Southsea Castle Wedding Venue, Portsmouth

Southsea Castle, a Tudor fort on the Solent with the sea on three sides

Capacity

120 ceremony

120 wedding breakfast

200 evening guests

Rooms

None on site

Exclusive use

Yes, the whole castle

Ceremony spaces

Two, the Keep and the marquee

Filming at Southsea Castle

Southsea Castle was built for Henry VIII in 1544 and it still sits where he put it, on the shingle at Clarence Esplanade with the Solent immediately in front of it. It is a fort rather than a country house, and that is the point. Nothing else I film in Hampshire gives you stone, water and a working shipping lane in the same frame.

There are two ways to do the ceremony. The Keep is the small one, Tudor stone walls and room for about fifty six, and it is genuinely atmospheric on a bright day when the light comes down the stairwell. The permanent marquee on the ground floor takes a hundred and twenty for the ceremony and the same again seated, then two hundred standing once the evening starts.

The ramparts are what I plan the day around. Ten minutes up there at the right hour gives you the Isle of Wight, the Spinnaker Tower and whatever the Solent has decided to send past, and it costs you almost no time because the walk is about ninety seconds. If the wind is up I will tell you, and we go anyway, because wind in a wedding film is honest.

There is no accommodation on site, so the morning happens somewhere else in Portsmouth or Southsea and everybody converges on the castle. Worth knowing when you build the timeline. Give me half an hour at whichever hotel you are getting ready in and the front half of the film still holds together.

To get more information about Southsea Castle you can visit their website at southseacastle.co.uk.

Their address is Southsea Castle, Clarence Esplanade, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO5 3PA.

Abi and Dan at Southsea Castle

Abi and Dan got married at Southsea Castle and I filmed the whole day. If you would rather see what a wedding here actually looks like than read about it, their teaser and their cinematic short are below.

How I work on the day

No posing, no forced smiles, no interruptions. I film what happens and I keep out of the way while I do it. If your photographer sets something up I will use it, but I am not going to stop your day for the sake of a shot.

Abi and Dan, Wedding Day Teaser Film at Southsea Castle
Abi and Dan, Wedding Day Cinematic Short at Southsea Castle

Filming notes for Southsea Castle

  1. Exclusive use of the whole castle, from the keep and the ramparts to the marquee.
  2. The Keep seats about fifty six, the marquee takes a hundred and twenty for the ceremony.
  3. Ninety seconds from the marquee to the ramparts, which is the best ten minutes of the day.
  4. No accommodation on site, so the morning happens elsewhere in Southsea.
  5. It is on the seafront, so wind is part of the sound. I record speeches on radio mics for that reason.

Other Venues in Hampshire

There are many wedding venues across Hampshire and some of my personal favourites are;

  1. The Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth
  2. New Place Hotel, Shirrell Heath
  3. Elmers Court, Lymington

Frequently Asked Questions

It is the first thing I plan for and the reason I do not rely on a camera microphone here. Speeches and vows go onto radio mics with proper wind protection, so what you hear back is your voices rather than the Solent.

The Keep if your numbers are small and you want the stone in the film. The marquee if you are anywhere near a hundred. The marquee is a better room than the word marquee suggests, and either way the ramparts are ninety seconds away afterwards.

Ten minutes, fifteen if the sunset is doing something. That is genuinely all. I do not pose anybody up there, I just walk you along and film it, and it usually becomes the middle of the film.

Not if we plan it. Give me half an hour wherever you are getting ready in Southsea or Old Portsmouth and the morning is covered. Everybody arriving at once at the castle gates is its own kind of opening shot.

Yes, and it is worth doing. The esplanade and the shingle are a few steps from the gate, so we can be out and back inside a quarter of an hour with something no other Hampshire venue can give you.

Questions about packages, pricing and how long the films take to arrive are answered on my full FAQ page. Anything specific to Southsea Castle that is not here, just ask me.

Always happy to have a chat!

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