Wedding Photographer in Hampshire

Sunningdale Park, Wedding Venue Review

Sunningdale Park (Was Northcote House)

Larch Avenue

Ascot

Berkshire

SL5 0QE

All wedding venue reviews are completely independent by Brian Parkes LSWPP, a specialist wedding photographer covering Surrey, Berkshire and Surrey.

Sunningdale Park, formerly known as Northcote House is quite simply a stunning wedding venue with lots of outdoor features and a fantastic feature staircase indoors.

It's the outside of Sunningdale Park that really make the venue for me, there are so many interesting features and places to go that it makes it very easy to add lots of variety to backdrops and locations used in your photographs. The grounds here are really special.

The only warning I have regarding the grounds is that they are on two levels, this is actually a bonus for the bride and groom as we can use photograph from different levels to give alternative perspectives but couples should be aware elderly, disabled or infirm guests may have trouble getting down to the lower levels of the grounds. There are suitable places for groups on the same level as the hotel just outside the main reception area where guests mingle, so grandparents can easily be accommodated, but to get the best from the grounds the couple really should explore the lower grounds a little with me.

Parts of the bar area can be a little making bounce flash difficult, however various these problems can be overcome using off camera flash techniques.

Inside the hotel there is an absolutely fantastic feature stair case which can be used, for small to medium groups in poor weather and makes a great place for shots of the couple in any weather! The trick with this staircase is in the lighting, the 'V' of the steps leading down should be lit high from a light above on the balcony looking over it using a studio type light connected to a radio trigger, there is no line of sight between the best vantage point and this lighting point and so slave methods of remotely firing the light are ineffective, a radio trigger is a must. The steps leading under the balcony can be lit from one side either by a separate studio type light or a hotshoe type flash unit used off camera and fired remotely using a slave method or long off camera cable.

The rest of this reception room can be a little dark and will require use of flash, the usual method of informal shooting using a hotshoe mounted flashgun and bouncing the light off the ceiling is less effective here as the ceiling is so high. The best way of lighting this is to use various off camera lighting techniques for informal work.

The room used for the wedding breakfast is nice and light and is ideal for informal shots of people chatting away in between courses of their meal.

In Summary Sunningdale Park is a fantastic wedding venue, particulary in Summer when the grounds can be fully used. In poor weather the staircase does give you some options for group photographs indoors providing your photographer is properly equipped to light it and in general, this is a good venue to hold a wedding reception.