Wedding Photography at Leeds Castle, Kent

Leeds Castle stands on two islands in a moat near Maidstone, and is run by the Leeds Castle Foundation, a charity set up after Lady Baillie's death in 1974 (history). Weddings use the Castle itself, from 4.30pm for exclusive use on days it is open to the public, as well as the 16th-century Maiden's Tower, the medieval Battel Hall for up to 16, the 17th-century Fairfax Barn for evening parties, and marquee lawns overlooking the moat (wedding venues).

Our studio is at 21 Joel St, Northwood Hills HA6 1NU, photographing weddings since 2001 and rated 4.8 out of 5 from 580+ Google reviews. Leeds Castle says wedding photography must be arranged with its hospitality team ahead of time, and its packages include a golf buggy to take the couple and their photographer around the grounds. We are glad to photograph at Leeds Castle, and coverage starts from £750. Leeds Castle is a long drive from Northwood, so travel is set out in the written quote before you book. Below is what the castle publishes, and what it does not.

What a Leeds Castle wedding costs in 2027

Leeds Castle publishes two Castle packages for 2027, including VAT (Castle Wedding 2027 PDF, Exclusive Use 2027 PDF):

• Castle Wedding, with ten bedrooms: peak (May to September) Monday to Thursday £10,000, Friday and Sunday £12,000, Saturday £17,000; off-peak (January to April and October to December) £8,000, £11,000 and £15,000.
• Exclusive Use Wedding, which adds the Maiden's Tower and 23 bedrooms: peak £17,000, £20,500 and £27,500; off-peak £14,000, £18,500 and £25,000.
• A larger evening reception for up to 200 in the Fairfax Barn from £5,000, including ten Stable Courtyard bedrooms, subject to availability.
• Additional Classic bedrooms from £300 per room including breakfast.

The packages include venue hire of the Ceremony Room, Library, Grand Salon, Entertainment Room and Drawing Rooms, the Castle Bridal State Bedroom, a wedding coordinator, a duty manager and footmen, a PA system, tables and chairs, complimentary guest parking, and a golf buggy for photographs. Catering is not included in these figures. The catering page says couples have "the freedom to select your own wedding caterer" (catering), so food is a separate quote. Prices for the Maiden's Tower and Battel Hall packages are in PDFs linked from their pages but are not set out on the pages themselves, so ask for the current figures.

Ceremonies in the Castle, the Maiden's Tower, Battel Hall or on the lawns

In the Castle, ceremonies take place in the refurbished Ceremony Room, with long French windows and daylight, for up to 100 guests (Castle weddings). The Maiden's Tower has two wedding rooms opening onto a private garden; Kent County Council's ceremonies site lists its Long Gallery at 80 and Tudor Hall at 100 (A Kentish Ceremony). Battel Hall has a wood-panelled ceremony room and a timber-framed garden pagoda for summer ceremonies, for up to 16. Outdoors, Castle Island and Pavilion Lawn each take up to 100, and Cedar Lawn suits marquee receptions for more than 200 (outdoor and marquee receptions).

Leeds Castle's marquee page shows a "Mandap Ceremony on Pavilion Lawn" and a Maharaja tent under the heading of cultural weddings, and the Kent County Council ceremonies site says cultural weddings in a marquee can accommodate up to 500. The suppliers page lists Laguna, which caters for Indian, Lebanese and Pan Asian cuisine (suppliers). What is not published: finish times for a marquee, rules on a baraat, dhol or fire for a havan, and which registrar district books civil ceremonies. Ask the weddings team for all of these in writing.

The Castle Bridal State Bedroom

Both 2027 Castle packages include one Castle Bridal State Bedroom, alongside Classic and State bedrooms for guests (Castle Wedding 2027 PDF). The eight State bedrooms are on the Castle's first floor, furnished with period antiques and art deco marble bathrooms, and many have four-poster beds and views across the moat and parkland (accommodation). At the Maiden's Tower, five en-suite rooms overlook the moat, golf course and parkland, and Battel Hall's Wisteria room is its bridal suite. A separate getting-ready room for the other side of the family is not published, so ask how the bedrooms are allocated.

From 4.30pm on the island: a Leeds Castle outline

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.

From a Norman stone castle to Lady Baillie's retreat

The castle's history page records Leeds in the Domesday survey and dates the first stone castle to 1119, built by Robert de Crevecoeur on two islands in the River Len (history). Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile improved it, and from 1299 it was held by a line of queens. Henry VIII turned it into a royal palace between 1517 and 1523. Olive, Lady Baillie bought it in 1926 and made it a 20th-century retreat; when she died in 1974 she left it to the Leeds Castle Foundation, which still runs it.

Parking at Leeds Castle for wedding guests

Complimentary parking for wedding guests is included in the 2027 Castle and Exclusive Use packages (Castle Wedding 2027 PDF). A space count, coach access and rules on overnight parking for non-residents are not published, so ask the weddings team.

Leeds Castle wedding photography, frequently asked questions

Other wedding venues we cover

• Chilston Park, Lenham
• Hever Castle, Edenbridge
• Penshurst Place, Tonbridge
• Eastwell Manor, Ashford

Related pages

• Wedding Venues in London: What Each One Publishes
• Best Asian Wedding Venues Near London
• Wedding photographer in Maidstone
• Asian wedding photographer in Maidstone
• Wedding photography
• Asian wedding photographer in London

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.