The Hepworth Wakefield is David Chipperfield's block of grey concrete rising straight out of the Calder, and you reach it over a footbridge. Inside it is white walls, grey floors and windows the height of the room. I have photographed a lot of stone halls with a lawn. A Hepworth Gallery wedding is the opposite of that, and it photographs like nothing else in Yorkshire.
I live in Wakefield. I have photographed a wedding here and a birthday here, and I know where the light falls in this building. I am not tied to any venue; couples book me, not managers. This one I would push you towards.
Bal and Daniel married beside a Henry Moore, live-streamed the vows to the people who couldn't be in the room, and finished as two shadows thrown up the front of the building.
The RealityWhat The Hepworth actually gives you
- iTen galleries and an Auditorium, all licensed. You choose the art that stands behind you. The Auditorium is purpose-built on the ground floor with windows over the river; the galleries are upstairs with the collection on the walls.
- iiThe numbers. The gallery lists up to 100 for the ceremony and a seated meal, 150 for the evening. For something bigger there is The Calder, a converted Victorian mill across the way, for up to 280.
- iiiThe garden and the mills. Tom Stuart-Smith planted the garden between the gallery and the 19th-century red-brick mills, with the river along one edge and step-free paths. Group shot against the brick, portraits in the planting.
- ivThe building after dark. Bare concrete takes a shadow like a cinema screen. One light on the ground and your silhouettes go up the wall across the lettering. Nobody else's wedding pictures look like it.
The CeremonyInside the collection, or by the river
Every space is licensed, so the choice is about what you want in the background of the vows.
A gallery
Rows of chairs, the collection on the walls, a sculpture where other venues put a flower arrangement. White walls mean clean, even light and no colour thrown back into anybody's face. Bal and Daniel took Gallery 7.
The Auditorium
Purpose-built, on the ground floor, with the big windows looking straight onto the river. The modern option, and the easiest for anyone who would rather not do stairs.
The DayHow a Hepworth wedding flows
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Getting ready elsewhere
The Hepworth is a gallery, not a hotel, so the morning happens in a hotel or at home. Bal and Daniel used the Queens Hotel in Leeds and came down to Wakefield. Wakefield's city-centre hotels are close by.
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Over the footbridge
Every guest arrives the same way, across the bridge with the concrete rising out of the water beside them. I stand at the far end. It is the first picture of the day and it says where you are.
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The ceremony
Gallery or Auditorium, above. If you are live-streaming, ask for the rig to be set properly at the front rather than balanced on a chair. Then I can work round it instead of over it.
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Drinks upstairs
The long window in the upstairs gallery looks down on the weir and out across town. Everyone drifts to it and stays. I stand back. Easy pictures.
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Outside: the mill, the garden, the lettering
Group photograph against the red brick of the old mill, a walk through the planting, then the portrait everybody wants: the two of you on the concrete with THE HEPWORTH WAKEFIELD cut into it. Twenty minutes, and you are back with your guests.
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After dark
Keep half an hour back once it is properly dark. I put a light on the ground, walk you into it, and your shadows go up the front of the gallery. By then everyone else has gone back inside, so it is quiet too.
- Can we marry in front of a particular artwork? All ten galleries are licensed, so ask the hire team what will be hanging on your date. Exhibitions change, which is part of the point.
- Is it dark inside? The opposite. White walls, grey floors, tall windows. I shoot the ceremony without flash and the room stays looking like the room.
- Where do the guests stay? It is a gallery, so nobody sleeps on site. Wakefield's hotels and both stations are in the city centre with you.
- Food? The gallery caters in-house from its own kitchen. Outside caterers are not part of the offer, so build the menu with them.
- Rain? The footbridge and the garden get wet; everything else is indoors, and the building looks better wet than dry.
- Confetti, drones, fireworks? The gallery sets those rules and they change. Ask when you book. I will work with whatever they say yes to.
PricingA full day at The Hepworth
A full day of Hepworth Gallery wedding photography, from the hotel through to the shadows on the wall, starts from £1,800. No travel charge anywhere in Yorkshire, and this one is on my doorstep. The pricing page has what's included and the shorter coverage options.
Real WeddingsSee it on a wedding day
One full day at this venue so far, photographed start to finish.
Read Their Wedding Story
