Swancar Farm Country House Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A red-brick farmhouse and barns at Trowell Moor

Swancar Farm Country House is at Trowell Moor, Trowell, on the western edge of Nottingham (NG9 3PQ). The venue's own website describes a mix of rustic charm and contemporary elegance, with civil ceremonies in The Gallery or the Lower Barn, a wedding breakfast and evening celebration in The Oak Hall, a cobbled courtyard for drinks, eleven bedrooms and a self-contained cottage for the night before.

We photographed Rhianne and Andy's wedding here on 27 October 2021, and their day is the one in this guide: a ceremony beneath oak beams, a cast iron gazebo and a tree hung with padlocks, portraits against the red-brick farmhouse and a first dance in a stone-floored barn. Our Nottingham guide shows more weddings nearby, and here we stay with the house. 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 Swancar Farm Country House. The venue's FAQ page also mentions a Glass Barn with details that look out of date, so ask which spaces are available for your date and guest numbers.

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

The Gallery, the Lower Barn, The Oak Hall and the farmhouse

The venue's FAQ says it is licensed for civil ceremonies and partnerships, and gives The Gallery on the upper floor of the Barn and the Lower Barn below it as ceremony spaces, each seating up to 100. It says there is room for 200 more guests in the evening, up to 300 in all, and that only one event is held each day, so you and your guests have the venue and its accommodation to yourselves.

It describes eleven bedrooms, including a Bridal Suite, and a self-contained cottage that sleeps eight for the night before. Food is cooked by its own chefs and outside caterers are not accepted. Its FAQ gives music until midnight and last orders at 11.30pm, so ask for your finishing and departure times in writing.

02 / October 2021 / Rhianne and Andy

Rhianne and Andy: oak beams, a gazebo, love locks and a first dance

Rhianne and Andy married on 27 October 2021. The photograph at the top of this page shows them inside a dark cast iron gazebo with scrolled panels, Andy in a grey tweed suit touching his forehead to Rhianne's, her veil falling behind her and a bouquet of peach and pink roses held against her gown.

Their ceremony was in a room of oak beams, brick walls, a stone floor and tall windows. They face each other holding hands, both smiling, with their guests seated close by and a small flower girl in white. Afterwards they sit at a carved wooden table to sign the register, smiling towards us with bouquets on either side.

Then they walk back down the aisle hand in hand, the tall oak-framed windows behind them and Andy's groomsmen in grey suits watching them go.

Outside, the two of them stop at a tree trunk wrapped in chains and hung with padlocks, and fix one of their own among the hearts.

Their portraits made use of the house and its grounds. They walk the gravel drive hand in hand past a pair of stone lions, then stand in front of the red-brick farmhouse with its bay windows and black front door, Andy with a hand in his pocket and Rhianne holding her bouquet.

Round the side of the building, Rhianne leans her head against Andy's shoulder in a low brick doorway, a climbing rose on a trellis beside them.

In the evening they dance for the first time as a married couple on the stone floor of a barn hung with fairy lights, their guests standing in a ring around them with phones raised and a toddler in a blue dress looking on.

Planning your photographs at Swancar Farm Country House

Questions worth putting to the venue, and how we would work around the answers:

1. Ceremony room: Rhianne and Andy married in an oak-framed room with tall windows. Ask which of The Gallery and the Lower Barn suits your guest numbers, and how the light falls in each at the time of your ceremony.
2. Garden details: The gazebo, the padlock tree and the lions beside the drive each gave this couple something different to stand beside. Ask what is open to you on the day and whether you can bring your own padlock.
3. Getting ready: The venue lists eleven bedrooms and a Bridal Suite, and its FAQ says rooms may not be ready before 1pm. Ask what access you have in the morning, so we can plan the preparation photographs and film.
4. Autumn light: Late October gives you an early sunset, and the brick walls looked rich under a soft grey sky. We check the sunset time for your date and agree the portrait plan with you in advance.
5. Group photographs: We are happy to take as many as you like, though about 15 groups is our usual advice and takes around 20 minutes. Pick a spot with space and a covered fallback, and ask someone who knows both families to gather people.
6. Portraits: We usually allow a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video working together. The drive, the farmhouse front, the gazebo and the brick corners give you several quite different backdrops.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a barn ceremony, a farmhouse front and a first dance under fairy lights are well-worn ground. You talk to one team about the timeline, one list of questions goes to the venue and one plan covers the portraits.

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 Swancar Farm Country House wedding