Caswell House is more of an estate than just a house! This beautiful venue in Oxfordshire has all the hallmarks of Cotswold charm, beautiful light stone and characterful buildings surrounding a stunning garden, the perfect space to host your drinks reception and ceremony. I was hugely honoured when Caswell chose me to capture photography of the venue in 2020 for their new website, and I fell in love with it instantly. I can imagine anyone who visits it feels the same. As well as the charm of the original buildings and spaces available for your wedding it also has newly built beautiful accommodation on site so it really is the perfect wedding venue.

This Caswell House wedding day was absolutely stunning, with every detail meticulously thought through by the bride who created such an elegant day for her guests to enjoy. It was a stand out wedding of my summer for sure, and I hope it provides a little inspiration for you. If you like classic, elegant black tie vibes this will be right up your street!

Bridal Preparations at Caswell House

As part of my pre wedding planning with my all my couples we have a zoom call to go over the plans, timings and logistics of the day to ensure that we’re all prepared and on the same page. Caswell House has a space available for bridal preparations, make up and getting dressed which is available to Brides and bridesmaids early in the morning while the honeymoon suite is being prepared. However, having photographed the rooms at Caswell before I knew the honeymoon suite was much lighter and would provide a much cleaner backdrop.

With this in mind on our zoom call I suggested that the majority of the preparations take place in the prep room, but that the bride should get into the wedding dress in the honeymoon suite. This would allow us to benefit from the beautiful light, newly renovated space as well as ensuring the mess of bridal prep stayed in the original space! Bridesmaids come with a lot of ‘stuff’ don’tcha know? And often the background of my photographs is littered with snacks, empty packaging for tights, body tape etc. etc. For many people this would be no problem, and often it simply adds to the story of the day, but I knew this bride would prefer clean, uncluttered imagery. The plan worked perfectly and I’m so glad Gabriella trusted me with this plan as I love the resulting images.

An outdoor ceremony at Caswell House

The garden at Caswell House is such a beautiful backdrop for an outdoor ceremony. Ceremonies take place in front of the most beautiful original gateway, leading to a private garden beyond. It frames the couple beautifully and the broken archway by Joanna Carter Flowers added to it perfectly. Thankfully the weather

Garden Drinks

The drinks reception is a busy time for photographers, there’s a lot to capture, starting with the confetti throw! There’s also group shots, detail shots and portraits of the newly weds but I always want to make sure that I have plenty of time for those beautiful relaxed candid shots which capture your guests enjoying the day naturally. Caswell House weddings of course benefit from the perfect backdrop for all of this!

Elegant Wedding Decor & Details White Florals

The main barn looked absolutely breath taking set for the wedding breakfast with long banquet tables. The flowers were of course incredible, done perfectly by Joanna Carter Flowers. The arrangements at the end of each table in particular really set everything off and were a late addition I’m told! The asymmetric archway from the ceremony was also repurposed behind the top table and as you can see Caswell House looked incredible! The fairy lights are the perfect addition to this space, and I have to mention those beautiful chairs! Stunning!

A Champagne Tower to Toast your Speeches

This was my second time shooting a champagne tower and I absolutely loved it! The sense of celebration it brings is absolutely amazing. Serving this right before your speeches is a brilliant idea allowing your guests to take their toast drinks with them as they take their seats! For these shots I used direct flash which is very in vogue at present, it really adds to the party atmosphere of these photos which I love!

A magical evening at Caswell House

After dinner the bride had a change into another stunning Suzanne Neville dress, this time with a more figure hugging silhouette. While we didn’t get a golden sunset on this wedding day I still love the atmosphere of these evening shots. I love to break up the portraits of the bride and groom into two shorter shoots as in the evening people are almost always more relaxed, which makes for better photos every time! We had so much fun walking around the grounds of Caswell House.

The Perfect End to your Caswell House Wedding

As the evening guests arrived the bride and groom took to the dance floor of Caswell House for their first dance. These guys were ready to party and the dance floor was filled immediately! It was the perfect end to this incredible Caswell House wedding.

Are you getting married at Caswell House?

If you’re getting married at Caswell House I’d love to hear from you! I absolutely loved photographing this beautiful wedding and Caswell is firmly on my list of favourite venues. Just head over here to get in touch and automatically receive a brochure with my pricing and packages. I can’t wait to hear about your Caswell House wedding.