A Stylish Winter Wedding at Farnham Castle

Sabine and Ben were married just before Christmas at Farnham Castle in Surrey.

If you don't know Farnham Castle you really should check it out - I've shot weddings at Farnham Castle in the Summer and throughout the year, including those colder/darker months, but have somehow managed to always get a cosy and crisp sunny day even when on the shortest winter day like this wedding was.

If you're looking into having your wedding in the winter there are a few things that you need to know, and some that you need to plan for:

1/ The weather, obviously.

It's more likely to be cold and dark, and it might rain, and it might even snow (Stranger things have happened...).

This is why Farnham Castle could be the perfect venue for you. Given it's vast size it still manages to be perfectly cosy and intimate, and there are plenty of spaces inside for photos even if you can't get outside. I'm always looking for the character in your wedding photos, and Farnham Castle oozes real character. It's very srtylish indoors and the perfect backdrop for that editorial style - almost like a fashion or magazine shoot.

2/ Match the food to the season - This is your excuse to go and do some taste testing! I've just photographed one of Farnham Castle's exclusive taste testing evenings specifically put on for couples getting married there this year. It's like a night out, and an opportunity to taste what food and wine you might be aiming towards for your own wedding. The food put on by Farnham Castle is the best there is. It's actually amazing, and part of what I do is document the room, and the food, and include that in all of the detail and theatre of your wedding.

3/ Understand your timings - It gets dark early. At Sabine and Ben's wedding we knew the sunset , or at least the workable light - would be around 3:30. So we had to know what pictures we wanted to get and when, so that we could fit everything in. There were a lot of family pics to get, and also, if we were at least going to have a dry winter's day, then I knew it would be great to take them for a walk around the grounds to get a few portraits of just them together. We did have a nice day, if a bit cold, but that gave me just enough time to plan a sequence of pictures outside, and get through them really quickly so S&B didn't get too cold.

4/ Light it up! - I love those documentary or journalistic style of pictures from the cocktail party. You know the ones? Direct flash and close quarters. Glamorous snapshots, that carry through into the evening on the dance floor. Winter parties can also be about the candle lit cosy-up as the lights go down, so I make it my mission to balance the wild party with the authentic intimacy. Throw in a sparklers walk, and you're golden.

One thing's for sure - it bears talking through exactly what you are expecting or hoping for for your own winter wedding. Having a good plan, and then a backup plan, and then adding extras (like a backdrop and photo booth for example - something that I love to do) and talking it all out with your venue and with me, will get you there.

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Everything came together for Sabine and Ben's day - the venue (perfect) the food (same), the style (ticking all boxes) & the photography (check). There was a Persian ceremony in the evening, and the dance floor was in full swing. It was a really nice one to do just before Christmas too - a great way to tie up my year.

Total validation that winter weddings rock. They really do, and sometimes in a way that is all of their own.

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If you're planning your winter wedding and you'd like to get into the possibilities, then this is exactly what I do.

I mean - I do all the seasons, obviously, but it takes a certain kind of experience to know how to approach the unique format of a winter wedding.