Hotel du Vin, Poole in Dorset

Hotel du Vin is a fairly new addition to the harbour area of Poole in Dorset. I was visiting for a small family wedding, with the bride and groom keen on reportage photography. This warm family wedding also featured a  second day on Brownsea Island, for a larger group of  friends and family (read more about this day here).

A Lucky Break with the Weather

Rain had been forecast, but thanks to a bit of luck the only things that fell from the sky were rays of sunlight. The bride and groom had two private rooms at their disposal, and a courtyard which was partially covered by a Millennium Dome type canvas (That’s a terrible and very inaccurate description to use!)

Due to the weather this is were most of my photographs were taken. I really had a photographers smile throughout.If the forecast rain had materialised,  the aforementioned rooms would have been harder to work in due to their cosy lighting and small size.

Discrete Wedding Photography

Later in the evening dinner was served, and I photographed the speeches and post-dinner moments. The room was candle lit, not photographically friendly, but perfect for the relaxed mood. With the small group size, I set my stealth abilities to full – not using flash was key to this.  Such environments are technically difficult to work in , but exactly the type of scenario where a professional photographer can really prove their worth.

Which raises an interesting point – always ask a photographer if they can work without flash – if the answer is a straight no, alarm bells should ring.  As I would argue this is a key skill any photographer should possess.

Further Information on Weddings at Hotel du Vin

Hotel du Vin own a chain of Hotels around the UK, although I’ve only visited their Hotel in Poole. You’ll find more information, and photographs of these on their website http://www.hotelduvin.com

The secluded beach on Brownsea Island

Brownsea Island, Dorset

Brownsea Island is a nature reserve in the middle of Poole Harbour, managed by the National Trust. It’s famous for it’s links to the Cub movement and for being a sanctuary to red squirrels.

I didn’t managed to speak to anyone directly involved with the Island, but I got the impression that as far as Weddings go we were pioneers.

Getting to the Island

The couple had wed the previous day at Hotel du Vin in Poole, so the nature of the day was very much orientated to enjoying the scenic surroundings whilst catching up with old friends.  Getting to the island was easy due to the proximity of the hotel to Poole Harbour (where passenger ferrys run regularly to the Island). Once we arrived some park rangers were on hand to transport older people and heavy items via Land Rover.

Choice of Venue

There are several buildings on the island, which I would imagine could be made available for hire. In this case the couple had selected a modern wooden building some 20 minutes walk from the landing bay (thus the Land Rovers were very useful). As the photographs below show, this building was very much in the style of a oversized Canadian forest hut. As the weather was brilliantly sunny, this venue worked perfectly. However if it had rained, we would have been fairly crammed inside. It’s something that crossed my mind repeatedly, as from a photography point of view, working in crammed conditions is very difficult.

A Private but Public Island

The island operates very much in the same way as a park would, so you do have the occasional non-wedding guest walking around, but with the location of the building in relation to the ferry dock, you should find the public are few are far between. Strangely enough, most of the public we encountered were nature photographers…wearing camouflage and looking very serious!

Later in the evening the wedding party and I walked to a small and deserted beach for sunset. Effectively we had our own private beach – something I would imagine is very hard to come by in regards to weddings.

Your biggest worry if you had a wedding on the Island, would be missing the last ferry back to shore, and having to camp out in the woodland with red squirrels lurking.

Further Information

If you want to find out about weddings on Brownsea Island click on the National Trust link at the top of this article. Through that page you should be able to find all the information you need.

A Wedding at Langrish House

Wedding venues love to claim they’re “unique” but I usually raise a cynical eyebrow when I hear it. If you feel the same way, let me justify my view that Langrish House is worthy of holding the title of a “unique” wedding venue.

Candle-lit Vaults

The venue is owned and run by the Talbot-Ponsonby family, which I think makes a massive difference in general attention to detail. It also features a “vault” under the house, which was used to hold prisoners during the English Civil War. The vault has a spooky feel to it, especially when lit by candlelight. My imagination took me down the haunted route (who knows?), but I’m not setting the best picture here! Add some wine and nice food, and the spooky-ness will soon warm to an intimate and cosy atmosphere.

In a way, I was actually sad when it didn’t rain on the day, because the vaults use became redundant; as everyone spilt outside to enjoy the sun. Rarely will you find a venue with such an interesting “if it rains” option.

Langrish House

The house itself a relatively small country hotel, with a highly rated restaurant attached (2 AA Rosettes) . It successfully hits the sweet spot between being homely and being in a hotel. More precisely, you don’t feel like you’re intruding into someone’s private life nor do you feel like a processed name on a list. The history of the house and the Talbot-Ponsonby family are referred to throughout, with the occasional historical artefact and newspaper cutting.

Outside you’ll soon make friends with the numerous chickens running around the spacious grounds. The hotel staff  “de-chicken” the front lawn to make sure it’s wedding friendly. What exactly this involves, I never asked – however chicken is on the menu!…

If you venture beyond this front lawn area, you’ll have to watch your step, as from time to time your feet may encounter a chicken “surprise”.

The Talbot Room

Weddings are held within the Talbot Room, which can easily be divided in two, depending on the size of your wedding. The larger section contains a balcony overlooking the lower level. This type of height is always useful from a photography perspective. And from a party perspective it also serves a role – as the all important bar area.

An All-Weather Venue

There’s no way of covering it up : rain is never welcome at a wedding.  However, should inclement weather strike, I would definitely want to be photographing a wedding at Langrish house. The photographic potential of the interior would warm the mood. It’s the type of place  where it would be nice to sit and enjoy some wine, whilst the rain soaks the unlucky chickens outside!

Further Information

Further information on Langrish House can be found on their website: http://www.langrishhouse.co.uk

If you would like any further information from me, either ask below or send me an email.