The 2026 Season, Venue by Venue: What Each One Gave the Film

A wedding film is shaped by the venue more than most couples expect. Not in the obvious way, not "this one is prettier than that one", but in practical ways that change what I can actually capture: where the light falls at four in the afternoon, whether the speeches can be heard, whether there is anywhere to stand that is not in the photographer's shot.

Here are six weddings from the 2026 season, each somewhere different, and the specific thing about each venue that changed the film. Every film is embedded in full.

The West Mill, Derby

Olivia and Charles, Derbyshire.

The thing that makes The West Mill work on film is that it is one building spread over several floors. Your day physically moves: ceremony, breakfast and evening all happen in different rooms. That gives the film distinct chapters rather than three hours of the same backdrop with different lighting.

The industrial windows do the rest. Soft light all day, no rigs needed.

My full guide to filming at The West Mill

Hanbury Wedding Barns, Staffordshire

Laura and Daniel, Staffordshire.

Laura and Daniel had already found a film of mine they loved and could tell me why, which makes my job considerably easier. We leaned into nature as a running thread: a pair of swans that quietly recur through the whole film.

Hanbury is also one of the closest venues to me, which sounds like a detail that only matters to me. It is not. Less time in the car means more time at the venue before anyone needs me.

My full guide to filming at Hanbury and the full story of Laura and Daniel's day

Normanton Church, Rutland

Hattie and Jack.

Normanton Church sits out on the water at Rutland, and there is nowhere else in the country that looks like it. The drama is free: you point a camera at it and the establishing shot is already there.

What it asks of you is timing, because the light on the water changes fast and the window for the best of it is narrow.

My full guide to filming at Normanton Church and The Barnsdale

Bourton Hall, Warwickshire

Faye and Daniel.

The hottest day recorded in the UK in May, in a beautiful old building with no air conditioning. Faye and Daniel's own words about that day are on my reviews page, and they are kinder about it than I would have been.

Hot days are a genuine filming problem. Heat haze over long lenses, everyone retreating indoors, and a confetti moment that has to work first time because nobody is doing it twice in that temperature. It worked first time.

The Wilderness, Canterbury

Rob and Jack.

A long way from Denstone, and worth every mile. The Wilderness has a completely different energy to a traditional country house: softer light, natural texture, and a setting that does not look like anywhere else I film.

This is also the film that produced my favourite message of the year, from Jack: his mum showed the trailer to her hairdresser, who stood there crying during the appointment.

Leicestershire

Mira and Mitul.

Multicultural weddings are among my favourite days to film, and also the most demanding. More ceremony, more colour, more happening at once, and far less of it on a schedule you can plan around. You cannot cover a day like this by waiting for the moments on the running order.

What this adds up to

Six venues, six very different days, one person filming all of them.

That is the part I would point at if you are comparing videographers. Not the kit list. Whether the person turning up has stood in a room like yours before and knows where to be when it happens.

If you are getting married at any of these venues, or anywhere across Derbyshire, Staffordshire or Nottinghamshire in 2027 or 2028, send me your date. I take a maximum of 15 weddings a year and the summer Saturdays go first.