Shendish Manor Wedding Photographer

Shendish Manor answers the questions most Asian couples ask first, in writing. The Apsley Suite can be taken on a dry-hire basis with its own kitchen, so your own caterer can work there, and the venue's 2024 dry-hire FAQ says a havan is no problem if it is contained and away from anything flammable, and that the groom can make his entrance up the drive.

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 Shendish Manor; coverage starts from £750. Below is what the venue publishes, and what it does not.

Shendish Manor: capacity, catering and parking

Address	London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead HP3 0AA
Apsley Suite	50 to 320 daytime guests; 320 dining or 280 with a dance floor. The 2024 dry-hire FAQ gives a maximum of 520 on round tables with no dance floor or bar
Manor House	15 to 96 guests during the day and up to 160 for the evening reception
Ceremonies	Licensed indoors and outdoors. The pages differ: indoor ceremonies of 10 to 320 in the Apsley, Dickinson and Longman suites (ceremony page) and the Apsley licensed for 350 theatre style (2024 FAQ)
Catering	Dry hire with your own caterer; a caterer new to the venue needs a venue recommendation
Licence	Music and alcohol until midnight, which cannot be extended; residents' bar until 2am for staying guests
Bedrooms	70; up to 15 held for the wedding night and up to 5 the night before
Grounds	160 acres of parkland and formal gardens, including the Dutch Gardens
Parking	Complimentary. The pages differ on the count: 200 spaces, over 200, and 250 in the 2024 FAQ, which says spaces cannot be reserved
From our studio	About 9.1 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

Shendish Manor packages for 2026 and 2027

Shendish Manor publishes package prices on its own pages. As printed there:

Classic package, per adult: £128 on a Saturday and £119 on a Friday or Sunday in 2026; £133 and £124 in 2027.
Elegance package, per adult: £148 on a Saturday and £139 on a Friday or Sunday in 2026; £153 and £144 in 2027.
Teenagers are half price, children aged 4 to 12 are £28.50, and 10 per cent comes off January to March and October to November.
Saturday minimums: 65 adults in the Manor House, 95 adults in the Apsley Suite.
Intimate package for 15 to 45 guests on set dates: £2,250 for 15 guests in 2026 and £2,500 in 2027, with additional guests at £150 each.
Multi-cultural dry hire, in Amber, Ruby and Sapphire tiers: from £6,000 up to £17,500, depending on year, month and day (no year stated).
Civil ceremonies with the Classic and Elegance packages start from £650 (no year stated).
An outside caterer signs a caterer contract and pays a £500 deposit.

Havan, mandap and baraat: what the 2024 dry-hire FAQ allows

What Shendish Manor publishes, mostly in its 2024 dry-hire FAQ and its wedding terms:

Licensed for civil ceremonies indoors and outdoors, with an outdoor gazebo. The weddings page says "our licensed garden gazebo", the ceremony page mentions two outdoor gazebos, and the FAQ gives the gazebo a licence for 320: ask which applies.
Havan: "Yes this is no problem at all, as long as it is contained and not near anything flammable."
Mandap: not provided by the venue; you book it through an external company. The Apsley Suite ceiling is 3.23m, at its lowest 3.00m, which decides the canopy height.
Baraat: the groom may make his entrance up the drive for a mandap ceremony, for no longer than 15 minutes; tell the venue in advance if a horse is involved.
Drums: the terms allow them only outside the front of the venue between 10:00 and 20:00; the FAQ says in front of the hotel and in the Apsley Suite in the same hours. Ask which applies.
The venue can host two weddings or events on the same day; an event in the Manor House closes the Manor House, its car park and grounds to the other party.
The couple contact the Hemel Hempstead registrars directly; the venue cannot book them.

Shendish Manor rules: no drones, confetti outside, garden doors at 21:00

Drones	Not allowed anywhere within the venue grounds
Confetti	Allowed outside if biodegradable and your caterers are happy to clear it; confetti cannons are not allowed
Fireworks and lanterns	No fireworks or Chinese lanterns; no sparklers inside
Candles and open flame	Havan allowed if contained and away from anything flammable; table candle stands allowed away from flammables and children
Smoke and haze	No haze machines, dry ice or smoke machines
Sound	The Apsley sound limiter is set by the licensing officer at about 90dB on the dance floor, and music cuts out if the fire doors are opened
Apsley gardens	Exclusive 9am to 9pm, or until the DJ or band starts; the doors to the gardens close at 21:00 because the venue is in a residential area
Finish time	Music and alcohol licence until midnight, which cannot be extended; caterers clear the Apsley Bar before 1am
Flash	Not published

Where a rule is shown as not published, ask the venue in writing before the day.

Bedrooms the night before, and the wedding-night suite

Shendish Manor has 70 bedrooms and holds up to 15 for the wedding night and up to 5 for the night before. What each package includes, as published:

Classic: a complimentary Four Poster bedroom for the couple on the wedding night, check-in from 3pm.
Elegance: a Manor double bedroom the night before (check-out 11:00 on the day) and the Four Poster on the night.
Dry hire, Sapphire tier: a standard bedroom the night before, with upgrade fees.
The dry-hire FAQ calls the wedding-night room a complimentary Bridal Suite, check-in 15:00.

No separate daytime dressing room is named, so the night-before room is the getting-ready room unless you book more.

A planning outline for an Asian wedding at Shendish Manor

When	What happens
Morning	Getting ready in the room booked for the night before; the wedding-night suite is available from 15:00.
Baraat (10:00 to 20:00)	Groom's entrance up the drive, no longer than 15 minutes, with drums only inside the published hours. Tell the venue about a horse in advance.
Ceremony	Mandap ceremony indoors with a contained havan, or a civil ceremony in a licensed room or gazebo.
Portraits	Dutch Gardens, which the venue names for drinks and photographs, timed by the light table. No drones.
By 21:00	Doors to the Apsley gardens close at 21:00. In midsummer that is before sunset, so take garden portraits earlier.
Until midnight	Music and alcohol licence ends and cannot be extended. No fireworks or lanterns.

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 Apsley, Hemel Hempstead

Month	Sunrise	Sunset	Golden hour from	Clock
January	08:02	16:21	15:23	GMT
February	07:17	17:16	16:27	GMT
March	06:17	18:06	17:21	GMT
April	06:06	19:59	19:13	BST
May	05:10	20:48	19:58	BST
June	04:43	21:22	20:27	BST
July	05:01	21:14	20:22	BST
August	05:46	20:26	19:39	BST
September	06:36	19:17	18:33	BST
October	07:26	18:09	17:23	BST
November	07:20	16:12	15:18	GMT
December	08:02	15:52	14:50	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.

A contained havan, a 15-minute baraat and a 3.23m ceiling

The Apsley Suite's own kitchen means your caterer works on site, so food service runs to time and the reception schedule holds.
A contained havan is permitted, so the fire can stay in the ceremony pictures. Ask the decorator to keep the mandap clear of flammable drapes, which the rule requires anyway.
The baraat has 15 minutes on the drive. Agree the start point and the route with us beforehand so the arrival is covered from the front.
The garden doors close at 21:00, earlier than summer sunsets, so plan the golden-hour portraits around that rather than around the light alone.
With a 3.23m ceiling, falling to 3.00m, a tall mandap canopy sits close to the lights. Overhead angles are limited, so we plan the ceremony coverage from the sides and the aisle.
Two weddings can run on the same day. Ask where the other party will be so group photographs avoid their arrivals.

The 1853 Manor House, the Apsley Suite and the Dutch Gardens

The Manor House dates from 1853 and sits in 160 acres of parkland and formal gardens, including the Dutch Gardens, onto which both the Manor House and the Apsley Suite open. The venue does not publish a listing grade, and we have not asserted one. The contemporary Apsley Suite is the working room for a large Asian wedding: bigger, plainer and with its own kitchen.

Apsley, the M1 and the West Coast Main Line

London Road, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead HP3 0AA. Hemel Hempstead station at Boxmoor is on the West Coast Main Line to London Euston, and the M1 and M25 meet nearby. We travel to Shendish Manor from our Northwood studio and plan the morning around your preparation location.

Complimentary parking at Shendish Manor, and the three counts

Parking is complimentary. The weddings page gives 200 spaces, the dry-hire page says over 200, and the 2024 dry-hire FAQ says 250 spaces that cannot be reserved. The wedding terms add that caterers unload at the front at quiet times and then park at the far end of the car park, and that an event in the Manor House means the other party cannot use the Manor car park.

Shendish Manor wedding photography, frequently asked questions

Can you have a havan at Shendish Manor?

Yes. The venue's 2024 dry-hire FAQ says a havan for an indoor ceremony is no problem at all, as long as it is contained and not near anything flammable. Candle stands on tables are allowed on the same terms, away from children. The venue does not supply a mandap, so it comes from an external company, and the Apsley Suite ceiling of 3.23 metres, falling to 3.00 metres, sets the maximum canopy height. Fireworks, Chinese lanterns, indoor sparklers, smoke machines and confetti cannons are all ruled out.

Is a baraat allowed at Shendish Manor?

Yes, within limits. The dry-hire FAQ says the groom can make his entrance up the drive for a mandap ceremony, for no longer than 15 minutes, and asks you to say in advance if a horse is involved. Drums are restricted to between 10:00 and 20:00; the wedding terms say outside the front of the venue only, while the FAQ also mentions the Apsley Suite, so check which applies. Plan the procession start time with the events team so the route and timing are agreed before the day.

How much does a wedding at Shendish Manor cost?

The venue publishes package prices per adult. In 2026 the Classic package is £128 on a Saturday and £119 on a Friday or Sunday, and the Elegance package £148 and £139; 2027 rates are £5 higher in each case. Saturday minimums are 65 adults in the Manor House and 95 in the Apsley Suite. Multi-cultural dry hire runs from £6,000 to £17,500 depending on date, an intimate package for 15 guests is £2,250 in 2026, and civil ceremonies start from £650.

What is the capacity at Shendish Manor?

The Apsley Suite takes 50 to 320 daytime guests, or 280 with a dance floor; the 2024 dry-hire FAQ gives a maximum of 520 on round tables with no dance floor or bar. The Manor House takes 15 to 96 during the day and up to 160 in the evening. For ceremonies the venue's pages differ: indoor ceremonies of 10 to 320 on the ceremony page, and the Apsley licensed for 350 theatre style in the FAQ. Confirm the figure for your layout.

What time does a wedding at Shendish Manor finish?

The venue holds a music and alcohol licence until midnight for functions, and its terms say this cannot be extended. Staying guests can use the residents' bar from midnight until 2am, and caterers must clear the Apsley Bar before 1am. Earlier in the evening, the doors to the Apsley gardens close at 21:00 because the venue is in a residential area, and a sound limiter set by the licensing officer holds the dance floor at about 90 decibels.

Is there parking at Shendish Manor?

Yes, and it is complimentary. The venue's own figures vary: 200 spaces on the weddings page, over 200 on the dry-hire page and 250 in the 2024 FAQ, which adds that spaces cannot be reserved. If the Manor House is booked for an event, the other party loses access to the Manor car park. The address is London Road, Apsley HP3 0AA, close to where the M1 and M25 meet, and Hemel Hempstead station at Boxmoor has trains to Euston.

Our work

Asian wedding photography

Groom photographed from behind in an embroidered sherwani

Wedding ritual table with a decorated pot and offerings on red cloth

Groom placing a ring on the bride's mehndi-decorated hand

Bride holding both mehndi-covered hands across her face

Mehndi-decorated hands and green bangles against a green and red sari

Bride and groom kissing in a garden, framed by green leaves

Other wedding venues we cover

Related pages

Enquiries for this venue are handled by Kaushik Bathia, FBIPP and FMPA, who has photographed more than a thousand weddings since 2001 and holds five European Kodak Gold Awards.

Civil · Church · Hindu · Sikh · Muslim · Tamil

Planning a wedding at Shendish Manor?

Tell us the date and the venue and we will come back with availability and a price. Coverage starts from £750.

Wedding Photography at Shendish Manor, Hemel Hempstead