A riverboat wedding celebration in Marlow | Compleat Angler wedding photographer
Here’s a wedding venue to love – the Compleat Angler at Marlow in Bucks. Definitely a favourite of mine as a Buckinghamshire wedding photographer.
Look at all these lovely locations to enjoy with guests and capture memories with your Compleat Angler wedding photographer. And this is just the front of the hotel
I’ve worked as a Compleat Angler wedding photographer on a couple of occasions now and I’ve visited the venue on many more. A question, I’m sometimes asked by couples planning their wedding is:
Have you worked at our wedding venue before?
In the case of the Compleat Angler, the answer of course is yes but there are several venues where I haven’t worked yet and I really don’t think it matters. Here’s why:
- Firstly, I always visit the venue with my brides and grooms, regardless of whether I’ve shot there before. Apart from giving us a chance to get to know each other, it also let’s us explore locations together and see what’s going to work for them as a couple.
- When you regularly shoot at the same venue, candid photography gets slightly easier but portraits get increasingly difficult; mostly because if you’re trying to create something unique for your couples, you’re more likely to run out of ideas.
- Some people will argue that if you’ve shot at a venue before, you’ll know the light but you’d have to be a full-time employee of the venue for that to be true. I’ve worked as a Compleat Angler wedding photographer in torrential rain in November and on a partly cloudy day in July. The light couldn’t be more different.
- A good photographer will be able to find great locations, give good direction to couples, and correctly expose their photographs, whether they’ve visited your venue before or not.
- I have seen some photographers infer that if you’ve shot at a venue before, you’ll know the staff and get special treatment. As an industry with one of the highest attrition rates in staff, I’d say that’s a fairly short-term benefit with most venues.
I mentioned a rainy wedding I photographed at the Compleat Angler earlier and it is important to have a contingency plan in case of rain on your wedding day.
Working with rain as a Compleat Angler wedding photographer is a little challenging as the outside areas are mostly laid to lawn which means they could be muddy in rain.
However, if you don’t mind donning an umbrella there are several paved areas to the front of the hotel and there’s also Marlow Bridge where you can get some great shots in the rain.
The Compleat Angler also has some good interior spaces for portraits, like the lounge area and garden room. If you’ve booked one of the bedroom suites with a balcony overlooking the river, that’s also perfect for portraits; in fact, I’d like to do those anyway if there’s time.
On a sunny day, you’re spoilt for choice with photo locations at the Compleat Angler. I’ve only shown you the front of the hotel, but to the rear of the Compleat Angler, there’s a long stretch of river bank with some lovely portrait opportunities against a backdrop of lush trees and planting.
There’s also a great spot for sunset portraits close to the weir. The only issue with this area is that it’s very popular with the ducks and whilst you probably won’t be harassed by them, you’ve got to watch where you walk; you’ll need to pick up your dress too.
The last time I worked as a Compleat Angler wedding photographer it was just a short session at a small wedding in 2022. However, the Compleat Angler can accommodate much larger weddings and cover everything from getting ready, ceremony, wedding breakfast, night time entertainment and an overnight stay.
The venue has five wedding suites and is licenced from ceremonies with up to 120 guests. It also has 64 en-suite doubles for guests staying over.
Planning a venue visit with your Compleat Angler wedding photographer
It’s always going to be better if we can meet at your venue before your wedding day. Typically, your hotel wedding coordinator will want to go over the details of your day at some point so it can be a good idea for us to meet at the same time (or just after).
If possible, I like to meet in the early afternoon as this is typically the time period when we’re most likely to be doing any organised photography.
Quite often when couples book me, they’re still pretty sketchy on the details as it tends to be fairly early in the planning process. So apart from looking at the hotel from a photographer’s perspective, the venue visit is a good opportunity to capture all those final details you’ve got planned for the day – particularly timings.
I also like to know about colour schemes and any themes you’ve chosen for your wedding, in case I can use them for a particular shot.
Other items, we’ll typically cover include any group photos you want and where the best location will be for those. I’ve already mentioned some of the great places to shoot as a Compleat Angler wedding photographer and if you have any particular ideas for photos, this is a good time to discuss those as well, particularly in relation to where the sun will be at different times of the day.
If you’re not available to meet me at the venue, I’ll always go on my own; and sometimes it’s good to do that as well as there’s more time to wander and questions the hotel can answer that you may not have thought to ask.
Creating a mood board for your wedding | Compleat Angler wedding photographer
Pinterest can be a good place to put together a mood board for your wedding. If you’ve already started one, don’t forget to share it with your wedding photographer. Particularly if you’re including any photos taken at your wedding venue.
If you’re looking for a Compleat Angler wedding photographer, please take a look at my Buckinghamshire wedding photographer page or browse any of the menu headings for information and pricing.
For information on booking your wedding at the Compleat Angler visit Compleat Angler weddings.
Marlow SL7 1RG
tel: 0344 879 9128