Most couples start out planning to hire a photographer and a separate videographer. The hidden cost of that is coordination, and it lands on you. Two suppliers means two timelines to chase, two sets of questions about when the speeches start, and two people who each want the couple to themselves for portraits. Booking the photographs and the film as one studio removes all of that. There is one timeline, one shot list, one point of contact, and one shared plan for how Aaron and Hayden move through your day.
In practice that means we run stills and film side by side without staging anything twice. We talk through the order of the day with you in advance and agree the moments that matter to you specifically rather than working off a template. Bailiffscourt gives you a real choice of where to marry, inside the 13th-century Chapel, in the medieval-style Music Room, or outdoors in the Rose Garden or the Courtyard, with five outdoor spaces licensed on an exclusive-use booking. The Chapel seats up to 40 with room for 65 standing, and the smaller Card Room takes an intimate ceremony of up to eight, so we plan our positions around whichever you choose rather than turning up and hoping.
Because Bailiffscourt is taken on an exclusive-use basis, the hotel and its 30 acres of parkland are yours, and you can arrive the night before. That changes how the morning runs. There is no other wedding being turned around behind you and no rush to clear a room, so the getting-ready hours are calmer and we can take our time over the detail shots and the quiet moments before the ceremony. The manor was built in the 1920s and 30s in medieval style, using reclaimed materials, during the Guinness family’s ownership of the estate, and that timber, stone and thatch is part of why the place photographs the way it does. The parkland runs down to Climping Beach, and the walk to the sea for a few frames at golden hour is part of what couples remember about a day here.
A few practical things worth knowing, because they shape how we shoot. Wedding breakfasts run in the Music Room for up to 40 or in the restaurant for up to 65, so we scout both for the light before the day. There are 39 bedrooms on the estate, plus seven more at the Black Horse a short walk down Climping Street, which is why so many couples check in the night before and give us calm, unhurried morning preparations to photograph. The hotel asks for natural real-flower petal confetti, so the confetti shot comes out soft and warm rather than harsh, and dogs are welcome here, ring bearer included, which we love photographing. You book your date and deposit with the hotel and confirm the ceremony time with the Chichester registrars, and we plan our timeline around whatever you settle on.
