Hastings is half an hour along the coast from me in Eastbourne, and it’s a very different place to photograph. Eastbourne is tidy and Victorian. Hastings is steeper, older and a lot more characterful: a fishing beach, an Old Town full of narrow twittens, two hills and a ruined castle on top of one of them.
This page is about where to take photographs if you’re getting married in or around Hastings, and how I’d plan it.
Where the portraits are
- The Stade. The fishing beach at the east end of the Old Town, with its tall black net shops. Nowhere else in the country looks quite like it, and it makes a very good background for a couple in wedding clothes.
- The Old Town. Timber-framed houses, narrow streets and twittens running up the hill. Busy on a summer Saturday, quiet in the morning.
- East Hill. You can go up on the East Hill Cliff Railway, the steepest funicular in Britain, and come out onto open grass above the sea with the whole town below you.
- West Hill and the castle. The ruins of Hastings Castle on the other side of the Old Town, with views across the pier and along the coast.
- The seafront and the pier. Wide promenade, long views, and good light late in the day.
How I’d plan it
Hastings is hilly, so I think about shoes and time before I think about locations. The Stade and the Old Town are flat enough and close together, and they’re what I’d suggest for most weddings: fifteen or twenty minutes, a short walk, and you’re back with your guests.
If you want the view from the top, the East Hill lift is the easy way up. It’s worth building in half an hour for it rather than trying to squeeze it in between the speeches.
The rest of the day I photograph quietly, as it happens, and stay out of the way of it.
The pictures on this page are from other weddings, to give you a feel for the style.
Nearby
Next door in Bexhill is the De La Warr Pavilion, one of the best modernist wedding venues in the country. Along the coast the other way is Eastbourne, and there’s more on weddings across the county on my Sussex wedding photographer page. My prices are all on one wedding photography prices page.
Questions couples ask
Where are the best places for wedding photos in Hastings?
The Stade and its black net shops, the Old Town, East Hill (up the cliff railway), the castle on West Hill, and the seafront and pier.
How far is Hastings from you?
About half an hour. I live in Eastbourne, just along the coast.
Tell me your date and your venue and I’ll let you know straight away whether I’m free. Get in touch here.
Barrie
