Howard Court Wedding Photography

Rebecca and Tom's wedding was the first time I had been to Howard Court. When somebody books me for a venue I have not shot before, I always do a bit of research and have a look at what I am walking into. I am five hundred weddings in now, and there are not many wedding venues in Yorkshire I have not at least heard of.

I had not heard of this one. So I did my quick Google, and I was blown away before I had even seen it in person.

"Give me this any day. Dare I say it, over the castles."

It sits in the North Yorkshire countryside, not far from Middlesbrough, not far from Scarborough, and in sight of Roseberry Topping, which is one of my favourite natural beauty spots anywhere. It turns out it is one of Rebecca's too, and part of the reason she chose the place.

The VenueWhat Howard Court gives a photographer

Barn, farm and hall venues are my favourite kind of place to photograph, and Howard Court has gone straight near the top of the list of ones I want to go back to. Sometimes all I want as a photographer is flowers. If I cannot have flowers, give me unique spaces to photograph in. This place is full of them.

The TimingsSpeeches before the meal, and why it worked

Rebecca and Tom ran their day in an order more couples should consider. Ceremony at one. Then speeches before the wedding breakfast, not after it. Breakfast around half three, first dance about half seven.

Getting the speeches out of the way first does two things. Whoever is dreading theirs stops dreading it an hour earlier and actually eats their dinner. And it moves the emotional part of the afternoon forward, which leaves the gap between the meal and the evening free — and that gap is exactly when the light gets good.

Fifteen MinutesThe bit I always ask for

Here is what I say to every couple, and I said it to these two. You only get married once. You only book a top wedding photographer once. So let us push a bit.

I only need fifteen minutes from you all day. Fifteen. But let us get everything out of those fifteen minutes, and if we can, let us do two lots of them rather than one. The couples who say yep, let's go for it are, without exception, the couples who end up with the best pictures. That is not me being difficult. That is just what happens when two people give me a quarter of an hour and a bit of trust.

Rebecca and Tom said yes. That is why this gallery looks the way it does.

A Real Howard Court DayRebecca & Tom, 25 July 2026

• Getting ready

  Rebecca with her mum and dad, Heather and Brian, then with her bridesmaids. Blue ran through the whole day: the sashes on the chairs, the bridesmaids' dresses, hydrangeas through the bouquets. Her dress was covered in three-dimensional lace flowers, and the rings came out of a Beaverbrooks box. Her three words for the day were countryside, fun and happy, and she got all three.

• One o'clock

  Ceremony in the barn under the timber trusses, in front of a circular floral hoop, with Brian walking her in. Then confetti outside the farmhouse, which was top of Rebecca's shot list and worth putting on the list properly, because it happens once and it is over in about four seconds.

• Napkins

  Speeches before the meal, and the whole room ended up on their feet waving napkins over their heads. Those are in black and white, because the fairy lights on the brick behind them were doing plenty on their own. If you have not seen it done, I wrote about the napkin-waving thing a while back.

• Out to the meadow

  Out into the hay meadow behind the venue with Roseberry Topping on the skyline, which was the frame Rebecca had asked for more than any other. Her veil is about eight feet long and there was enough wind to use it, so we did. Seventy guests and seven family groups, and nobody stood about waiting.

• The shed, last

  Then the shepherd's hut, the front of the farmhouse, and the old shed with the Morris still parked in it. A white cake on a barrel against a wall of fairy lights, and a first dance at half seven.

PricingA full day at Howard Court

A full day of Howard Court wedding photography starts from £1,800, with no travel charge anywhere in Yorkshire. The pricing page has what's included and the shorter options.

SuppliersWho made the day