Holdsworth House Wedding Photographer

Hello, I’m Dave. I’m a wedding photographer based in West Yorkshire, and Holdsworth House is one of the closest venues to home for me. If you’re getting married there, what you probably want is someone who already knows the building — where the light falls in the morning, which corners are worth walking to, and how the day tends to run once everyone has a drink in their hand.

Holdsworth House is a Grade II* listed Jacobean manor house on Holdsworth Road, a couple of miles north of Halifax town centre. It was built in 1633. There are thirty-three bedrooms, walled gardens at the front and a courtyard behind, and enough rooms of different sizes that a wedding for twelve and a wedding for a hundred and twenty both fit without either feeling out of place.

The stone frontage of Holdsworth House in Halifax, with clipped hedges lining the path to the door

Location of Holdsworth House

Holdsworth Road, Holdsworth, Halifax, HX2 9TG. It sits up above the town, so you’re only a few minutes from the middle of Halifax and still get open sky and hillside behind the house. Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield are all a straightforward run, and I photograph weddings across every one of them.

History of Holdsworth House

The house was built in 1633 and is Grade II* listed. Four hundred years of a building being lived in shows up in photographs in a way a new-build never quite manages, and it’s a large part of why couples choose it. The stone gazebo in the garden is seventeenth century — the venue calls it the smallest licensed wedding venue in the UK, and it holds ten people.

It was built by Abraham Brigg, and his initials and the date are still carved into the headstone above the porch — worth two minutes of anyone’s day, and the reason the ceremony room downstairs carries his name. There was a building on this site as far back as 1272. What survives inside is the good stuff to photograph: stone mullioned windows, beamed ceilings, proper fireplaces and Georgian panelling.

Bride and groom on the flagged path through the gardens at Holdsworth House, the old hall behind them

And the one everybody asks about — the Beatles stayed here on 9 October 1964, John Lennon’s 24th birthday, after playing the Bradford Gaumont. Paul McCartney and George Harrison were put in the Ayrton Room, which is now one of the rooms you can actually get married in. If you’re having a small wedding, you can say your vows in a room two Beatles slept in, and I’ll happily take a picture of you doing it.

Wedding guests gathered on the path below Holdsworth House, with the hall and gardens behind

Why Should You Pick Me as Your Holdsworth House Wedding Photographer?

I’ve photographed weddings across West Yorkshire for years, and Holdsworth House is on my doorstep. I work quietly and I don’t run the day — you won’t spend it being arranged into positions. You get over 600 images from a half day and over 800 from a full day, edited and back with you in three weeks, and there are 73 five-star reviews on Google from couples who have already been through it.

The ceremony room at Holdsworth House set with chairs either side of the aisle

Real Weddings at Holdsworth House

Ema & Tim

Ema and Tim between the stone gateposts in the gardens at Holdsworth House

Cocktail-named tables, emerald green, portraits on the garden path and a kiss under a white umbrella in the rain after dark. See Ema and Tim’s Holdsworth House wedding.

Shannon & Scott

Shannon and Scott in the terraced gardens below the ivy-covered Holdsworth House

A summer garden ceremony by the gazebo, mini golf on the lawn, a drone group picture and twilight portraits at the stone gateway. See Shannon and Scott’s Holdsworth House wedding.

Rebecca & Thomas

A bride and groom, Rebecca & Thomas, stand close in a garden at Holdsworth House, smiling at each other. The bride holds a bouquet of white flowers, her veil flowing gracefully behind her. Trees and greenery provide a lush backdrop under the sunny sky for this enchanting wedding moment.

A sunny day for two music and festival lovers, who fell for Holdsworth House the moment they walked in. See Rebecca and Thomas’s Holdsworth House wedding.

My Wedding Photography Approach

I photograph the day as it happens. Most of it you won’t notice me doing — your mum straightening your dad’s tie, the friend who goes at the vows, the queue at the bar. Then somewhere in the afternoon I’ll borrow the two of you for twenty minutes, walk you into the gardens, and let you talk to each other while I work around you. That’s the whole method.

Bride and groom kissing at the end of their ceremony at Holdsworth House, guests applauding

Holdsworth House Wedding Photography

Knowing a venue well changes what you come away with, and at Holdsworth House that mostly means knowing the rooms — because there are a lot of them, and which one you’re in changes how the day is photographed.

The Stuart Room is the big one: up to 120 guests for the ceremony and the wedding breakfast, 150 in the evening, with its own private bar, a stage area and a dance floor. The Abraham Brigg Room is the ground-floor alternative for 40 to 80 guests. The Ayrton Room and the De Aldworth Room each take up to 20, which makes them the right choice for a small wedding rather than a compromise.

The bridal party walking together outside Holdsworth House in summer
Bride and groom between the stone gateposts at Holdsworth House with snow on the gardens

Outdoors, you can marry in the garden for up to 120 guests between May and September, in the Colonnade Courtyard for up to 60, or in the seventeenth-century stone gazebo for up to 10. The courtyard is the one I’d point you towards if you want something outside without committing the whole guest list to the weather.

And on the weather — this is Halifax, so let’s be honest about it. Rain here isn’t a problem. The house is full of rooms with good windows, the courtyard is sheltered, and the walled gardens at the front photograph beautifully under grey skies. I’ve never had a day at a Yorkshire venue where the rain cost us the pictures, and I’m not going to start planning for one. At Ema and Tim’s June wedding the rain came back after dark, so we used it: a white umbrella at the stone gateway and a light behind them catching every drop.

The dining room at Holdsworth House laid out for the wedding breakfast

If you’re staying over, thirty-three bedrooms means the getting-ready photographs happen on site, in decent light, without anybody driving anywhere in a dress. Exclusive use of the whole house is available too, which is worth asking about if your guest list is big enough — it changes the feel of the whole day, and it makes the evening much easier to photograph.

Guests raising their glasses during the speeches at Holdsworth House
Bride and groom under an umbrella between the stone gateposts at Holdsworth House on a wet day
Bride and groom in the gardens at Holdsworth House in the last of the evening light
Bride and groom with a sparkler heart at the gateposts at Holdsworth House after dark

Holdsworth House at a Glance

  • Where: Holdsworth Road, Holdsworth, Halifax, HX2 9TG — about two miles north of Halifax town centre.
  • Ceremonies indoors: the Stuart Room, the Abraham Brigg Room, the Ayrton Room and the De Aldworth Room are all licensed for marriages and civil partnerships.
  • Ceremonies outdoors: the garden for up to 120 guests from May to September, the Colonnade Courtyard for up to 60, and a seventeenth-century stone gazebo for up to 10.
  • Numbers: up to 120 guests for a wedding ceremony and reception, and up to 150 in the evening.
  • Small weddings: the Ayrton and De Aldworth rooms each seat up to 20.
  • Staying over: thirty-three individually designed bedrooms, with exclusive use of the house available.
  • The building: a Grade II* listed Jacobean manor house built in 1633, with walled gardens and courtyards.
  • Your photographer: I’m based in West Yorkshire, a few minutes down the road, and I cover Halifax, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield and Wakefield.

Holdsworth House Wedding Questions

Yes. You can hold the ceremony in the garden for up to 120 guests between May and September, in the Colonnade Courtyard for up to 60, or in the seventeenth-century stone gazebo for up to 10 guests.

Up to 120 guests for the ceremony and the wedding breakfast, and up to 150 for the evening reception in the Stuart Room.

The Stuart Room, the Abraham Brigg Room, the Ayrton Room and the De Aldworth Room are all licensed for marriages and civil partnerships, along with the stone gazebo in the garden.

Yes. The Ayrton Room and the De Aldworth Room each take up to 20 guests, and the stone gazebo holds 10 — the venue describes it as the smallest licensed wedding venue in the UK.

There are thirty-three individually designed bedrooms, and exclusive use of the whole house is available for larger weddings.

Yes. You can see a full day at the venue in Rebecca and Thomas’s Holdsworth House wedding.

Nothing much. The courtyard is sheltered, the rooms have good windows, and the walled gardens photograph well under cloud. We adjust the timings on the day and carry on.

All my current packages and prices are on my wedding photography prices page. Every wedding includes over 600 edited images for a half day and over 800 for a full day, back with you in three weeks.

Yes — on 9 October 1964, John Lennon’s 24th birthday, after the band played the Bradford Gaumont. Paul McCartney and George Harrison were given the Ayrton Room, which is now one of the venue’s licensed ceremony rooms.

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More Yorkshire Wedding Venues

If you’re still choosing, my guide to the best wedding venues in Yorkshire covers the places I photograph most, and my Halifax wedding photography page has more on the area around the house.