The Stanhill Court Hotel wedding venue – a photographer’s review

A review of the Stanhill Court Hotel wedding venue from the perspective of a professional wedding photographer.

The Stanhill Court Hotel sits amid 35 acres of woodland in the medieval village of Charlwood, Horley in Surrey – around 4 miles from Gatwick airport. The hotel dates back to 1881 when it was built as a family home but now operates as a hotel, and as a wedding venue where you can choose to have your civil wedding ceremony either indoors or outside in the hotel grounds. The building has some charming features, with plenty of warm wooden panels, carvings and stained glass windows – and several ornate bedrooms sporting four poster beds. As a wedding photographer this richness and variety is always welcomed and helps us by providing an interesting and varied backdrop to the photos for your wedding day. Outside, the grounds are well maintained and feature several nice touches such as water features, wooded areas and open areas – great for those beautiful bride and groom photos you’ll be wanting in your wedding album!

For an indoor wedding ceremony you’ll find plenty of seating in the long ceremony room, with some nice light coming in from the end windows where our bride and groom pledge their vows:

Once the formalites are completed, the grounds offer a hard patio area perfect for serving drinks and canopes whilst the lawned areas have plenty of space for taking your formal group photos of family and friends, with both open and shaded areas available (ideal for photography if the light is harsh on a bright sunny day). With access to upstairs rooms, your photographer can also use this extra height to get a great view of your guests for a group photo if required:

Once the formal photos are done, a short walk around the grounds encircling the house is all your photographer needs to find a variety of different spots to take some lovely romantic bride and groom photos for our newlyweds including open areas, wooded areas, and a lovely little secluded garden spot ideal for some intimate photos before rejoining friends and family for the wedding breakfast…

Once inside, the Colas Suite offers seating for up to 200 guests, so plenty of room for a large wedding party:

Here’s a nice touch: the wedding cake on display in the hotel foyer. With the rich ambient light and warm wooden panels, this makes for a wonderful photo of the wedding cake and is far more picturesque than the “tucked in the corner by a wall” setup we often see in other wedding venues. This arrangement also allows a full room of people all around (and even up the stairs) as the bride and groom cut the cake – making this quite an event in itself. Other venues take note: hiding a wedding cake in a corner is not the best way to display it!

Once the meal is done, let the dancing begin! Here, we see our happy couple enjoying their first dance in the large conservatory, which can also be used for meals for smaller weddings…

…and to finish up, let’s see a couple of photos taken later on, showing the outside front of the hotel at night:

In summary, from a photographer’s point of view the Stanhill Court Hotel provides a lovely backdrop to allow us to take some beautiful wedding photos. Not too far from the M25, big enough for a good sized wedding, and with the option to have the place all to yourselves this could be the ideal venue for couples looking for a country style wedding venue with a luxurious feel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review – and the photos I’ve used to illustrate. If you’d like any further information, or would like to book us to photograph your wedding day please feel free to contact us directly.

Rob Hooper

Surrey wedding photography at the Stanhill Court Hotel