Highbury Hall Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A Victorian mansion built for Joseph Chamberlain

Highbury Hall is on Yew Tree Road in Moseley, Birmingham (B13 8NQ). Listings say the hall was built in the 1870s for Joseph Chamberlain, and Birmingham City Council, which runs it, says it is licensed for civil weddings in its Drawing Room, with catering by the council's own civic catering team.

We photographed Sam and Jess's wedding here on 16 February 2019, and their day is the one in this guide: a ceremony in the drawing room, the register signed by a window, a kiss in the library and a walk down the staircase. Our Birmingham guide shows more weddings in the city.

For current venue details, explore Highbury Hall. This wedding was in February, so ask the council how the hall and gardens look in other seasons, and check its current wedding hire and menus.

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

A drawing room, a library, a staircase and gardens

Listings describe a grand mansion a few miles from the city centre, and the council says it is licensed for civil ceremonies in the Drawing Room, with receptions in its main hall and other rooms. Its hire and menu pages list prices and numbers for each space, and they are updated each year.

Ask the council which rooms your date includes, how many guests the Drawing Room holds, and what the arrangements are for catering, music and finishing times.

02 / February 2019 / Sam and Jess

Sam and Jess: a drawing-room ceremony, a library kiss and a walk down the staircase

Sam and Jess married on 16 February 2019. Sam wore a navy suit with a green tie and a white buttonhole and Jess a lace gown with long sleeves and a bouquet of red and white roses. The photograph at the top of this page is their kiss in front of a wall of leather-bound books.

The ceremony was in a high, dark room with blue patterned walls, a red carpet and a chandelier, and the first photograph shows their first kiss as guests look on. At the register they sit by a tall window with blue velvet curtains, Sam smiling as Jess signs, a bouquet of roses on the table beside them.

Walking back down the aisle, Jess smiles as Sam grins at the camera, guests clapping behind them. Outside, the two of them stood on the lawn in front of the red-brick hall, with its gables and bay windows, and later leaned into one another beside a bank of rhododendron leaves.

Inside, they walked down the grand staircase hand in hand, past a carved banister wrapped in ivy. At dusk, the two of them were a silhouette against the lit hall, and indoors again they cut a sponge cake topped with raspberries.

Planning your photographs at Highbury Hall

Questions to put to the council, and how we would plan around the answers:

1. The Drawing Room: Sam and Jess's ceremony was in a dark, richly decorated room. Ask how it will be set, where the registrar will stand and how much light the windows give at your time of day.
2. Library and staircase: The library and the staircase gave two very different backdrops indoors. Ask which rooms are open to us between the ceremony and the meal.
3. The gardens: The red-brick front and the lawn make a formal setting. Ask when the grounds are open to you and what the plan is if it rains.
4. February light: In February, daylight ends early, so we plan family groups and lawn portraits straight after the ceremony and keep the rooms and the lit hall for later.
5. Group photographs: We make as many as you wish, usually around 15, which take about 20 minutes. Choose a spot with room for everyone and a sheltered fallback, and ask someone who knows both families to gather people.
6. Catering and cake: The council runs the catering, and the cake can be a good moment. Ask when it will be cut, so we are in the right place.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a Victorian mansion with a drawing room, a library and a grand staircase is planned once: one timetable, one list of questions for the council and one shared portrait walk for photographs and film.

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 Highbury Hall wedding