Thomas and Olivia married at Aynhoe Park, one of the quirkiest wedding venues around. It’s the kind of place that attracts couples with a good sense of humour, and these two were brilliant fun all day. There was laughter during the ceremony, tears at the speeches, and a warm, personal touch to everything they did.
Aynhoe Park
Aynhoe Park is a grand country house in the village of Aynho, near Banbury, filled with unusual sculptures, artworks, taxidermy and oddities of every kind. Tranquil and peaceful one minute, mad and eccentric the next. At another wedding there, the news of the day was that the polar bear had had to be moved. That tells you most of what you need to know.
For photographs, that mix is the draw. You get an elegant house and grounds, and then a room where something completely unexpected is standing in the background.
The ceremony
Olivia and Thomas’s ceremony was full of laughter. It set the tone for a day that felt warm and personal from start to finish.
Around the house and grounds
A house like this gives you something different in every room and every corner of the grounds, and none of it looks like anywhere else.
Speeches and the party
The speeches brought the tears. By day Aynhoe Park works as an elegant venue for a ceremony of any size, and in the evening it can be turned into a dance space all of its own, with a sculpture-lined dance floor and a giraffe floating on a cloud of balloons.
Congratulations to Thomas and Olivia.
Rafiel and Angeli at Aynhoe Park
An earlier wedding at the house. “I’m really sorry, we’ve had to move the polar bear” isn’t something you hear at many venues, but Aynhoe Park is full of stuffed animals, art and photography, and that’s a big part of why couples choose it.
Rafiel and Angeli’s day was full of personal touches. The ceremony music, the orders of service, a storyboard and the table names all said something about the two of them. Angeli wore Pronovias for the ceremony in the orangery, then changed after the meal for the party.
By the end of the night MC Timmy was teaching the guests the Electric Slide.
Planning an Aynhoe Park wedding
- Lean into the oddities. The sculptures and collections are why couples book it. Use them in the portraits rather than looking for a plain wall.
- Make it personal. The weddings that suit Aynhoe Park are the ones full of personal touches, from the music to the table names.
- Plan the evening space. The house changes character after dinner, so talk to the venue about how the room will be turned around for the party.
- Use the grounds. Between the house and the grounds there’s plenty of variety for portraits without going anywhere.
There are more weddings in my portfolio, or have a look at my prices and send me your date.
