A Hutton Hall wedding in July, at the Grade II listed Georgian manor at Hutton, a couple of miles outside Brentwood. Sasha and Vaughn married in the blue room inside the house, ate under a marquee on the lawn, and got the sort of low sun through the trees at the end of the evening that makes the whole timeline worth planning around.
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: tall windows, and a house that holds light
Georgian houses were built around daylight, and Hutton Hall still works that way — sash windows, deep sills, and rooms bright enough that nothing needs adding. Both sides got ready inside the house, a staircase apart, which keeps the morning calm and means I am never choosing between them.
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 Hutton Hall
The Grand Hall seats up to ninety-five and is licensed for civil ceremonies, so everything stays close together and nobody is craning. I work the sides and the back on a silent shutter, and no flash goes anywhere near the vows.
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
The gravel and the gardens either side of the front door give you a proper run for confetti, two lines rather than a ring, and in July there is plenty of light to do it whenever it suits the day.
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 Hutton Hall 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.
Eight acres of gardens and a moat along one side mean you never have to go far. The best ten minutes here are late, out under the trees at the edge of the lawn, when the sun comes through low and sideways — the last frames on this page are all from that.
Speeches, and the people listening
Speeches are the richest twenty minutes of a Hutton Hall 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.
The marquee on the lawn takes the wedding breakfast and the speeches, and the house takes the party afterwards. I stayed until it was properly going, which is how I shoot every Hutton Hall wedding. There is no overrun charge for that, because I do not sell hours and nobody is counting them.
Planning your own Hutton Hall wedding?
If you are looking at Hutton Hall, the venue’s own site is huttonhall.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 Hutton Hall wedding is written up in more detail on my Hutton Hall 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.
Sasha and Vaughn 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.
Hutton Hall wedding photographer FAQs
Where is Hutton Hall?
Hutton, Essex — about two miles from Brentwood. A Grade II listed Georgian manor house in eight acres of gardens, partially surrounded by a moat.
Can we use the gardens and the marquee?
Yes — Sasha and Vaughn ate under a marquee on the lawn in July and the whole middle of the day happened outdoors. The house is there either way, which is why a summer wedding here is not the gamble it sounds.
How much does a Hutton Hall 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 Essex?
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.
