Wedding Photographer in Hampshire

The Apollo Hotel, Wedding Venue Review

The Apollo Hotel

Aldermaston Roundabout

Basingstoke

Hampshire

RG24 9NU

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

The Apollo Hotel is not a typical wedding venue, I get the sense it was designed as a hotel and business conference centre which is now also marketing towards weddings rather than a venue designed with weddings in mind, I'll qualify that statement below.

There grounds of the hotel are not ideal for wedding photography, much of the available land has been given over to maximise car parking space. There are some green area which can be used. To the front of the hotel there is a bank of grass and tree's which can be used, however timing is critical as it backs on to a busy road with lots of cars whizzing past and potentially getting into shot. It is workable, but far from ideal.

The problem of limited outdoor space at the hotel is compounded by hotel management, who will accept bookings from other weddings at the same time as yours. At one wedding I attended here we tried to get outside in between showers of rain only to find the only usable Green area was already in use for another wedding!

Inside the venue is more promising, there is a comfortable lounge area which with a bit of time to create some space by me moving around some sofa's tables and setting up lights makes an attractive area for small groups of 6 or 7, perhaps up to 10-12 if we seat the first row. It is quite dark in here however so additional lighting is a must.

There are several areas within the hotel that can be used for shots of the bride and groom, care must be taken at each with the hotels own lighting which favour halogen down lighter spot type lighting which can create an uneven pool of light if your not watching out for it.

The room for the wedding breakfast itself is fine and poses no problem for informal photographs of guests enjoying themselves in between courses and the speeches.

This isn't a bad venue if you intend to have a church service with group photographs at the church in good weather, but it isn't the ideal location to host group photographs. As a pure reception venue it is fine, but there are venues with more to offer in the area.