Horsley Towers sits just outside East Horsley in Surrey, and it is the kind of building that does half the work for you. Gothic arches, a great hall with a vaulted timber ceiling, heraldic panelling, and a stone entrance that makes every single arrival look like an event.
What the building gives you
The great hall is the room everyone remembers. High timber beams, chandeliers hanging the full drop, stained glass throwing colour across the floor. It is a big space and it photographs beautifully, but it needs a bit of thought. Rooms like this reward patience and a wide lens more than they reward flash.
Outside, the stone frontage and the arched doorway give you a run of natural frames. The doorway shot below took about ninety seconds. The building lines you up whether you ask it to or not.
A few notes from shooting there
The light in the hall changes a lot through the day, so I tend to shoot the wide room shots early while it is still clean and empty. Once guests are in, the space fills quickly and those uninterrupted views are gone until the evening.
If you are having portraits outside, the front of the house works at almost any time of day. It faces in a way that avoids the harshest overhead sun, which is more than can be said for a lot of venues in July.
Horsley Towers in pictures
Getting married at Horsley Towers?
I cover weddings across Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex, filming and photographing the day from preparations through to the first dance. There is more about how I work at Horsley Towers on the Horsley Towers venue page, or you can just get in touch and tell me your date.
