S & E's Beautifully Stylish Wedding at Island Hall
Island Hall has a way of making a wedding day feel like it belongs in a different century, in the best possible way. S & E’s day had all of it: a bedroom full of nervous laughter, a walk down a staircase that has seen two hundred years of family history, vows under a tree older than the house itself, and a marquee lit up on an island reached only by a footbridge. Island Hall is one of the venues I come back to again and again, it’s featured on my guide to the Top Five Wedding Venues in Cambridgeshire, alongside the rest of my favourite Cambridgeshire wedding venues. Here’s how the day unfolded.
Getting Ready In The House
S got ready with her bridal party in one of Island Hall’s bedrooms upstairs, a quiet, light-filled room that made for some of my favourite images of the whole day. When it was time, she made her way down the house’s ornate central staircase, the kind of architectural moment you can’t manufacture on a blank canvas venue.
Vows Under The Great Oak
S & E were married outside on the lawn, in front of family and friends, under the great oak tree that anchors the whole garden. Island Hall itself stood behind them as a backdrop, real light, real reactions, and a setting that needs no dressing up.
Over The Bridge To The Island
After the ceremony, drinks flowed on the lawn while the light softened. Then the whole party made the walk over the footbridge onto the island itself, where a marquee had been set up for the reception, private, self-contained, and genuinely unlike anywhere else I shoot. There’s something about crossing water to get to your own reception that changes the mood of a day.
A Stylish Reception On The Island
The flowers throughout the marquee were by Feather and Ferns, soft, seasonal, and completely in keeping with the setting, and the food came from Little Piggy Catering. Both know this venue well, and it showed.
Portraits Through The Grounds
My favourite part of most weddings, and this one was no different: twenty minutes alone with S & E, walking through the grounds while everyone else had a drink. No posing, no lists, just following the light and letting them be a couple rather than a bride and groom for a bit.
On The Day
- Venue: Island Hall
- Flowers: Feather and Ferns
- Catering: Little Piggy Catering
- Photography: Juan Muiño Wedding Photography
Getting Married At Island Hall?
If you’re planning a wedding at Island Hall, or a venue like it, I’d love to hear from you. Take a look at my wedding photography packages to see how it works.
Natasha & Toby's Wedding at Lanwades Hall
Natasha & Toby
A Summer Day at Lanwades Hall
My favourite venue, the one I'm recommended at, and still the place I find something new to shoot every time.
Natasha and Toby's wedding was an extravagant, properly beautiful day at Lanwades Hall, the venue I love shooting at most. I am so proud to continue to be a recommended supplier to this outstanding venue.
Natasha got ready in the bridal suite. Toby used the Old Library, and it suited him, that room has a stillness to it that a lot of grooms don't get before their wedding.
The Bridal Suite
Quiet, unhurried, the calm before everything else started moving.
The Old Library
Toby really suited the atmosphere in here, it's one of my favourite rooms at Lanwades to photograph a groom getting ready in.
The Sunken Garden
They married in front of friends and family in the Sunken Garden, flanked by lavender on both sides, bees working through it the whole ceremony, and a buzzard circling somewhere above us.
"I shoot fifteen to eighteen weddings a year at Lanwades Hall, and I still find new places to shoot and new images to create."
Juan
From the ceremony they walked the confetti line through a tiny gate under the ancient wisteria and into the walled garden, the house sitting behind them the whole way through. Decoration was by Lucy at Easy and Elegant Weddings, and catering came from Portfolio Events, more than one guest told me how good the food was. It was a genuinely hot day, and the reception settled into that heat easily, everyone finding the shaded areas or the parasols and staying there.
As family and friends were called in for dinner, the three of us went for a walk across the grounds for formal portraits.
The Avenue
A favourite of mine, the tree-lined avenue near the old tennis court. Time it right and the sun breaks through the trees and the light streams straight down it.
The speeches were some of the best-prepared I've heard in a while, and afterwards everyone had coffee and wandered the grounds, which at Lanwades are genuinely impeccable. It's a real pleasure to shoot here, and even after fifteen to eighteen weddings a year at this venue I still find new corners and new images every time.
Once the dancing had properly started, the three of us slipped out again for a last set of portraits, this time after dark.
Natasha and Toby had their engagement shoot at Lanwades Hall ahead of the wedding, worth a look if you want the fuller story of their time here.
Getting married
at Lanwades Hall?
It's my favourite venue to shoot at, and one I'm recommended at directly. If you're planning your day here, I'd love to talk it through with you.
What To Expect: Getting Married At Chippenham Park
What to Expect
Getting Married at Chippenham Park
Fifteen years photographing weddings here. Everything I'd tell you before your day.
Fifteen years photographing weddings at Chippenham Park, and I still tell couples the same thing: this venue gives you more genuine choice than almost anywhere else I shoot. Here's what that actually means for your day.
Ceremony Locations
It's rare for a venue to offer this many real ceremony options. My favourite is by the lake, mostly because of the walk, couples cross the parkland into a shaded, dappled ceremony spot that changes with the season. The Formal Gardens are another favourite, that's where Emily and Josh held their ceremony. And on the rare day it rains, Chippenham Park's ballroom doubles as a genuinely picturesque indoor ceremony space, not just a fallback. You can see all three spaces on Chippenham Park's own site.
The Formal Gardens
Structured, symmetrical, a different feel entirely from the lake. Read about Emily and Josh's wedding here.
Wet Weather, Covered
Chippenham Park's ballroom is a proper backup, not a compromise. Couples who end up here rarely feel like they missed out.
"It's rare to find a venue with this many genuine ceremony options. Chippenham gives couples a real choice, not just a fallback plan."
JuanGetting Ready
Brides typically get ready in Chippenham Park's bridal suite. There's also accommodation on site, which the groom's party usually uses, and afterwards we step into the herb garden for some relaxed, unposed shots before the day gets going.
The Herb Garden
A short walk from the on-site accommodation, and one of the quieter spots on the grounds before the day picks up pace.
Photo Locations
While everyone else walks to the marquee, I usually take couples into the old part of the garden, tall trees, perfectly cut pathways, edged with antique garden ornaments and modern artwork sitting side by side. After the dinner service, I get permission to head back by the lake to the old bridge for late evening portraits. And then there's the small jetty, the lake as its backdrop, easy to miss and one of my favourite spots on the entire grounds.
The Timeline
Most days at Chippenham Park follow a similar shape. Bridal prep runs from around 10am to midday, ceremonies are usually held at 2pm, followed by a drinks reception. Guests are called in for the wedding breakfast at 4pm, which leaves a window before that for genuinely chilled, editorial couple portraits, not the rushed ten minutes you get at some venues.
Groups and Light
Group shots are never an issue here, there's plenty of tree cover for well-shaded group photos regardless of the time of day. Sometimes I move groups indoors and use the ballroom for a more editorial style, Lydia and Luke's wedding is a good example of that.
When We Move Indoors
The ballroom's scale and light make it one of the better indoor options I shoot in for larger group photos.
Practical Details
Parking is plentiful and grass-based, and there's accommodation on site for the wedding party, with additional hotels nearby for guests who need them.
Quick Questions About Chippenham Park
What time do ceremonies typically start at Chippenham Park?
Ceremonies usually begin around 2pm, following bridal preparation from late morning.
What happens if it rains on the wedding day?
Chippenham Park's ballroom serves as a picturesque indoor backup for ceremonies, so weather rarely disrupts the day.
Where do ceremonies take place at Chippenham Park?
Couples can choose between a ceremony by the lake, the Formal Gardens, or the ballroom, a rare amount of choice for a single venue.
Is there accommodation on site for the wedding party?
Yes. Chippenham Park has on-site accommodation, which the groom's party typically uses to get ready before heading into the herb garden for photographs.
Is there parking for guests at Chippenham Park?
Yes, Chippenham Park offers ample on-site parking along with accommodation, and there are additional hotels nearby for guests.
Thinking of Chippenham Park?
I've been photographing weddings here for fifteen years. If you're planning your day, I'd be glad to talk you through it.
See Chippenham Park Weddings
Lydia & Luke's Real Wedding at Chippenham Park
Lydia & Luke
A Wedding by the Lake
15 years shooting Chippenham Park, and this one still stands out.
I'd already spent an early summer afternoon with Lydia and Luke around Cambridge's streets for their engagement shoot, so I knew what their wedding day needed to be: relaxed, unhurried, entirely their own. Chippenham Park gave them exactly that.
Lydia got ready in Chippenham Park's bridal suite, morning light coming in low across the room while her bridesmaids worked around her. Down in the parkland, Luke and the groomsmen were doing the opposite of nervous, more coffee and quiet jokes than nerves.
When it was time, Lydia walked through the parkland with her father to the ceremony area by the lake, dappled light coming through the trees the whole way down.
Getting Ready
The bridal suite at Chippenham Park catches the morning light well, which made for a calm, unrushed start to the day.
"15 years shooting Chippenham Park and I still find corners of it I hadn't noticed before. This wedding found a few more."
Juan
The Ceremony
Lydia and Luke married by the lake at Chippenham Park, the water and the parkland doing most of the work as a backdrop. No two ceremonies here ever look quite the same.
The Confetti and the Terrace
What followed was one of the longest confetti parades I've shot in a while, family and friends lined up the whole length of the path. From there the wedding party moved to Chippenham Park's terraced gardens for speeches, guests still finding their seats as the first one started.
Portraits in the Grounds
While guests made their way to the marquee, Lydia, Luke and I found twenty minutes in the grounds. As a Chippenham Park wedding photographer for 15 years now, I still don't run out of places to use here.
Into the Evening
Guests wandered into the marquee as the light dropped, and the party ran well past the point most people had stopped watching the clock.
I remember every wedding I shoot, but some stay with you for the right reasons. Lydia and Luke's was one of them, relaxed from the first morning coffee to the last song.
If your day needs the same unhurried, documentary-first approach, Chippenham Park pairs especially well with Classic Coverage, enough structure for portraits and speeches, without losing the rest of the day to a schedule. And if you're planning ahead, an engagement shoot in Cambridge beforehand, like Lydia and Luke's, is a good way to get comfortable in front of the camera before the day itself.
Your wedding.
Your story.
Two ways to tell it, both documentary at the core. See which one is yours.
Explore The Two Approaches
Becka & James' Cambridge Couple's Shoot
Becka & James
A relaxed walk through Cambridge streets, golden light, and plenty of laughing in between.
Cambridge is one of my favourite backdrops for a couple's shoot. It's basically an excuse for a walk through the quiet streets, watching the light shift behind the ancient buildings, before heading off for lunch or cocktails together. Simple as that, and it works every time, which is exactly why engagement photography in Cambridge is one of my favourite things to shoot.
Becka and James came all the way from London to spend the afternoon in one of their favourite cities. This was their pre-wedding shoot ahead of their wedding at Notley Abbey later that year, just as relaxed and unscripted as their big day would go on to be. They also went home with a beautiful signing mount from the shoot, ready for their wedding guests to sign on the day.
Planning a couple's shoot of your own?
If you want a relaxed shoot together before the big day, in Cambridge or wherever feels like you, I'd love to hear from you.
Get In Touch
Chippenham Park Wedding : Kayleigh and Ryan
Kayleigh & Ryan
A Day That Stayed Personal
I'd known Kayleigh for years before this booking. It mattered before I'd even picked up the camera.
Photographing a friend's wedding is different. Not more or less work, just different, and Kayleigh and Ryan's day stayed personal the whole way through.
Kayleigh got ready at her family home, surrounded by her parents, family and friends, properly peaceful before the day picked up pace. She moved to Chippenham Park afterward for finishing touches and stepped into her dress there. Ryan sent a beautifully restored Rolls-Royce to collect her, the kind of detail that tells you how much thought went into the day.
Getting Ready
Home first, then Chippenham Park, a quieter start than most weddings get.
"Every ceremony, I watch the groom's face, not the bride's. That's where the real reaction happens."
JuanThe Rolls-Royce
Ryan arranged this himself. It's the kind of detail that only means something if you know the couple, and I did.
The Ceremony
They married by the lake at Chippenham Park, shrouded by trees, with just enough breeze to keep things comfortable. I always watch for the same thing at this point in a wedding, the groom's reaction as his bride comes into view. Ryan's shoulders dropped the second he saw Kayleigh, that instant, involuntary relax that happens every time and never stops being worth watching for.
Golden Hour
Portraits among the blossoms, the kind of light that does most of the work on its own.
Into the Evening
Speeches, then dancing until the lights came up. Straightforward, and better for it, this wasn't a day that needed embellishing.
Photographing this one stayed personal the whole way through, not because of the venue, because of who Kayleigh is to me.
Thank you to the team at Chippenham Park for hosting another day like this one, and to the suppliers who helped it run: videography from Mark at White in Motion, and the selfie mirror from Lucie at Easy and Elegant Weddings.
Your wedding.
Your story.
Two ways to tell it, both documentary at the core. See which one is yours.
Explore The Two Approaches
Natasha & Toby's Engagement Shoot at Lanwades Hall, With Two Dogs and a Horse
Natasha & Toby
Two Dogs, One Horse, One Hour
Most venues won't let you bring the whole family. Lanwades Hall said yes.
Most venues won't let you shoot on site before the wedding. When Lanwades Hall said yes to Natasha and Toby's engagement session, it meant we could do something most couples don't get the chance to: bring the whole family. Two dogs and a horse.
Their wedding coordinator, Charlotte, ended up doing double duty as photographer's assistant and animal wrangler, holding leads, calming a nervous horse, generally making sure nothing bolted mid shot.
The Horse
The turning point came about twenty minutes in, once the horse settled and stopped being the main event.
"Toby's got a dog under one arm and Natasha's laughing at something the horse just did. Those are the photographs that will matter to them."
JuanThe Grounds
Tree lined paths and soft afternoon light that needed no help from us.
Natasha and Toby's wedding, also at Lanwades Hall, is coming very soon to the Journal.
Thank you to Lanwades Hall for opening the gates for this one, and to Charlotte for keeping two dogs, one horse, and one photographer all pointed in the same direction.
Lanwades is one of my favourite venues to shoot at, and if you're getting married there, ask me about the offer I run for Lanwades couples. And if you're worried an engagement shoot with your own animals in tow will turn into a three hour ordeal, Natasha and Toby's took under an hour, horse included.
Thinking about
your own engagement shoot?
A relaxed session before the wedding day, a chance to get comfortable in front of the camera together.
A & J's Trinity Hall Wedding | Juan Weddings
A & J
A Trinity Hall Summer
Gardens in full bloom, honey coloured stone, and a couple who could not stop laughing at each other all day.
A and J got married at Trinity Hall on one of those Cambridge summer days that makes the whole city look like it was built for weddings.
Gardens in full bloom, honey coloured stone everywhere you point a lens, and a couple who genuinely could not stop laughing at each other all day. It is exactly the kind of Trinity Hall wedding Cambridge does best in summer.
Getting Ready
A got ready with her team in a beautiful room at Trinity Hall, just a short walk through the buildings to the ceremony. Her family are Spanish speaking, which meant I could talk to them directly through the morning, I'm fluent in Spanish myself.
The boys arrived shortly after and we took a few moments for groom prep. It was a proper hot summer's day, the kind Cambridge doesn't get often enough.
The Florals
By Larkspur Floral Design, leaning into the garden setting rather than fighting it. Loose, textured arrangements that looked like they'd been cut that morning, which they had.
On the Cam
One of the things that sets Trinity Hall apart for weddings is that it sits directly on the River Cam. After the ceremony, A, J and I took a private punt tour, congratulated by other punters as we passed. King's, St John's, the Bridge of Sighs, all drifting by while A and J sat close and mostly forgot I was there with a camera, which is exactly what I want from that part of the day.
"As a parting shot at the end of the night, A and her netball team pulled off a full human pyramid on the dance floor. Nobody warned me. I got the shot anyway."
JuanThe reception ran long, in the best way. Speeches in Trinity Hall's grand hall, catering entirely in house and properly good, evening food from Boxed Events that disappeared within minutes of hitting the table. I stay until the dancing actually stops rather than packing up early, and it paid off. The evening ended perfectly in the heat of a summer's night.
If you're planning a Cambridge University wedding and want a photographer who'll stay for the pyramid as well as the vows, get in touch.
Getting married
in Cambridge?
More real weddings live in the Journal, if you want to see what a full day looks like start to finish.
Norfolk Pre-Wedding Shoot
J & R
J&R’s cool, chilled and beautiful Norfolk Pre-Wedding Shoot
J and R’s Norfolk pre-wedding shoot
We started in one of my favourite pine forests, that particular quiet you only get under trees, filtered light, the smell of it. J and R walked ahead of me for the first ten minutes before either of them noticed I was shooting, which is exactly how I like to start these.
J wore something soft that moved in the wind, R kept it simple, and neither of them tried especially hard, they didn’t need to. Somewhere in the trees R made a joke about the wind wrecking J’s hair, and the laugh that followed is one of my favourite frames from the whole shoot.
From the trees we moved to a stretch of empty beach. Same energy, just with wind and sand added, a mix of quieter portraits and a few looser, more playful shots once they forgot about the cold.
They also picked one image to go on a signing mount for their South Farm wedding, so guests can write messages around it on the day, a nice option if you haven’t thought about it and want something more personal than a guestbook.
Their wedding is at South Farm soon, one of my favourite venues to shoot at, and I’ll have the full story here once it’s done.
Thinking about your own Norfolk pre-wedding shoot, or wondering what else to add to your day? Our wedding photography add ons page covers everything from signing mounts to albums, and if you’d like to talk it through, get in touch.
More real weddings on the Journal.
Pre-wedding and engagement shoots in and around the UK and beyond!
To book your Norfolk pre-wedding shoot, simply drop me an email or fill out the form below.
Chippenham Park Wedding
Emily & Josh
A Wedding in the Formal Gardens
The gap in the hedge, a gasp from the garden, and a first dance in dog masks.
I'd already spent an afternoon with Emily and Josh at Brandon Park, their two dogs running ahead of us through the trees, before their wedding at Chippenham Park in September 2024. Some of that same ease turned up again on the day itself, just with better outfits.
They married in the Formal Gardens, closed in by hedges so old and so precisely kept that they gave real shelter from the breeze. It is one of three ceremony spots at Chippenham Park, and on a day like this one, easily the right choice.
Through the Hedge
Emily walked through a gap in the hedge with the house behind her, and the whole garden gasped, quietly, all at once.
"Josh's face when Emily came through that gap in the hedge. That's the frame I'd keep from the entire day."
Juan
Portraits, Mostly Left Alone
This session gave me one of my all time favourite images from any wedding. Emily and Josh just walked together and talked, and I gave them almost nothing to do. They looked happy and natural enough that I didn't want to interrupt them.
The Reception
The speeches were properly good, the kind that actually land rather than just fill time before the cake.
Chippenham Park doesn't allow dogs at the venue, so Emily and Josh brought theirs a different way. After an epic first dance, they pulled out two oversized cut-out masks with their dogs' faces on them and danced the rest of the night wearing them.
The Formal Gardens
Ancient hedges, closely kept, framing the ceremony from every angle.
Into the Evening
Fairy lights and a marquee, and by the end of the night, two very good dogs watching from a couple of cardboard masks.
This day was also beautifully captured on film by Ed Bray, a videographer I get to work with often and always look forward to sharing a day with.
Emily and Josh's wedding is exactly why I keep coming back to Chippenham Park. Fifteen years in, it still finds new ways to surprise me.
Your wedding.
Your story.
Two ways to tell it, both documentary at the core. See which one is yours.
Explore The Two Approaches