8 December 2024
A Blake Hall Wedding | Abbey & Charlie
Abbey & Charlie | Blake Hall Wedding
An autumn day in the Essex countryside, a couple completely at ease with each other, and a venue that earns its reputation every time.
Blake Hall has a way of making a wedding feel inevitable – as though the day could only ever have happened in this particular place. Sixty acres of formal gardens and parkland near Ongar, two beautifully restored 17th-century barns, and a team who have been doing this long enough that nothing rattles them. It’s a venue that does a lot of the work for you, and Abbey and Charlie were exactly the kind of couple who let it.
Their morning preparations split across two locations – Abbey getting ready at her parents’ house, Charlie and the groomsmen at Blake Hall itself, with my associate photographer Dan covering the groom’s side while I was with Abbey. It’s one of those logistical details that makes a meaningful difference to the final gallery – both sides of the story, captured simultaneously, rather than one partner’s morning going undocumented.
The kind of day that photographs itself
Abbey and Charlie are one of those couples where the camera becomes almost incidental. The moments were there before I arrived and they continued regardless of where I was standing. The ceremony was genuinely emotional – not performed emotion, but the real kind that surfaces when two people who are absolutely certain about each other stand up in front of everyone they love and say so.
What stayed with me about this wedding was the pace of it. It moved the way a good day should – unhurried, each part flowing naturally into the next. The grounds at Blake Hall in autumn give a photographer a lot to work with: the light through the trees, the warmth of the barn interiors, the texture of the gardens in October. Abbey and Charlie made the most of all of it.
Blake Hall in autumn
If you’re considering Blake Hall, the autumn months offer something the summer can’t quite replicate. The gardens shift from the formality of summer into something richer – deeper colours in the trees, a softer quality to the light, and the barns feeling particularly warm and atmospheric as the days shorten. The Hay Barn’s picture window faces the gardens and catches the afternoon light beautifully at this time of year. It’s a venue I return to regularly and it never disappoints, but autumn is when it’s at its best.
Wedding suppliers
Venue – Blake Hall Weddings, Bobbingworth, Ongar, Essex CM5 0DG
Associate Photographer – Dan Biggins Photography
Content Creator – SoSocial
Makeup – Make Up by Jaimie Attfield
Hair – Sarah Wade Hair
Florals – Sophie Chilvers Floral Design
Dress – Mili Mili Colchester
Suit – Jack Bunneys
