Birtsmorton Court wedding photographers
We are Cotswolds photographers based in Hereford, UK and are so lucky to have so many beautiful venues nearby. Birtsmorton Court weddings near Malvern are just stunning. If you want to learn more about our relaxed and creative style, take a look at this slideshow featuring this lovely celebration at Birtsmorton Court:
The venue
Birtsmorton Court is a stunning medieval moated manor house and has so many beautiful locations that can be used to photograph couples. You could spend hours and hours trying to discover them all. Tucked away in the gorgeous countryside near the Cotswolds, Birtsmorton Court gives you a totally unique wedding experience.
The place has an amazing moated manor house, lovely gardens, chill ceremony spots, modern onsite places where you can relax, cozy shepherds huts with hot tubs, sweet spots for getting ready, a stylish grooms lounge, a new dining area, and a party barn that’s off the charts.
Real Birtsmorton Court weddings
Each celebration we’ve captured at Birtsmorton Court has been wonderfully relaxed and enjoyable. Whether in spring, summer, or early autumn, each celebration has been truly fantastic. We particularly cherish the special days bathed in the gorgeous golden light of September. Have a glimpse at their stunning golden hour photos:
Wedding day – the flow
We have photographed some fantastic days at this venue and we really hope this blog post will help you plan your own day. Our style is natural, some call it reportage, but we just love capturing moments on our cameras. So how does the typical celebration at Birtsmorton Court look like? Let’s start from the beginning and let’s get inspired together.
GETTING READY
The bride usually gets ready in the Hideaway Cottage – a comfortable, private house set within the grounds of the estate and next door to the reception area. The bride usually then moves to the Georgian Wing at Birtsmorton Court. A perfect place for dressing and photographs before your ceremony.
THE CEREMONY
The ceremony at Birtsmorton Court can have a civil character and you can also use the Birtsmorton Court church. Not many venues in the West Midlands have the church on site. This beautiful 14th century church is well-kept and you and your wedding guests can enjoy a charming religious ceremony without any additional travel on the day.
Church ceremonies
Birtsmorton Court church is just perfect because it is bright and spacious – everything a wedding photographer would want from a church.
Nearly all weddings we have documented at Birtsmorton Court took place at the Birtsmorton Court church. From our point of view this church is perfect because of the fact that it is bright and spacious. Especially the fact that the aisle is wide can help you with the choice of your bridal dress. You can go BIG and feel AWESOME!
Indoor ceremony
Inside, you’ve got three amazing spaces to choose from. The Great Hall at Birtsmorton Court has been around since the 13th century and is packed with history and character. It’s just perfect for a special occasion and can fit up to 80 guests.
The Linney is filled with natural light and has big windows overlooking the gardens. You can open them up when it’s warm outside. The Linney can hold up to 150 guests for a ceremony and it’s great for decorating.
The Barn has oak beams and a canopy of fairy lights, making it a beautiful space for a winter wedding. You can fit up to 120 guests in there.
Outdoor ceremony
If you want to have an outdoor ceremony, Birtsmorton Court is the place to be. You can pick any spot in their beautiful grounds to tie the knot – lakes, lawns, Italian-style gardens, medieval walls, views of the Malvern Hills, and wildflower meadows. We’re shooting an outdoor ceremony there soon, so we’ll make sure we update this blog post to give you an idea of how your outdoor celebrations might look like.
RECEPTION DRINKS
As photographers we love this time of the day. After the confetti moment you and your guests will head to another stunning part of this venue.
The Great Hall and Courtyard
The old Great Hall at Birtsmorton Court is now used for civil ceremonies and drinks receptions, and it’s the oldest room in the manor. It’s got a big open fireplace and timbered walls, with a fancy coat of arms painted on the plaster above the paneling. The lovely William and Mary style ceiling was added in the late 17th Century.
In the Great Hall, you can spot the lower part of the old staircase that leads up to the Cardinal Wolsey room. From there, you can see the courtyard through a stained-glass window with the letters CW, which was put in memory of Wolsey. Before becoming cardinal, Thomas Wolsey was introduced to King Henry VII by a member of the Nanfan family.
The Courtyard has gone through lots of changes in architecture over the years. It’s where you can see the house develop its own unique identity, which now makes it one of the most special wedding venues in Worcestershire.
The Terrace at Birtsmorton Court
This is where the first part of the reception drinks happens. This is the place where your guests give you plenty of hugs and congratulate you. Towards the end, once all the guests are moving to the gardens, we usually have a few photos of our couples on the Terrace.
The Moat
There’s probably about 6000 moated sites in Britain, but only around 30 still have water, and just a few have a double moat like the one at Birtsmorton Court. The moat and other waters are teeming with fish, a reminder of the days when they used to supply the house’s pantry.
The moat is filled from the streams of the Malvern Hills through a big collecting pond to the west of the house, called the Westminster pool. Legend has it that the Pool has the same size as the nave of Westminster Abbey and was dug in the same year it was consecrated, which would make it around 1269 or even older.
The second moat is on the east side of the house and was dug to create a safe nighttime haven for livestock, protecting them from wild boar attacks (hence the stone boar that now sits on the terrace!).
RECEPTION DRINKS PART TWO & THE GROUP PICTURES
Now is the time for some more images, garden games, maybe a few speeches and even more reception drinks. The White Garden at Birtsmorton Court is stunning and the photo opportunities are endless. This is also the place when we have the group portraits. As soon as the group photos have been taken we will also have a few moments for your couple pictures.
The gardens at Birtsmorton are seriously impressive. The top lawn is the perfect spot to check out everything, like the ancient Wolsey tree, the topiary, and the White Garden. Legend has it that Cardinal Wolsey, who worked for Sir Richard Nanfan at Birtsmorton, once saw his own execution while sitting under the Wolsey Tree.
The White Garden, smack in the middle of the yew tree topiary, was put together by Mrs. Rosalie Dawes in 1997. It’s got a ton of ironwork and a gazebo filled with all sorts of white shrubs and perennials. The arches are decked out in Iceberg roses, jasmine, white clematis, and wisteria.
Just outside the brick wall is the Potager, with four square gardens divided by two wide cross tunnels. It’s surrounded by loads of espaliered pear and apple trees and has a mix of permanent plantings alongside changing annual vegetable crops.
WEDDING BREAKFAST
The breakfast is taking place in the newly refurbished marquee at Birtsmorton Court. Photographers love it because it is a light and adaptable space with ivory drapes, a stone floor and windows looking out to the gardens.
CAKE, DANCING & SPARKLERS
Now it’s time to celebrate in The Barn. There’s ample space for a band and up to 300 guests. This is the ideal place to dance the night away with your friends and family. So, as soon as you’ve cut the cake, you will have your first dance. As wedding photographers we love this part of the day because this is also the time for sparklers and the fireworks.
Just give us a few moments to grab our tripod, off camera flash and a trigger and we’re ready to create some incredible low light, night portraits for you!
Stunning backdrops for your photography
Your guests will never get bored here, I guarantee you that. Our bride had so many amazing ideas and the white balloons were just one of them. She looked so delicate and I really love the pictures of her and the bridesmaids holding the balloons and surrounded by those beautiful Birtsmorton Court gardens.
Professional couple pictures
Because the venue is so stunning, your couple photos can be taken basically everywhere. In the morning, by the Garden House we can use the magical meadow with wild flowers. The grounds surrounding the Birtsmorton Court church are also stunning. However, the most popular locations for the couple shoot are the grounds by the moat and in the White Garden. Here are some examples of the images we have taken for our newlyweds there:
As you can imagine, doign what we do, we just LOVE the golden hour, that perfect lighting for your wedding photos. And the best spot to get those pictures is not far from the marquee. So we can literally just pop out for a few incredible golden hour images and be back within ten minutes without anyone even noticing you were gone. We love using our art prime lens to get those stunning portraits against Malvern Hills – your stunning backdrop.
Birtsmorton Court celebrations – kind words
“Marta was just fab from meeting to talk through different options to the day it’s self and even after the wedding the communication has been spot on! Both Marta and artur were so helpful throughout the day, capturing fantastic photos. We didn’t even notice they were there at points! We highly recommend them! Our Friends are getting married in 2017 and they have also booked Marta as they loved the way she worked on our special day Many thanks”
Why did they book us?
“Myself and my partner wanted the relaxed style images where no images were posed and everything was just taking so naturally! After looking at different photographers we just decided Marta had to be the one”
I bet you didn’t know that about Birtsmorton Court?
William Huskisson was born on March 11, 1770 at Birtsmorton Court and lived there until he was 13. He became known as the first railway casualty when he got run over and killed by George Stephenson’s Rocket. The house was featured in William Samuel Symonds’ novel, Malvern Chase.
Get in touch with us!
Are you planning your own Birtsmorton Court ceremony? Have you seen their stunning gardens and views? Do you like our style? We are a husband and wife duo, reportage and fine art wedding photographers based in Hereford, West Midlands. Get in touch with us – we would love to capture your amazing day!
