Glamping weddings in the New Forest

Somewhere between a country wedding and a festival for friends. Pizza vans, tents to suit every guest, and accommodation that means the whole party can stay the night.

A glamping wedding is a different animal to a straight country wedding. It is a wedding that has decided to become a weekend. The ceremony is only the anchor for a longer arc that starts on the Thursday and ends when the last guests take a shower on the Sunday morning.

That changes what the pictures are of. There is more to photograph. There is also, oddly, less pressure on any single hour, because the day is not a compressed schedule of set pieces. It is a slow-building thing that peaks around dinner and never quite winds down.

Why choose glamping over a country house wedding?

The main reason is accommodation. A glamping site can hold every guest on the same site, in tents that range from properly rustic to genuinely luxurious. Grandparents get a bell tent with a real bed. Friends with small children get a family setup nearby. Groups of mates get shared canvas that turns into the after-party. Nobody drives home. Nobody misses the morning-after breakfast.

What does the day itself actually look like?

Ceremony under an oak or in a barn. Reception in a marquee or in the open. Food from a wood-fired pizza van, a fire pit, or a small kitchen. Music that carries into the woods. A bar that runs long. The next morning is always my favourite part to photograph. Everyone in dressing gowns and wellies, coffee in hand, kids running between tents.

Is this the same as somewhere like Abbots Court, Dorset?

Abbots Court is a good comparison because it actually does both. There are bell tents on the fields for the friends who want a festival weekend, and there are proper country rooms in the main house for grandparents who prefer a bed with plastered walls and a hot shower a few steps from it. That flexibility is often what makes these weddings work. Not every guest wants to sleep on canvas. A venue that can serve both keeps the whole party in one place without forcing anyone into an experience they did not sign up for.

For glamping weddings in the UK and further afield, get in touch about coverage.