Luke and Dan’s wedding at Lainston House, Winchester, April 2025
There are weddings where the joy in the room is polite and measured, and there are weddings where it spills over - where you can feel, from the very first moments of the morning, that the people gathering have been waiting a long time for this day and are absolutely ready to celebrate it. This was the latter. Two charming, well-presented grooms, easy chemistry between them, and around them a family and group of friends whose pride was written all over their faces from start to finish. The speeches in particular were something to behold. A really joyful, relaxed day from beginning to end.
Having photographed several weddings at Lainston House, I can say the outdoor lawn ceremony is something else entirely. When the sun is out and the Hampshire countryside stretches away behind the house, there really is no contest.
Just two miles north-west of Winchester, Lainston House is a 17th century country house nestled in 63 acres of Hampshire countryside. As you turn into the long, sweeping, tree-lined drive, you are immediately transported somewhere far from the pace of everyday life - and a short walk reveals a beautiful 12th century chapel ruin, with a mile-long avenue of lime trees providing a backdrop that works across every season. Licensed for civil ceremonies both indoors in the rustic Dawley Barn and outdoors via the pavilion on the lawn, the venue has the rare quality of being genuinely flexible whatever the weather brings - though on a fine April day, with the grounds fully open and the Hampshire light doing its thing, the outdoor option is in a different league. The South Lawn accommodates marquees of up to 350 guests, while the drawing room with its stunning views and working fireplace provides a more intimate alternative - and the wooded areas of the estate offer something quieter still for portraits. It's a venue that rewards couples who are willing to use all of it.
Lainston House is a venue I know well, and this particular day - good weather, open lawns, wonderful light through the trees - shows it at its very best. If you're planning a wedding here and would like to talk through your photography, I'd love to connect. And if you're simply curious what a full day at this Hampshire venue looks like through a documentary lens, I hope what follows gives you a genuine sense of that.
