The Ravenswood Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A country house in the West Sussex countryside, used by one wedding a day

The Ravenswood is at Cinder Hill, Sharpthorne, near East Grinstead in West Sussex (RH19 4HY). It is part of the Gilchrist Collection, and the venue's history page traces the house back to a farmhouse built in 1426. The venue says couples have the venue to themselves, with no other weddings or events that day.

We photographed and filmed one wedding here: Ollie and Laura on 8 April 2022. This page follows their day in photographs. Our Sussex guide shows the county's venues together, and here we stay with the house itself. 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 The Ravenswood. Our wedding here was in April, so ask the venue how the grounds change in other seasons, and for the timings of your date.

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

A ceremony suite, a baronial hall and a round room for the wedding breakfast

The venue is licensed for indoor and outdoor ceremonies, with three ceremony options in all. Its Jacobean Suite is described as bright and airy, with wooden floors, a fireplace and views of the grounds, seating up to 114 guests. You can decide up to two hours before the ceremony whether to hold it outside or move it indoors.

The Baronial Hall has wooden beams, a grand staircase, an open fire and glass doors onto the grounds, with seating for up to 140. The Princess Beatrice Suite is a round room with a wooden ceiling and its own private bar, and the venue gives it as the room for the wedding breakfast, for up to 150 guests, and for an evening reception of up to 300.

There is a spacious getting-ready room with hair and make-up stations and space to hang dresses and suits. The venue says exclusive use starts an hour before the ceremony, and it does not give finishing times, so ask for the timings of your date in writing.

02 / April 2022 / Ollie and Laura

Ollie and Laura: a signed register, purple smoke and a summerhouse by the water

Ollie and Laura married at The Ravenswood on 8 April 2022, and we photographed and filmed the day. The photograph at the top of this page is from their portraits: Ollie in a grey suit and glasses and Laura in a lace gown and veil, forehead to forehead in front of dark shrubs with a cloud of purple smoke behind them and a bouquet of eucalyptus and white flowers in her hand.

The photographs on this page were picked by ChatGPT from their gallery, not by Cam.

At the register the two of them lean over the page, laughing, while a bridesmaid in a sage sequin dress looks on and smiles. Outside, on the lawn in front of the half-timbered and stone house, Ollie is hugged tightly by a bridesmaid, with guests holding bouquets and chatting around them.

Then the two of them leave the lawn. A flagstone path runs under old trees, past a wooden summerhouse among the leaves, and we follow them from behind as they walk away along it.

The summerhouse is where the portraits go. In one they kiss in its open doorway, framed by timber and lattice, with the water bright behind them. Seen from across the lake, the whole summerhouse becomes a small stage among bare branches and rhododendron, with the two of them tiny inside it.

Indoors, the last photograph is a black and white kiss in front of a bay window hung with white curtains tied back with bows, Laura's train spread across the wooden floor.

03 / Staying at The Ravenswood / From the venue's own description

Bedrooms on site and a cottage for the night before

The venue lists bedrooms on site, including four-poster rooms and a honeymoon suite with a four-poster bed that it says is included in all of its wedding packages. Its pages give 33 bedrooms in one place and 34 in another, with space for up to 75 guests, so ask the venue to confirm how many people it can sleep on your date.

Rosewood Cottage is a separate retreat a short stroll from the house, which the venue says sleeps up to eight and can be added for the night before the wedding, the morning of, or both. For photographs, ask which of the rooms you can use and from what time, so we can plan the morning around where each of you is.

Planning your photographs at The Ravenswood

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

1. Indoors or outdoors: The venue lets you decide up to two hours before the ceremony whether to hold it outside or move it indoors. Tell us which you are leaning towards, and we will plan the morning and the portraits so that either choice works.
2. Exclusive use: The venue says exclusive use starts an hour before the ceremony. Ask what access you have to the house and the getting-ready room earlier in the day, so we know when we can start.
3. The grounds and the water: Ollie and Laura's portraits use a flagstone path, a wooden summerhouse and the water beside it. Ask the venue which parts of the grounds are open to you, and bear in mind that April paths can be damp and the leaves underfoot slippery in a long dress.
4. Timing: The venue does not publish finishing times, so ask for the timings of your date in writing. Tell us once you have agreed them and we will plan the portrait walk around the light.
5. 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.
6. Getting ready: If you and your partner are in different places, we move between you together, splitting our time as a team. Groom preparation typically takes about 15 minutes.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a country house with a lake, a summerhouse and a curtained bay window 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 The Ravenswood wedding