A Preston Court wedding in August, on a family-owned estate near Canterbury where the ceremony options include a seventeenth-century Kentish barn and an island in the middle of the lake. Ellie and Dan had the gardens, the festoon lights and a site with more character per acre than almost anywhere I shoot.
I photographed the day documentary-style from start to finish. Nobody was arranged, nothing was repeated for the camera, and the only forty-five minutes of direction were the three short portrait slots. What follows is the day in the order it happened.
The morning: gardens, and a slow Kentish start
Preston Court is spread out, and that suits an unposed day. Getting ready and the ceremony are a walk apart rather than a door apart, and the walk between them is where a lot of the morning’s photographs come from — people drifting across grass with a drink rather than queueing in a corridor.
I arrive about three hours before the ceremony and take almost nothing for the first twenty minutes. That is deliberate — I am working out where the light is coming from, which window is worth waiting by, and where I can stand without becoming part of the morning. After that I stop being noticeable, and the room forgets I am there.
The ceremony at Preston Court
The seventeenth-century barn is the one most couples choose, and the beams and the light in it do most of the work. There is also the island in the front lake, which is the most unusual ceremony spot in Kent and photographs like nothing else.
I photograph reactions at least as much as I photograph the couple. The vows last about four minutes and there are usually twenty photographs worth having in them, of which three or four are of the two people getting married. The rest are mothers, best friends, and a small child who has entirely given up on the whole thing.
Confetti, and the one bit I do organise
There is a long garden run here that makes a natural confetti line, so two rows rather than a ring, walked slowly, with everybody held back until the couple are properly into the gap.
Ushers hold everybody until the couple are properly into the gap, the walk is slow, nobody looks at me, and it happens once, properly. Then it is done and everyone goes back to a drink. It is the only moment of the day I take charge of, because confetti is over in eight seconds and it is very easy to waste.
Portraits, and the forty-five minutes I ask for
The directed part of a Preston Court wedding comes to about forty-five minutes, and it is always split into three fifteen-minute slots rather than one long block — straight after the ceremony, again before dinner is called, and once more late on when the light drops. Nobody wants to be taken away from their own party for an hour, and you do not photograph any better in the fiftieth minute than you do in the fifth.
The estate has a carousel, mechanical organs and a steam museum on it, and I would gently suggest not trying to use all of them. Pick one, give it ten minutes late in the day, and leave the rest as background.
Speeches, and the people listening
Speeches are the richest twenty minutes of a Preston Court wedding for a simple reason: nobody can leave and everybody is reacting. So I work the room rather than the top table. Half the frames I want are of the person listening, and specifically of the two or three who are trying not to cry and losing.
The evening, and why I do not leave at the first dance
A lot of photographers stop at the first dance. It is a tidy place to finish and it saves two hours, and it also removes the best hour of your own party from the story. The first dance is a formality; twenty minutes later the floor fills and the shoes come off, and that is the actual celebration.
Once the festoon lights come on over the garden the whole place changes character. I stayed until it was properly going, which is how I shoot every Preston Court wedding. There is no overrun charge for that, because I do not sell hours and nobody is counting them.
Planning your own Preston Court wedding?
If you are looking at Preston Court, the venue’s own site is prestoncourt.co.uk — they handle their own bookings and I am not on a commission arrangement with them, so nothing here is a recommendation I have been paid to make.
Everything I know about shooting a Preston Court wedding is written up in more detail on my Preston Court wedding photographer page, including a suggested timeline and what I think the site does well. There is more of my work in the portfolio, an explanation of how I actually work on the day, and the price is one figure with everything in it.
Ellie and Dan got a gallery of over eight hundred images, with more than a hundred previews in their inbox the morning after the wedding. If your date is free I would like to hear about it — send me your date and we will have a call.
Preston Court wedding photographer FAQs
Where is Preston Court?
Preston, near Canterbury in Kent — a family-owned estate of around six hundred acres, with a seventeenth-century Kentish barn, a church and an island in the lake all licensed for ceremonies.
Can we get married on the island?
Yes — Juliana’s Island in the front lake is licensed, and it is the most distinctive ceremony spot I have photographed in Kent. Worth knowing that guest numbers and weather matter more there than they do in the barn.
How much does a Preston Court wedding photographer cost?
£2,500, all in. Unlimited hours, over eight hundred edited images, previews the next morning, travel included and drone where the rules allow it. There are no packages and no hourly rate to run over.
How long do you need for group photographs?
It depends how many you want. I advise eight to ten groups, which takes fifteen to twenty minutes with a list agreed in advance — then everybody goes back to their drink.
Do you travel to Kent?
Yes, and travel is included in the price. There is no mileage charge and no overnight fee if I come the night before, which I often do.
