Colwick Hall wedding