Farbridge Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A restored dairy in the South Downs

Farbridge is at West Dean, near Chichester in West Sussex (PO18 0JT). The venue says it is in the South Downs National Park, in rolling downland, in a building that was once an old dairy and has been beautifully restored. It describes the whole place as yours alone for your day.

We have photographed and filmed two weddings here, in July 2024 and July 2025. This page follows both in photographs: Hannah and Adam in 2024 and Laura and Ricky in 2025. Our Sussex guide and Southampton guide show Farbridge beside other venues on the south coast, and here we stay with the venue itself. What we say about the buildings comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the photographs comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore Farbridge. Both weddings here were in July, so ask the venue how its barns and grounds change in other seasons.

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

Two barns, a courtyard and a secret garden

The venue uses two barns. The smaller one, which it calls the Meadow Barn, hosts the ceremony and can be cleared afterwards for dancing, with music until 11.30pm. The larger barn is used for drinks and the sit-down meal. Together they host between 75 and 200 guests, and the earliest ceremony time is 2pm.

Outside there is a sunlit courtyard with a sound system, borders with room for photographers to stand, a courtyard with a lawn for group photographs, fields across the River Lavant and the remains of the old dairy along the track. The couple's private rooms sit in a secret garden and open at 11am on the wedding day.

The bar closes and the music stops at 11.30pm, with all guests off site by midnight. The venue says there is no corkage if you bring your own drinks, and that a head chef will meet you to design your own menu.

02 / July 2024 / Hannah and Adam

Hannah and Adam: newspapers, confetti and a stream through the meadow

Hannah and Adam married at Farbridge on 12 July 2024. The photograph at the top of this page is from their portraits: Hannah in a veil and Adam in a pale suit and blue tie, foreheads together on a wooden bench, with trees behind them.

In the morning the bridesmaids, in floral robes, laugh as they hold up printed newspapers in a bright white room with a high vaulted ceiling. Hannah stands in her off-the-shoulder gown with a long train beside a woman in a blue patterned dress and a fascinator.

They leave the ceremony under timber beams with confetti in the air, Adam in a stone-coloured suit with a pale blue tie and Hannah holding a bouquet of pink and white flowers. Later, in the same beamed room with string lights overhead, Adam lifts Hannah off her feet as her dress swirls during their first dance.

Outside, the couple kiss in a grassy meadow beside a winding stream, and walk hand in hand through tall grass beside a hedge with fields rolling away behind them.

03 / July 2025 / Laura and Ricky

Laura and Ricky: a stone barn, tall grass and the last of the sun

Laura and Ricky married here on 26 July 2025. In the first photograph they walk into the stone-walled barn to applause, Ricky in a navy suit with a sage bow tie and Laura carrying a bouquet of white flowers, guests in orange and blue dresses clapping beside them.

The barn itself is set for the meal with round tables in white cloths and gold chairs under bare timber roof beams, its old stone and brick walls left exposed.

Outside, Ricky lifts Laura in a hug beside a stone farmhouse, her veil over them both, and they walk hand in hand across the fields, Laura's bouquet in one hand and Ricky in a waistcoat beside her, in warm evening light.

Between the portraits Laura bends down to talk with two older women at a table, a quiet moment away from the portraits.

As the sun drops, the couple embrace among tall grasses with the long veil falling behind them, then kiss at a wooden gate with the low sun breaking through the leaves above and farm buildings in the distance.

04 / Staying at Farbridge / From the venue's own description

Seven bedrooms and breakfast the next morning

The venue has seven en-suite guest bedrooms, ready from 1pm on the wedding day, with breakfast served between 8.30 and 9.30am the next morning in the Breakfast Room and the wedding party checking out at 10am. Taxis can be booked in advance, and coaches are available.

For photographs, ask which of the private rooms and bedrooms you can use for getting ready and when they open, so we can plan the morning around where each of you is.

Planning your photographs at Farbridge

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

1. Timing: The earliest ceremony time is 2pm and the bar closes at 11.30pm, so the day runs inside a defined window. Tell us your timings once you have agreed them with the venue and we will plan the portrait walk around the light.
2. Evening light: Both weddings here were in July, and the golden-hour photographs in this guide came from fields and long grass around the barns. We check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you before the day.
3. Rain: Agree an indoor or sheltered option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day. On the day we settle it together with you and the venue.
4. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. The venue has a courtyard with a lawn for groups; ask a groomsman or bridesmaid who knows everyone to round people up.
5. 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 two barns, a courtyard and open downland 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 Farbridge wedding