The Luttrell Arms Wedding Photographer, Dunster
Natural, documentary wedding photography by Patrick Newnham
The Luttrell Arms is the Grade II* listed hotel at the top of Dunster high street, opposite the Yarn Market, built as the abbey’s guest house in the fifteenth century and run as a hotel with twenty-eight bedrooms, two bars, a well-regarded restaurant and gardens at the back that look straight up at Dunster Castle. It’s licensed for civil ceremonies in the Conygar room, which suits intimate weddings, and with the whole village on the doorstep it’s one of the best small-wedding venues on Exmoor.
I haven’t photographed a wedding at the Luttrell yet, but I’ve spent a good deal of time in the village and I know how a day there would run: the morning in the hotel’s old rooms with their beams and fireplaces, the ceremony in the Conygar room, drinks in the garden with the castle above, a walk through the village and down to the packhorse bridge for portraits, and dinner back at the hotel. It’s twenty minutes from my house, so a Luttrell wedding would be a short drive and a long, happy day.
How I photograph a wedding
Documentary first. I don’t run the day or stage it; I pay attention to it, and I keep the formal part to ten minutes of group photographs and twenty minutes of portraits in the best light we can find. Natural light, no flash during ceremonies, and editing that will still look right in twenty years. I take a limited number of weddings a year, which is partly how I get to give each one my full attention.
Good to know about the Luttrell Arms
Size. An intimate venue; the Conygar room suits small ceremonies and the restaurant a wedding breakfast for a modest number, so it’s ideal for elopements and weddings of family and close friends. Light. The garden faces the castle and holds the afternoon sun; the high street is a shaded, soft-light place by late afternoon. Dunster by Candlelight. If you marry in early December the village is lit for the festival, and it’s magical. Travel. Twenty minutes from home; see Dunster and small and intimate weddings.
Taking a limited number of weddings for 2027 and 2028
If my way of working sounds like your kind of thing, I’d love to hear about your plans. Drop me a line with your date and venue and I’ll tell you straight away whether I’m free.
