A Wedding at The Goodwood Hotel | Emma & Tom
A lovely wedding on the Goodwood estate
On Friday we were back on the Goodwood estate — this time at The Goodwood Hotel — to photograph the wedding of Emma and Tom. A brisk, bright winter’s day, a warm and characterful venue, and a couple whose colleagues couldn’t have been happier for them… because as it turns out, both the bride and the groom actually work at the hotelthemselves.
There’s always something extra lovely about photographing a wedding where the staff are the guests. The team at Goodwood looked after Emma and Tom beautifully all day, and seeing everyone’s reaction to the happy couple arriving in their wedding finery was one of the real highlights of the day.
As a regular Goodwood wedding photographer, it’s always a pleasure to come back to this estate — and every venue on it has its own character.
The Goodwood Hotel: a relaxed, characterful wedding venue
The Goodwood Hotel sits on the wider Goodwood estate in West Sussex, just a short distance from Goodwood Houseitself and surrounded by rolling Sussex countryside. It’s the estate’s slightly more relaxed, homely sister venue — comfortable, warm, full of character, and brilliantly suited to weddings where the priority is quality time with guests rather than grand pomp.
A few things we love about photographing weddings at The Goodwood Hotel:
- Great natural light in the ceremony and reception rooms
- A choice of licensed ceremony spaces, including the Oaks Room
- The Goodwood estate on your doorstep for portrait locations
- Excellent food and service from the on-site catering team
- Plenty of accommodation on-site for guests to make a weekend of it
- A more intimate feel than some of the estate’s larger venues
A civil ceremony in the Oaks Room
Emma and Tom chose the Oaks Room at The Goodwood Hotel for their civil ceremony — a lovely, light-filled space that’s tailor-made for weddings of this size. The ceremony was warm and heartfelt, with plenty of smiles from a congregation full of friends, family and the couple’s Goodwood colleagues.
Civil ceremonies at The Goodwood Hotel always flow beautifully, and Emma and Tom’s was no exception — personal, elegant, and genuinely moving.
A sweet table and a beautiful wedding breakfast
After the ceremony, the guests were treated to something a little different: a sweet table rather than the usual canapés. A brilliant idea, particularly on a colder day — a riot of colour, plenty of chatter around it, and lovely candid photographs of everyone diving in.
Then it was on to the wedding breakfast, which — as with everything at Goodwood — was superb. The quality of the food and service at The Goodwood Hotel is one of the reasons staff weddings here are so special: the team know exactly what excellent looks like, and they absolutely delivered for Emma and Tom.
Couple portraits at the Goodwood Hill Start
While the guests enjoyed their sweet table and drinks, we took Emma and Tom out for a few couple portraits at the Goodwood Hill Start — the iconic start line of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and one of the most photogenic locations anywhere on the estate. The tree-lined avenue, the sweeping view back towards Goodwood House, and the countryside on all sides make it one of our favourite spots for portraits on the estate.
In full English fashion, the weather had other ideas. A bitterly cold wind kept our outdoor time brief, but the light was gorgeous and we still came away with some lovely images of the two of them — tangled coats, pink cheeks, big smiles and all. Sometimes the candid “it was freezing” photos end up being the ones couples love most.
Creative indoor portraits back at the hotel
Once the wind had done its worst, we headed back inside The Goodwood Hotel for a set of creative indoor portraitsin the warm. The hotel has plenty of brilliant little corners for this — panelled rooms, atmospheric lighting, interesting architectural details — and we were able to put together a varied, editorial set of images for Emma and Tom without ever needing to brave the elements again.
It’s one of the advantages of The Goodwood Hotel as a wedding venue, actually: whatever the weather, there are always beautiful places within the building to get creative with your couple shots.
Wishing Emma and Tom all the best
It was an absolute pleasure to photograph Emma and Tom’s wedding, and to be welcomed so warmly by everyone at The Goodwood Hotel team. Wishing you both every happiness for your future together — and no doubt plenty of walks across the Goodwood estate for years to come.
Featured details
- Venue: The Goodwood Hotel, Goodwood Estate, West Sussex
- Ceremony room: The Oaks Room
- Ceremony: Civil ceremony
- Sweet table: In place of traditional canapés
- Portrait location: The Goodwood Hill Start / Festival of Speed start line
- Photography: Barrie Downie
Thinking about a wedding at The Goodwood Hotel?
If you’re getting married at The Goodwood Hotel — or anywhere on the wider Goodwood estate, including Goodwood House, Kennels or the Festival of Speed locations — we’d love to hear from you. We know this estate inside out and have photographed weddings here across every season, from bright summer days in the gardens of Goodwood House to crisp winter weddings like Emma and Tom’s at The Goodwood Hotel.
We also photograph weddings at other leading West Sussex venues including Farbridge, Upwaltham Barns, Southend Barns, Gate Street Barn and Cowdray Park, as well as all across Chichester, West Sussex, Hampshire and the South Coast.
Get in touch to check our availability for your wedding date and we’ll send over our wedding photography price list and full information pack. We’d be delighted to meet up, hear all about your plans, and chat through how we can work with you as your wedding photographer on your special day.
Photography: Barrie Downie | Goodwood wedding photography, West Sussex & the South Coast.
Huge congratulations to Emma & Tom.
