St Mary's Hall Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A village hall beside the church, three miles from Rye

St Mary's Hall is at Udimore, East Sussex (TN31 6BB). The hall's own website puts it just off the B2089 on a single-track road, three miles west of Rye, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It describes a hall that opened in 2011, with pear orchards and a wildlife pond around it, next to the 11th-century Grade I listed church of St Mary.

We photographed and filmed one wedding on the booking for this venue: Alexandra and Row on 16 July 2022. Their day moved between Rye and Udimore, and the photographs here follow the part in Rye as well as the evening. Our Sussex guide shows their day beside other East Sussex weddings, and this page uses the hall's own website for what it says about the venue and our photographs for the rest.

For current venue details, explore St Mary's Hall. The hall's website does not give a guest capacity, so ask the venue for the numbers that apply to your date and layout.

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

A village hall, a lawn for a marquee and a church next door

The hall is hired by the weekend. The website lists hire from 14.00 on Friday to 12.00 on Sunday, with other periods by negotiation with the booking clerk, and early Friday or late Sunday access subject to availability. That gives you time on the Friday afternoon for decorating, which is worth planning around if you want us to photograph the room before guests arrive.

The hall's page says a marquee can be put up on the lawn for a pitching charge, and that the booking clerk needs to know at the point of booking. The marquee itself is separate, so ask the venue what is involved.

St Mary's Church sits right next to the hall. The website explains that banns are usually needed for a church wedding, that the Rector should be contacted about six months before, and that one of you needs a parish connection. A blessing after a civil marriage is also available. The hall's website does not mention capacity, kitchen, bar, parking, licensing or finishing times, so ask the venue for these in writing.

02 / July 2022 / Alexandra and Row

Alexandra and Row: a Rye street, a panelled room and evening light

Alexandra and Row married on 16 July 2022. The morning starts with the dress hanging in a tall window behind velvet curtains and sheer drapes. Then Alexandra walks along a Rye street with her father, her bridesmaids and her family close beside her, lifting her skirt as she goes.

The ceremony is in a panelled room with a chandelier and boards of names along the walls, where the two of them stand hand in hand with their guests close beside them. Afterwards guests line the street to throw confetti, and Alexandra laughs as she and Row walk through it.

The photograph at the top of this page is from the evening, when the two of them find a quiet gravel path between tall hedges and stand forehead to forehead in warm, low light with an old stone building behind them.

Planning your photographs at St Mary's Hall

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

1. Two places in one day: Alexandra and Row's day began in Rye and finished in Udimore. If your ceremony and reception are in different places, send us both addresses and your ceremony time early, and we will plan the morning around the drive and the time guests need to arrive and settle.
2. A church wedding next door: The hall's website sets out banns, the Rector's contact and the parish connection a church wedding needs. If you marry in the church, ask the Rector what is allowed for photographs and film inside, and tell us so we can plan around it.
3. Marquee or hall: A marquee on the lawn is possible if the booking clerk knows at the point of booking. If you want one, tell us early so we can plan where the group photographs and the evening portraits will happen.
4. Timings: The hall's website gives the weekend hire window but no finishing times for the evening. Ask for the timings of your date in writing, and we will plan the portrait walk around the light.
5. Confetti: Guests throw confetti in Alexandra and Row's photographs. Check with the venue, the church and any other host where it is allowed before you promise it to guests.
6. 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.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a day that moves between a town ceremony and a village hall 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 St Mary's Hall wedding