Hever Castle Wedding & Event Photographer - Matt Rock Photography

Matt Rock - Weddings and Events at Hever Castle, Kent - Preferred supplier

Q: What do me and Henry V111 have in common? Answer at the end.

Hever Castle is a beautiful wedding and events venue in the Kent countryside with lots of history and was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and also owned by a very famous King - King Henry V111 back in 1539...

Fast forward a just a few hundred years and I’ve worked at the castle many times over the last few years and last September, 2023 I was asked if I would like to be put onto a small list of their favourite suppliers and of course I said yes straight away!

Who wouldn’t?

As soon as I was on board, Kate, Paul, Sherry and the team started to offer their clients my services and I have had the privilege to work there much more over the last 13 months.

In July 2024 Kate asked if I wanted to shoot a big, two day event for the son of the castles current owner, Mr Guthrie. It was a great event and I was honoured to have been asked to be their photographer for this event.

Weddings and events are full of excitement for me as you never really know how they are going to go until you get there and start to work.

Is Hever on your wish list of wedding venues? Let me know and I can share some galleries with you.

For now I have included below some of the memories I’ve managed to capture over the time i’ve spent working here.

Answer to the question at the beginning of this blog….

What do me and Henry V111 have in common?

We have both worked at Hever Castle :)

Why not take a look at another blog here - Documentary Photographer - Matt Rock

Link here - Getting ready to last orders at the bar Coverage

Documentary photographer, Matt Rock Photography

In this blog I take a look at some unposed, natural photos I love to observe during a wedding day...

NO POSING - NO DIRECTION - JUST REAL, HONEST MOMENTS

If you are getting married you will no doubt be thinking about how you want your photographs to look and how you want to remember your big day. It may be the magazine style wedding with lots of staged, posed portraits and lots of group photos of everyone at the wedding. Or you may prefer your wedding photographer to have no interaction or influence in how your wedding is captured. Both styles will determine who you choose as your wedding photographer so they can capture the memories you want of your big day.

No one style is right or wrong as it’s your choice.

Speaking to my couples, they book me on how I work best and as a portrait photographer I like to make some portraits during a wedding as this will capture you, your dress, your suit and of course your venue. However, I don’t want to influence how your day runs as I believe a wedding should be remembered for what it was, not something that was staged.

So I have a unique approach of fusing these two styles together; getting those natural moments that happen throughout the day which tends to be around 80/90% of documentary photography but also spending a short amount of quality time on a small selection of directed portraits and a few group photos of your nearest and dearest.

This means your portrait session only lasts around 15/20 minutes so you get to spend most of your day with your closest friends and family.

Take a look below at some beautiful documentary style shots captured without direction at some of my favourite recent weddings.

NO POSING - NO DIRECTION - JUST REAL, HONEST MOMENTS

NO POSING - NO DIRECTION - JUST REAL, HONEST MOMENTS

Are you looking for an experienced wedding photographer who fuses documentary, natural photos with some beautiful wedding portraits? Please look at some examples here and get in touch with me if you have any questions about how I can help you with your special wedding day.

You can also follow Matt’s instagram and facebook updates using the links below.

Why not look at this blog describing how I offer all finished photos in both Colour & Black & White

Lympne Castle Wedding Photographer Matt Rock

A chilly winters wedding at Lympne Castle - Christmas - 2022

Emily and Mike were so friendly it was a pleasure working with them on their big day! Here are some sneak peek photos of their wedding at Lympne Castle.

“Lympne Castle has been providing hospitality to visiting nobles since the 12th century and in itself has a fascinating history stretching back to Roman times; beneath the foundations of the Castle are the remains of Portus Lemanis (the sea came right up to the door 2,000 years ago!) and much of the stone used to construct the original castle and next door church came from here. Nowadays we still pride ourselves in making our guests welcome and with comfortable modern additions, they can now enjoy an unforgettable medieval experience but with 21st century improvements, although some people do claim to have seen the odd ghost still happily going about their business after many centuries.”

— Lympne Castle website

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Keep reading to find out about a SPECIAL OFFER for our Emergency Services and the NHS…

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NEW FOR 2023

My couples have really enjoyed receiving their sneak peek photos soon after the wedding day and I’m happy to say I will be including this as standard for all 2023 weddings.

** Due to very positive feedback over the last few weeks I am now offering all finished photos in both COLOUR and BLACK & WHITE **

Now you can decide for yourself the way you want your wedding photos to be printed.

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Emily & Mikes wedding was a very cold winters day in late November.

Kate, Aimee & the team at Lympne Castle had just finished putting up their Christmas trees and decorations ready for the 2022 festive winter weddings to begin.

My day started with the bride and groom getting ready and this is a fun part of the day for me as there’s always lots of excitement and nervousness in the air.

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Before the wedding breakfast starts I always like to make some portraits for the bride and groom. These can be traditional portraits and more natural portraits to compliment the candid photographs I make all day and capturing the wedding as it happens.

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It’s alway a good idea to have a microphone with the speeches in The Great Hall so everyone can hear what the best man has to say about the groom - but the secrets are safe with me - I never tell…

During the winter months when the dark nights start a lot earlier I like to use strobes (flash) to make the couples portraits. This can often give these winter wedding portraits that little something special.

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See some more weddings from Lympne Castle below - music photo-films -

HIT THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE CENTRE AND TURN THE SOUND UP - aprox: 3 min long.

Anna & Carl - 2022

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Harriet & Tom - 2022

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Lucy & Micheal - 2022

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Drew & Nick - December 2021

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Amy & Nathan - 2017

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If you got this far - Thank you for reading and I wish you a very healthy and happy

NEW YEAR!

2023 - here we come!

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Wedding - Lympne Castle - Speak To Kate

Photography by: Matt Rock Photography

You can see another blog from June 2020 - Lympne Castle HERE

The Castle, Westenhanger, Wedding Photographer - Matt Rock

The wedding of Denise & Joe - Westenhanger Castle, Kent - August, 2019

“Hi Matt,

The photos are amazing! We love them all. We have been recommending you left right and centre to everyone who’s looking for a photographer too.

We are glad you had a good day and we have heard nothing but praise for your work from our guests since the wedding.

Thank you and we hope to work with you again in the future.

Joe & Denise ”

— Bride & Groom, Joe and Denise

You may know by now that I am a Kent Wedding Photographer and I love photographing castle weddings. So having been on there preferred supplier list for a few years and having my images featured on their website shows I know this Kent wedding venue well. This is one of my favourite wedding venues in Kent - and maybe the only Kent wedding venue to have a ship in it’s grounds...

The wedding of Denise & Joe was much anticipated and I was looking forward to it ever since they booked me - quite a long time in advance. We first met at an open day they attended at Westenhanger Castle and as the recommended wedding photographer I was there and able to speak with them. We ended up making some portraits that day and got on really well too which is always a good start. I think having a pre-shoot lets you gain a bit more experience being in front of the camera and these portraits can help many couples get used to their photographer too. A lot of us aren’t too keen on having portraits made of us, however couples have always given good feedback and said their pre-shoot helped reduce their nerves and anxiety on the day.

I am a documentary & candid wedding photographer throughout the wedding which is achieved by observing what happens; almost from another wedding guests point of view. I blend in with the wedding rather than controlling it. So this does not involve me telling anyone where to stand, what to do or anything else that interrupts the natural feel and pace of a wedding day. These photos will make up 85% - 90% of my work during the wedding but most couples are still keen to spend 15 minutes or so making some beautiful, natural looking portraits to compliment the candid style for their wedding album. Plus the fact that I am a portrait photographer means I’m a bit biased when it comes to shooting these, as I love to make portraits.

The day started as many weddings at the Castle, Westenhanger do.

With Champagne!

The weather was perfect too and since the day before was very wet, I wasn’t expecting the sun to shine.

But not a spot of rain was seem.

Bride preparations always seem to start with something fizzy. At Westenhanger Castle the prep is held within the large room upstairs in the main building. I say large room but I really mean 3 large rooms. Denise and her girls had use of all 3 rooms so her and her bridesmaids could have their hair & make up done in one room, the food was laid out in another and the 3rd room can be used as the dressing room or you can relax on the large double bed whilst you wait for your turn.

This all happens upstairs whilst downstairs is another of the great castle rooms which is often used for when the boys turn up. They can make themselves look as beautiful as the girls do - and never the two will meet - until it’s time to get married of course! Wedding photographs of the boys getting ready is often missed but when your wedding venue is set up like this one it means I can move from one room to the other quite easily to get those candid moments no-one else notices - but the ones we love to look back on. Oh and if you make sure you ask a barber to be one of your ushers you can pick up some good deals on the perfect hair do too.

Now the bride is almost ready, it’s time for the father-of-the-bride to come and see his little girl in her wedding dress for the first time… This can be a great time for those candid photos with lots of emotion.

Portrait - Bride with Flowers

After her Dad has had a moment with his daughter it’s time to walk her down the aisle and get married, so it’s off to the ceremony where all her guests are waiting. Westenhanger Castle has different options when it comes to ceremony rooms and an outside space too. Denise & Joe’s wedding ceremony was inside the main building. Which has a dark, atmospheric vibe with light pouring in through the windows to give us some beautiful photos.

After they had their ceremony, the confetti was thrown high in the air and the congratulations, hugs and kisses had started, there was a little spare time for the couple and their guests to have a drink, a little catch up and for the best men to go over their speeches for the 10th time. Before the wedding breakfast couples often want to spend a short time making some portraits. This can give them a little time together and a little chill time - Portraits are only about 15 minutes or so and before they know it we are heading back in for the speeches.

For me as soon as the couples portraits are done, I go back to candidly capturing the wedding again. It’s also the time of the day when everyone eats, drinks, gets entertained by the the speeches and the cake cutting.

There was also an impromptu game of Mr & Mrs! It’s funny what you find out about your clients…

   P  A  R  T  Y    

T  I  M  E

What a lovely Kent wedding, spent with friendly guests in a beautiful Kent wedding venue with perfect weather too.

PHOTO-FILM

Hit the play button in the middle to watch Denise & Joe’s - Photo-Film below.

Photo-films below - To see another wedding at The Castle, Westenhanger press play on this images below and turn the music up.

Wedding below was in 2017

Another photo-film from 2018 below - press the play icon and turn the music up.

Hit the play button in the middle to watch another wedding from Westenhanger Castle - August 2018

View the wedding blog of Kayleigh & Jack - Westenhanger Castle - September 2017 BLOG

If you would like to book me to photograph your wedding with creatively candid, natural, photographs that document your big day and maybe some beautiful couple portraits too, please get in touch HERE. I am a Kent wedding photographer however I am available to work all over the UK and I’d love to work on my first European wedding in the near future too.

Are you looking to book your wedding?

VENUE: The Castle, Westenhanger a call - details HERE

CATERING: NOSH mobile catering - details HERE - I tried the SPICY LAMB BURGER which was very - very - tasty…

IF YOU RECOGNISE ANY SUPPLIERS INVOLVED THAT I HAVE NOT MENTIONED, PLEASE DO CONTACT ME SO I CAN INCLUDE THEIR LINK ABOVE.