Stanbrook Abbey Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A wedding at Stanbrook Abbey, Callow End

Stanbrook Abbey is a Grade II listed former abbey at Callow End, near Worcester in Worcestershire (Jennet Tree Lane, WR2 4TY), run as a hotel by Hand Picked Hotels. The venue's history page says Benedictine nuns lived here from 1838 to 2009, that Pugin's sons designed the church, cloisters and chapel, and that it reopened as a hotel in 2015 before Hand Picked added it to its collection in 2017.

We photographed and filmed Abi and Adam's wedding here on 22 September 2022. The highlight film on this page is from their day, and so are the three photographs below.

For current venue details, explore Stanbrook Abbey.

01 / September 2022 / Abi and Adam

Abi and Adam: an aisle, a willow swing and a brick archway

Abi and Adam married on 22 September 2022, and we photographed and filmed their day. The highlight film further down this page is from it. In the first photograph, Abi walks down the aisle of the Callow Great Hall, the former abbey church, with its pointed arched ceiling, carved wooden panelling and stained glass windows, and guests standing on both sides.

Outside, the two of them sit close together on a wooden swing hung from a weeping willow and kiss, with the long branches falling around them. The photograph at the top of this page shows Abi, in a long veil and carrying white flowers, kissing Adam in a gap in an old red-brick wall, with a brick building and autumn-coloured trees behind them.

Two more photographs from the gardens. Abi and Adam walk hand in hand beside a sandy pond, Abi laughing with her veil and a bouquet of pampas grass, Adam in a navy suit. And in a wide view they sit together on a swing hung from a huge weeping willow, the branches falling around them.

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

Four ceremony settings and the Garden Pavilion

The venue's ceremony page lists four settings. The Callow Great Hall, the former abbey church, has stained glass windows and hand carved wooden pews and holds 200. An outdoor ceremony in the private garden, with a view of the Willow Lake, also holds 200. St Anne's Hall holds 100 and has doors onto the private garden and the Library Bar next door. The East Room holds 50 and has an oak-beamed ceiling and an original fireplace. The history page says the Callow Great Hall was consecrated in 1871 and is a high vaulted example of Pugin's gothic revival style.

The venue's wedding page gives up to 280 for the wedding meal and 400 for an evening party. Its evening party page puts up to 400 in the Garden Pavilion, a fixed structure near the Willow Lake with fairy lights and chandeliers, and up to 180 in St Anne's Hall. The venue's FAQs say exclusive use is available. Confirm all figures and your date with the venue in writing.

03 / The grounds / From the venue's own pages

Twenty-six acres, a lake and a willow swing

The venue says the estate covers 26 acres, with an orchard, the Willow Lake and several gardens. Its grounds page describes a courtyard garden bordered by hedges that it suggests for reception drinks, lavender-lined gardens, lawn games, a fire pit for the evening and a love swing hanging from a willow tree by the lake. Abi and Adam's swing photograph shows a swing under a weeping willow.

04 / Getting ready and staying / From the venue's own pages

A Georgian manor house, a groom's room and 70 bedrooms

The venue's getting ready page describes the Manor House, a separate Georgian house in the grounds that a wedding party can have for the day, with a drawing room, parlour, dressing room, kitchen and five bedrooms. It has a private entrance and connects to the Callow Great Hall by a cloister. The Groom's Room, a few steps away in the main abbey, has wood panelling and a large round table.

Its accommodation page lists 70 bedrooms, including a Master Suite with a private balcony, a Pugin Suite with a four poster bed, Junior Suites and Feature Bedrooms, and says the Manor House can also be stayed in, with five en suite rooms. The venue's FAQs say wedding guests can be offered a special room rate as part of a wedding package.

Planning your photographs at Stanbrook Abbey

The venue's own pages answer most of the layout questions. Here is how we would plan around them:

1. Where the ceremony is: the venue lists the Callow Great Hall (200), the private garden (200), St Anne's Hall (100) and the East Room (50). Tell us which you have booked, the time and the order of the day so we can plan the morning, the travel and the first photographs around it.
2. Getting ready: if your party uses the Manor House, the venue says it has a private entrance and a cloister that leads to the Callow Great Hall, and the Groom's Room is in the main abbey. Tell us where each of you is getting ready so we can plan who we are with and when.
3. Group photographs: we do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. Ask someone who knows everyone to round people up. The courtyard garden and the lawns are the open spaces the venue names for drinks, so ask which suits a large group on your date.
4. Portraits: we usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together. The venue names the Willow Lake, the orchard and the lavender-lined gardens, and Abi and Adam's photographs show a swing under a willow and a brick archway in the grounds. Ask whether the swing can be used on your day.
5. Rain: the venue lists St Anne's Hall and the Callow Great Hall as indoor ceremony settings alongside the outdoor garden, so ask how and when it decides on the day, and agree the indoor option when you confirm the order of the day.
6. Autumn dates: daylight shortens in late September, so we check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you.
7. Getting there: the venue says wedding guests have free on-site parking, and its directions put the hotel about 10 minutes from the M5 (junction 7). It gives Worcester Foregate Street station as 5 miles away, and says a bus route runs through Callow End.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a historic building with gardens and grounds 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 Stanbrook Abbey wedding