St Michael's Manor Wedding Photographer

St Michael's Manor is a hotel on Fishpool Street in St Albans, near Verulamium Park, with five acres of private gardens and a lake behind it. It is licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 140 guests, the Orangery is the licensed room, and its 2026 investment guide publishes room hire and exclusive-use prices.

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 St Michael's Manor; coverage starts from £750. Below is what the venue publishes, and what it does not.

St Michael's Manor: licence, grounds and rooms

Address	Fishpool Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 4RY
Civil ceremonies	Licensed for up to 140 guests; the Orangery is the licensed room
Spaces	Orangery up to 140 (160 evening), the Jetty up to 140, Cedar Suite 30, Summer House 22, Oak Lounge 14
Grounds	Five acres of private gardens with a private lake
Accommodation	30 boutique bedrooms, all included in exclusive use
Catering	Not published. The wedding pages offer recommended suppliers or your own, but state no caterer policy
Finish time	Evening celebrations can continue until midnight (2026 brochure)
Minimums	Orangery: 100 adults on Saturdays, 80 on Fridays
Parking	Complimentary for wedding guests
From our studio	About 10.8 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

St Michael's Manor prices from the 2026 investment guide

St Michael's Manor publishes its prices in the Wedding Collections and Investment Guide 2026, linked from its site as the wedding tariffs for 2026 and 2027. As printed:

Ceremony room hire: Orangery £1,050, Cedar Suite £600, Summer House £600, Oak Lounge £400. This rate applies only when the wedding reception is also at the hotel.
Wedding breakfast, venue hire only with food not included: Orangery £3,500 to £6,500, Cedar Suite £600, Oak Lounge £400.
Exclusive use for 24 hours, food not included: October to March from £18,000 on a Friday and £20,000 on a Saturday; April to September from £20,000 on a Friday and £22,000 on a Saturday.
Exclusive use covers all public indoor and outdoor spaces, the gardens, all 30 bedrooms, a co-ordinator, furniture and linen, and parking.
The Orangery requires a minimum of 100 adult guests on Saturdays and 80 on Fridays.

Food and package prices per head are not printed; ask the hotel for them.

A licensed Orangery, and the catering question to ask first

The licence is stated cleanly: civil ceremonies for up to 140 guests, with the Orangery named as licensed on the ceremony and reception spaces page. The Jetty is listed for up to 140 as well; confirm whether a ceremony there is covered by the licence before you plan around the lake.

Catering is the question to settle first. The hotel's wedding pages invite you to explore its selected suppliers or work with your own, but they publish no policy on outside caterers, a vegetarian kitchen or halal provision. If your caterer is chosen before your venue, ask in writing before anything else.

Also not published: confetti, candle and open-flame rules, fireworks, and whether a baraat can arrive on Fishpool Street. Add those to the same email.

Photography rules at St Michael's Manor: the lake is offered, little else stated

Photography	The hotel offers its gardens and private lake for wedding photography
Suppliers	Choose from the hotel's selected suppliers or work with your own
Flash	Not published
Drones	Not published
Confetti	Not published
Candles and open flame	Not published
Fireworks and sky lanterns	Not published
Finish time	Evening celebrations until midnight

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

Getting ready in the hotel's 30 bedrooms

The hotel has 30 boutique bedrooms, and exclusive use gives 24 hours of access to the manor, gardens, lake and all 30 rooms, so preparation and the morning after can both happen on site. The 2026 brochure refers to luxurious suites as well as Manor House bedrooms but names no bridal suite, so ask which rooms suit a getting-ready party and which take morning light.

A planning outline for a St Michael's Manor wedding

When	What happens
Morning	Getting ready in the hotel's bedrooms or suites; none is named as a bridal suite.
Ceremony	The Orangery, licensed for up to 140.
Drinks and portraits	The gardens and private lake, which the hotel offers for photography, timed by the light table.
Wedding breakfast	The Orangery, up to 160 for the evening reception.
Until midnight	Evening celebration continues to midnight (published).

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 St Albans

Month	Sunrise	Sunset	Golden hour from	Clock
January	08:02	16:20	15:22	GMT
February	07:16	17:15	16:27	GMT
March	06:16	18:05	17:21	GMT
April	06:06	19:58	19:13	BST
May	05:09	20:47	19:57	BST
June	04:42	21:22	20:27	BST
July	05:00	21:14	20:21	BST
August	05:46	20:25	19:38	BST
September	06:36	19:17	18:33	BST
October	07:25	18:08	17:22	BST
November	07:20	16:11	15:18	GMT
December	08:02	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.

A private lake, five acres, and a 140 ceiling

The lake and five acres of gardens are the reason to shoot here. They sit behind the hotel, away from Fishpool Street, so portraits are private without leaving the grounds.
A 140 ceiling on the licence makes this a smaller wedding by Asian standards. The upside is that the whole group fits in one frame by the water.
Fishpool Street is narrow and historic. Arrival pictures work, but a large car or a baraat needs the hotel's guidance on where it can stop.
Verulamium Park is close by and gives a different backdrop if there is a gap in the schedule. Agree the walking time first.
A midnight finish sets when the dance-floor pictures end. Book coverage to midnight, not past it.

A hotel on Fishpool Street, beside Roman Verulamium

The hotel stands on Fishpool Street, the old road running down from St Albans towards the site of Roman Verulamium. Behind it lie five acres of private gardens and a lake, which is what separates it from other hotels of its size. Inside there are 30 boutique bedrooms, and the hotel offers itself for exclusive use so that a wedding party has the building to itself. The hotel does not publish a listing status, a build date or an architect on its wedding pages, so we do not assert one.

St Albans AL3, the A405 and a narrow historic street

Fishpool Street, St Albans AL3 4RY. St Albans City station is the main rail approach from London, and the M25 and M1 are both close. From our Northwood HA6 studio it is a straightforward run up the A405, so travel fits easily around your morning.

Complimentary parking at St Michael's Manor

Parking is complimentary for wedding guests: the exclusive-use page and the 2026 brochure both list it. The hotel's 2015 access statement, still linked from its site, gives 70 on-site spaces on a gravel surface, lit at night, with drop-off at the entrance and valet parking on request for guests with limited mobility. That count may have changed since 2015, so confirm it if many guests are driving, and ask about coaches, which are not covered.

St Michael's Manor wedding photography, frequently asked questions

How much does a wedding at St Michael's Manor cost?

The hotel's 2026 investment guide prints its room hire. Ceremony hire is £1,050 for the Orangery, £600 for the Cedar Suite or Summer House and £400 for the Oak Lounge, when the reception is also at the hotel. Venue hire for the wedding breakfast, with food not included, is £3,500 to £6,500 for the Orangery. Exclusive use for 24 hours starts at £18,000 on a winter Friday and £22,000 on a summer Saturday, again without food. Per-head food prices are not printed, so ask the hotel.

What is the capacity at St Michael's Manor?

The hotel is licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 140 guests. Its spaces page gives the Orangery up to 140, or 160 for an evening reception, the Jetty up to 140, the Cedar Suite 30, the Summer House 22 and the Oak Lounge 14. The Orangery carries a minimum of 100 adult guests on Saturdays and 80 on Fridays. So the range runs from a very small wedding to around 140 for the day, which is modest for a large Asian celebration.

Is there parking at St Michael's Manor?

Yes. Complimentary parking for wedding guests is listed on the exclusive-use page and in the 2026 brochure. The hotel's 2015 access statement, still on its site, describes 70 spaces on a lit gravel car park, drop-off at the entrance and valet parking on request for guests with limited mobility; confirm the current count, as it may have changed. Fishpool Street outside is narrow, so coaches and large cars need the hotel's advice on where to stop.

Does St Michael's Manor allow outside caterers?

The hotel does not publish a policy either way. Its wedding pages invite couples to explore its selected suppliers or work with their own, which covers suppliers in general but does not answer the caterer question directly. Nor does the hotel publish whether a vegetarian kitchen or halal provision is available. If a family caterer is part of your plan, ask the events team in writing before you book, because that answer decides what kind of Asian wedding this venue can host.

What time do weddings finish at St Michael's Manor?

The hotel's 2026 brochure says that, with space for up to 160 evening guests, the celebration can continue until midnight. No later licence, bar close or noise limit is published. For photography that sets the end of the dance-floor coverage, so we would plan the last formal moments, such as a final dance or a send-off, before midnight. Exclusive use gives you the hotel for 24 hours, so staying guests are already on site when the evening ends.

Our work

Asian wedding photography

Bride's hands with mehndi and stacked bangles

Guests throwing rose petals over the couple at a lively celebration

Bride in red and groom in a red sherwani seated close together on a white sofa

Bride holding a mehndi-covered hand across her face

Bride and groom on a golden stage laughing with family around them

Bride and groom seen through a garden doorway in a brick wall

Other wedding venues we cover

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 St Michael's 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 St Michael's Manor, St Albans