Fanhams Hall Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A stone mansion with formal gardens near Ware

Fanhams Hall is on Fanhams Hall Road near Ware in Hertfordshire (SG12 7PZ), and is part of the Exclusive Collection. The venue offers exclusive use of the house and gardens for you and your guests, with ceremonies in the house or on the lawns, and a Croquet Lawn for a marquee or tipi. Its own site describes 27 acres of gardens.

We photographed and filmed Jess and Glynn's wedding here on 24 October 2021. Their day is told in photographs on this page, and the highlight film plays further down. Our London guide covers Hertfordshire and the surrounding counties, and here we stay with the house and the couple. What we say about the buildings comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the pictures comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore Fanhams Hall. This wedding was in late October, so ask the venue how the house and gardens look at other times of year.

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

A long gallery, a Great Hall and gardens to wander

The venue lists several places for a ceremony, each for up to 130 guests: the Long Gallery, with hand-carved oak panelling, an ornate ceiling and original chandeliers; the Great Hall; a room called Sakura; the Japanese Teahouse in the gardens; and the Gazebo Lawn. It names the Great Hall as licensed for ceremonies and does not say the same of the others, so ask which spaces are licensed for yours. A smaller room, the Oak & White Hall, takes 25 to 45 guests.

For the meal and the evening it lists the Great Hall for up to 130 for a wedding meal and up to 200 for an evening reception. The Croquet Lawn can hold a marquee or tipi for up to 300 guests, booked through the venue's partners.

02 / October 2021 / Jess and Glynn

Jess and Glynn: a panelled ceremony room, autumn gardens and a hall laid for the wedding meal

Jess and Glynn married on 24 October 2021. The photograph at the top of this page shows them walking between their guests as red and pink petals fly past, Glynn in black tie with a buttonhole and Jess in a lace gown with a bouquet of pink and white flowers, both laughing and holding hands with the stone house behind them. The highlight film plays further down the page.

The ceremony was in a long panelled room with chandeliers. Glynn and Jess stand facing each other holding hands, both laughing, while their guests watch from the seats behind.

The portraits were in the gardens in low autumn light. Jess's long veil streams out in the wind as the two of them kiss on pale grass under tall trees, and under another set of trees Glynn kisses her on the forehead, her bouquet held between them.

They stand hand in hand inside a round brick archway with a lawn and a clipped hedge beyond, and later pause on wide stone steps between balustrades, looking towards the house.

Back indoors, Glynn leads a small curly-coated dog on a lead through wooden doors with leaded glass while Jess smiles beside him, a black and white tiled floor behind them.

For the wedding meal, a long hall with a beamed ceiling has festoon lights strung across it and round tables laid with white cloths, glassware and flowers.

03 / Staying at Fanhams Hall / From the venue's own description

78 bedrooms and the house to yourselves

The venue's exclusive-use page says all 78 bedrooms are reserved for your guests, and that your reserved period starts at 1pm on the wedding day and ends when exclusive use concludes at 11am the next morning. Its hotel pages give check-in from 2pm and check-out by 11am. Ask how many of your guests the rooms can sleep and what the arrangements are for the morning after.

For the film and photographs, ask which rooms you can use for getting ready and when they open, since the reserved period starts at 1pm. We can then plan the morning around where each of you is.

Planning your film and photographs at Fanhams Hall

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

1. Ceremony place: Jess and Glynn's ceremony, portraits and evening all appear to take place on the estate. With so many ceremony spaces to choose from, ask which are licensed for your date, and tell us your choice so we can plan around the light in the room.
2. Timing: The venue's wedding pages do not give music or finishing times, so ask for the timings of your date in writing. Tell us once you have agreed them and we will plan the portrait walk and the evening around the light.
3. Garden portraits: The gardens gave this couple a pergola, a red bridge, a round brick arch, stone steps and a fountain, and they work in autumn light. Ask the venue which parts of the 27 acres are open to you and whether any are closed to guests.
4. Rain: Agree an indoor or sheltered option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day, and we settle it together on the day.
5. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. Ask a groomsman or bridesmaid who knows everyone to round people up.
6. Getting ready: If you and your partner are in different places, we move between you together, splitting our time as a team. 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 mansion with formal gardens, panelled rooms and a lit hall for the evening 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 Fanhams Hall wedding