Hengrave Hall Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A 16th-century manor house on a private estate

Hengrave Hall is at Hengrave, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk (IP28 6LB). The venue describes a 16th-century manor house on a 350-acre private estate, with formal gardens, a lime tree orchard and its own church, and says exclusive use of the house and grounds is included.

We photographed and filmed Aimee and Thierry's wedding here on 25 May 2023. Their day is the one in this guide: a confetti walk on the lawn, a dark panelled staircase and a black and white chequered floor, and a long table laid under a chandelier.

For current venue details, explore Hengrave Hall.

01 / May 2023 / Aimee and Thierry

Aimee and Thierry: a panelled staircase, a chequered floor and confetti on the lawn

Aimee and Thierry married on 25 May 2023. The photograph at the top of this page is the two of them walking hand in hand through a cloud of white confetti between rows of guests, both of them laughing. Indoors, the Hall is dark panelling and leaded glass, and the black and white photographs make the most of it.

Aimee comes down a dark panelled staircase in a long veil and train towards a tall leaded window. Later, seen from a landing above, the two of them kiss on the chequered floor beneath the windows. In softer light, Thierry in a navy suit kisses Aimee on the cheek as she smiles with her eyes closed.

Outside, Aimee and Thierry walk away along a gravel path through the formal clipped gardens towards the red-brick and stone front of the Hall. Back indoors, a long table is laid with white linen, glasses and flowers beneath a chandelier in a panelled room.

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

Four ceremony locations, a courtyard and an estate church

The venue's wedding pages list four ceremony locations, an Italian-style inner courtyard with festoon lighting and a Banqueting Hall with a sound system. They also list ground-floor reception rooms, a private chapel and the church of St John Lateran in the grounds, a short walk from the main house. For civil ceremonies the venue says the outside ceremony space, the Banqueting Hall, the Dining Room and the Library are all registered, and that you book the registrar yourself. A church wedding needs clergy, which the couple also arranges.

For the morning, the venue names the Honeymoon Suite and the Blue Room as preparation rooms, and says the Queen Elizabeth Chamber and Blue Room are open to you from 10:30am on the wedding day. It also mentions walled gardens, an orchard, meadows, croquet and other garden games. Venue hire is listed from £4,000 plus VAT, depending on the day of the week and the time of year. The pages do not give guest capacities, so ask the venue.

03 / Staying at Hengrave Hall / From the venue's own pages

Bedrooms in the Hall and the Walled Gardens

The venue says it has 30 bedrooms on site, including bedrooms in the Hall (most with four-poster beds) and six more in the Walled Gardens, with breakfast for guests served in the Walled Gardens the next morning. The pages give 15 bedrooms in the Hall, which does not add up to 30 with the six in the Walled Gardens, so confirm the numbers with the venue. The couple books and pays for guest rooms, and the venue says it cannot book them for guests. Its homepage also mentions a partner hotel with 94 more rooms about 3 miles away.

Planning your photographs at Hengrave Hall

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

1. Where the ceremony is: one of the four ceremony locations, or the church of St John Lateran. Tell us your plan and times so we can arrange the morning and the first photographs around them.
2. Getting ready: ask when the preparation rooms open on the morning. The venue mentions access from 10:30am, and that is where the first photographs happen.
3. Group photographs: we do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. The formal gardens and the courtyard give you room, and the Hall gives you somewhere indoors if the weather turns.
4. Portraits: we usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together. The panelled staircase, the chequered floor and the gravel paths through the gardens all work very differently, so decide with us which you want.
5. Rain: agree an indoor option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day. The venue's registered indoor rooms and ground-floor reception rooms are the natural fallback.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a manor house with a panelled staircase, formal gardens and a long lawn 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 Hengrave Hall wedding