Wedding Photography at Hatfield House, Hatfield
A Jacobean house built in 1611, where the Old Palace, the Knot Garden and the Raised Lawn are yours exclusively and wedding guests park free.
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Wedding photography from £750
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Hatfield House says its approved catering partner offers halal and vegan menus, and its main wedding FAQ says you are welcome to bring in your own suppliers. It grants exclusive access to the Old Palace, the Knot Garden and the Raised Lawn for the duration of the celebration, and it publishes its 2026 prices in full, which few historic houses do.
Our studio is at 21 Joel St, Northwood HA6 1NU, photographing weddings since 2001 and rated 4.8 out of 5 from 580+ Google reviews. We photograph weddings of every tradition and are glad to photograph at Hatfield House; coverage starts from £750. Below is what the venue publishes, and what it does not.
Hatfield House: capacity, catering and access
| Address | Hatfield Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5HX |
|---|---|
| Old Palace | The venue's pages differ: up to 280 seated or 300 standing (weddings FAQ) and up to 220 for a wedding breakfast or reception (historic venue page) |
| Riding School | Up to 100 seated or 150 standing and theatre style |
| Motor House | Up to 30 guests |
| Civil ceremonies | The Old Palace and the Riding School are licensed |
| Catering | Approved catering partner with vegan and halal options; spaces also available on a dry hire basis |
| Exclusive use | The Old Palace, Knot Garden and Raised Lawn for the duration; public access continues in front of Palace Green |
| Hours | Standard hire 10am to midnight; late extensions by licence (see the rules below) |
| Bedrooms | None on site; the venue partners with nearby hotels, including the DoubleTree Elstree |
| Parking | Free for wedding guests; disabled parking via George's Gate; coach parking near the Old Palace and Stable Yard |
| From our studio | About 13.9 miles in a straight line from the studio at 21 Joel St, Northwood HA6 1NU (road distance is longer) |
Figures are as published by the venue or its licensing authority. Where a venue's own pages disagree, both are shown. Confirm anything you are planning around.
Sources
Hatfield House prices for 2026, as the brochure prints them
Hatfield House publishes its prices in its Wedding Brochure 2026. The figures below are as printed there; confirm them for your date.
- Elizabeth Package (Old Palace or Riding School): £25,000 including 100 guests, plus £120 for each additional guest, covering the venue fee and Gold catering for 14 hours.
- Wisteria Package: £10,000 plus £210 per guest, minimum 60, 12 hours with Platinum catering.
- Oak Package: £10,000 plus £120 per guest, minimum 60, 12 hours with Gold catering. The brochure's own example is the Old Palace for 100 guests on a Saturday in June at £22,000 in total.
- Ceremony only: £6,000 for 4 hours, Sunday to Friday only.
- Venue hire only, Monday to Thursday: £8,000 (May to September and December), £5,600 (March, April and October), £4,000 (January, February and November), minimum 60.
- Venue hire only, Friday to Sunday: £10,000, £7,000 and £5,000 for the same seasons, minimum 60.
- A £1,000 ceremony set-up fee applies when the ceremony and the sit-down reception are in the same venue.
- Listed extras include early access from £150 per hour, supplier meals at £30 per person, the Riding School as a wet-weather contingency at £2,000, and LED candle hire from £200.
Licensed rooms, a mandap on request, and two caterer statements
What Hatfield House publishes:
- The Old Palace and the Riding School are licensed for civil ceremonies, and gardens and lawns are used as backdrops, weather permitting.
- Its Asian wedding page says that if a traditional mandap is wanted for an Indian wedding, the venue can arrange it within its historic settings.
- Its weddings FAQ says spaces are available on a dry hire basis if you prefer to bring your own suppliers.
- The venue can recommend florists, photographers, caterers and entertainers, but you are welcome to bring your own.
- Well-behaved pets can attend with notice to the events team.
One published difference to settle early: the main FAQ welcomes your own suppliers, while the Asian wedding page says "We only work with trusted caterers". Ask which applies to your caterer.
Not published: whether an open-flame havan is permitted inside the Old Palace, and whether a baraat may process through the estate or by which route. Ask both in writing.
No drones, petal confetti, no fireworks: the Hatfield rules
| Drones | Not permitted at weddings, to protect the privacy and safety of guests and wildlife |
|---|---|
| Confetti | Couples are invited to walk through real petal confetti on the green outside the Old Palace |
| Fireworks | Not allowed, because of the historic buildings, parkland and wildlife |
| Candles and open flame | LED candle hire is offered; real flame and havan are not addressed |
| Flash | Not published |
| Public areas | Public access continues in front of Palace Green, from the Visitor Car Park to the Stable Yard and shops |
| Outdoor music | Permitted in the Knot Garden until sundown |
| Finish time | Standard hire ends at midnight; events past 11:59pm pay a late-night fee. The pages differ on extensions: to 2am Monday to Saturday and 1am on Sundays (FAQ), or to 2am except Sunday evenings at £2,000 per hour (2026 brochure) |
| Recommended suppliers | The venue recommends photographers and other suppliers, and you may bring your own |
Where a rule is shown as not published, ask the venue in writing before the day.
A day room in the upper solar, and no bedrooms on site
The venue says it can offer a calm, private space for pre-ceremony preparation. The Elizabeth Package in the 2026 brochure includes exclusive use of the day room, the upper solar room, for getting ready. There are no bedrooms on site; the venue partners with nearby hotels at preferential rates, including the DoubleTree Elstree, so the morning may start off site and move to Hatfield for the final touches.
A planning outline for a Hatfield House wedding
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| From 10:00 | Standard hire begins (published). Final preparation in the day room or the private preparation space. |
| Ceremony | The Old Palace or the Riding School, with a mandap arranged by the venue if wanted. |
| After the ceremony | Petal confetti on the green outside the Old Palace. Public access continues in front of Palace Green, so allow for passers-by in wide shots. |
| Drinks | Knot Garden, where outdoor music is allowed until sundown (sunset times in the light table). |
| Portraits | Knot Garden and Raised Lawn, timed by the light table. No drones. |
| Until midnight | Standard hire ends; late extensions by licence and fee. No fireworks. |
An outline for planning, not a schedule. Times are shown only where the venue publishes them; everything else is a stage to time with you and confirm with the venue.
Light by month at Hatfield Park
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour from | Clock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 08:01 | 16:20 | 15:22 | GMT |
| February | 07:16 | 17:15 | 16:26 | GMT |
| March | 06:16 | 18:05 | 17:20 | GMT |
| April | 06:05 | 19:58 | 19:12 | BST |
| May | 05:08 | 20:47 | 19:57 | BST |
| June | 04:42 | 21:21 | 20:27 | BST |
| July | 05:00 | 21:13 | 20:21 | BST |
| August | 05:45 | 20:25 | 19:38 | BST |
| September | 06:35 | 19:16 | 18:32 | BST |
| October | 07:25 | 18:08 | 17:22 | BST |
| November | 07:19 | 16:11 | 15:17 | GMT |
| December | 08:01 | 15:51 | 14:49 | GMT |
Computed for the 15th of each month of 2027 at the venue's postcode centroid with the NOAA solar equations. Evening golden hour starts when the sun drops to 6 degrees; trees and buildings shorten it. Times are UK clock time.
The Old Palace, the Knot Garden and the Raised Lawn, exclusively yours
- Exclusive use of the Old Palace, Knot Garden and Raised Lawn means no other wedding in those three spaces. Between them they give a full portrait session without leaving the exclusive-use area.
- Palace Green stays open to the public on the route from the car park to the shops, so wide shots there need patience or a different angle.
- The Old Palace is a fifteenth-century hall with high timbered ceilings. It has depth and height rather than glass, so the working assumption is available light plus our own.
- Which room you book changes where the light comes from. The Riding School is the alternative at around a third of the Old Palace's size, so settle the room before planning the portrait slot.
- Drones are not allowed, so overhead pictures of the house and grounds are off the list from the start.
- Outdoor music in the Knot Garden stops at sundown, which in midsummer is late enough for golden-hour portraits after the drinks.
A 1611 Jacobean house and a fifteenth-century Old Palace
Hatfield House was built in 1611, and the house describes itself as a Jacobean country house. It was built for Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury, and the wider park runs to more than 250 acres, according to the venue.
The Old Palace, the room most weddings use, is older: the venue describes it as a fifteenth-century royal banqueting hall. King Henry VIII acquired the palace in 1538 as a home for his children, and the venue records that Elizabeth I learnt in the palace grounds that she had become Queen.
Hatfield, the A1(M) and King's Cross trains
Hatfield Park, Hatfield AL9 5HX. Hatfield station is on the Great Northern route from London King's Cross and the A1(M) runs alongside the town. We travel to Hatfield from our Northwood studio and plan the journey around where your morning preparation happens.
Free parking for wedding guests at Hatfield House
The venue's weddings FAQ answers parking directly:
- On-site parking is free for wedding guests.
- Disabled parking is in the main Visitor Car Park, reached via George's Gate.
- Coach parking is available close to the Old Palace and the Stable Yard.
A space count and overnight parking terms are not published. Suppliers arriving with lighting and decor should confirm their access route with the events team.
Hatfield House wedding photography, frequently asked questions
How much does a wedding at Hatfield House cost?
What is the capacity of the Old Palace at Hatfield House?
Can you have confetti, drones or fireworks at Hatfield House?
Is there parking at Hatfield House?
Can you get ready at Hatfield House?
Does Hatfield House allow a mandap or a havan?
Our work
Asian wedding photography
Other wedding venues we cover
- Knebworth House, Knebworth
- Shendish Manor, Hemel Hempstead
- Oshwal Centre, Potters Bar
- Sopwell House, St Albans
Related pages
The photographer is Kaushik Bathia, a fellow of the BIPP and the MPA with five European Kodak Gold Awards and over a thousand weddings photographed since 2001.
Civil · Church · Hindu · Sikh · Muslim · Tamil
Planning a wedding at Hatfield House?
Tell us the date and the venue and we will come back with availability and a price. Coverage starts from £750.