Swancar Farm Wedding Photographer

Hello there, I’m Dave from Dave Waller Photography, and if you’ve found this page you’re probably planning your wedding at Swancar Farm Country House and looking for a wedding photographer who knows the place.

Swancar is a 16th century country house sitting in two hundred and fifty acres of Nottinghamshire countryside, just off the M1 near Trowell. What sets it apart is how many different spaces it gives you: the Glass Barn, a galleried upper floor, an oak hall, an orangery, a courtyard, a terrace and a pagoda, all connected, and all yours, because they only ever hold one event a day. It’s a venue where the day can move around as it goes, which is a gift for the kind of photography I do.

Looking for a wedding photographer for Swancar Farm? Check my date and tell me all about your plans.

Bethany and Liam in front of the red brick farmhouse at Swancar Farm

Swancar Farm at a Glance

  • Where: Trowell Moor, near Nottingham, close to the Derbyshire border and a couple of minutes from the M1
  • Ceremonies: Two licensed rooms: the Gallery on the upper floor and the Glass Barn on the lower floor, each seating 100
  • Wedding breakfast: The Oak Hall, with its arched oak beams and stone floor, seats up to 140, and up to 200 for the evening
  • The spaces: The Glass Barn, the Gallery, the Oak Hall, the Orangery, the Courtyard, the Terrace and the Pagoda
  • Exclusive use: Only one event a day, so the whole place is yours
  • Grounds: 250 acres of rolling Nottinghamshire countryside
  • Staying over: 11 bedrooms including the bridal suite, plus the Old Stables, which sleeps 8
  • Dogs: Not inside the venue, but welcome for photographs by prior arrangement
  • Parking and timings: Ample parking on site. Bar last orders at 11.30pm, music until midnight
The Swancar Farm stone sign on the lawn at the Nottingham wedding venue

Photographing a Wedding at Swancar Farm

Knowing a venue well changes what you come away with. Here is how a day at Swancar tends to run from behind the camera.

The spaces do the work. Courtyard for the drinks, orangery for the evening, Oak Hall for the meal, the Gallery or the Glass Barn for the ceremony. Each looks completely different, so a set of pictures from one day here has real variety in it without us going anywhere.

The oak beamed barn at Swancar Farm dressed for the wedding breakfast

Choose your ceremony room early. Both licensed rooms seat 100 but they are very different. The Gallery is upstairs with oak beams and chandeliers, while the Glass Barn downstairs is brick walls and beams. It changes where everyone sits and where I need to be.

The courtyard is made for confetti. At Bethany and Liam’s June wedding the courtyard held a full confetti line with room to spare, with red brick on every side. Straight after that it’s where the hugs and the drinks happen, so I can carry on quietly while everyone celebrates.

Bethany and Liam walking through pink confetti in the Swancar Farm courtyard

250 acres is your back garden. If we can find ten minutes when the light is right, the countryside around the house is a completely different picture from anything inside it. The lane beside the fields gave Bethany and Liam quiet, open portraits only a couple of minutes’ walk from the courtyard, and the soft grey sky that day was kind light for it. I usually allow 20 to 30 minutes for couple portraits, split between the gardens, the fields and the front of the farmhouse.

Bethany and Liam laughing on a walk through the Nottinghamshire countryside
Bethany and Liam beside the iron gazebo in the Swancar Farm gardens

The farmhouse works twice. In the afternoon its red brick front and sash windows make for classic portraits, and after dark the lit windows are a lovely setting for twilight portraits, with sparklers if you fancy it.

If it rains. Because the spaces are all connected, a wet day doesn’t stop anything. We use the indoor spaces for portraits, like the tall oak-framed window in the barn, and nip outside for a few minutes if the weather gives us a gap.

Liam waiting in the tall oak framed window of the barn at Swancar Farm

The dog rule catches people out. Dogs are not allowed inside the venue, but they are welcome for photographs by prior arrangement. So if your dog is part of the day, we plan a slot for them rather than hoping.

A Short History of Swancar Farm

Swancar Farm is a 16th century country house, set in two hundred and fifty acres of Nottinghamshire countryside on the edge of the Derbyshire border.

The buildings around it have been brought into use gradually, with the Glass Barn, the galleried floor above it, the Oak Hall and the orangery, so what you get now is a house with a series of connected spaces rather than one big room.

That is really the character of the place. It is a farm that grew into a wedding venue rather than a hall that was converted into one.

A sparkler heart around Bethany and Liam at twilight outside the farmhouse

Location of Swancar Farm

Swancar Farm is at Trowell Moor, just outside Nottingham and close to the Derbyshire border, a couple of minutes from the M1. It’s an easy run down from West Yorkshire, and Nottingham, Derby and Ilkeston are all close by.

Address: Swancar Farm Country House, Trowell Moor, Trowell, Nottingham NG9 3PQ

Have a look through my wedding photography packages, and if you’d like to see more of how I cover weddings in this part of the country, my Nottingham wedding photographer page is a good place to start.

Real Weddings at Swancar Farm

Bethany & Liam

A laughter-filled June wedding with confetti in the courtyard, portraits down the lane and sparklers outside the farmhouse at twilight. Read Bethany and Liam’s Swancar Farm wedding story.

Liam kissing Bethany outside the red brick farmhouse door

A Swancar Farm Wedding

An earlier wedding from my archive, with more of the house and grounds. See the Swancar Farm wedding blog.

An earlier wedding at Swancar Farm in Nottingham

Why Choose Swancar Farm?

If you want a wedding that moves, rather than one that sits in a single room all day, Swancar is hard to beat. You can marry upstairs in the Gallery or downstairs in the Glass Barn, have drinks in the courtyard, eat in the Oak Hall and dance the evening away in the orangery, and every one of those spaces feels different.

It’s also yours for the day. With only one wedding at a time you never bump into another couple in the corridor, and with 250 acres around you there’s room to breathe. Add the bedrooms on site and the Old Stables for family, and it’s easy to keep everyone together from breakfast to the last dance.

For Bethany and Liam it was the mix of rustic beams, stone and a modern twist that won them over. For me, it’s how much variety one venue gives you, all within a couple of minutes’ walk.

Twilight portrait of Bethany and Liam outside the farmhouse at Swancar Farm in Nottingham

Swancar Farm Wedding Questions

Both licensed ceremony rooms, the Gallery and the Glass Barn, seat 100. The Oak Hall seats up to 140 for the wedding breakfast and up to 200 for the evening, according to the Nottinghamshire register of approved venues. It’s always worth confirming your numbers with the venue.

Yes. Swancar only holds one event a day, so you have total exclusivity of the house, the barns and the grounds.

It depends on the feel you want. The Gallery is upstairs with oak beams and chandeliers, and the Glass Barn on the lower floor has brick walls and beams. Both seat 100, and I’m happy photographing in either. Just let me know which you’ve chosen so I can plan where to stand.

Yes. There are 11 bedrooms including the bridal suite, plus the Old Stables, a self-contained cottage that sleeps 8, so it’s easy to get ready on site and keep family close.

Dogs are not allowed inside the venue, but they are welcome for photographs by prior arrangement. Tell me beforehand and I will make sure we get proper pictures of them rather than a rushed snap.

Usually a mix of the gardens and the iron gazebo, the lane beside the fields and the front of the farmhouse. I allow 20 to 30 minutes, so you’re back with your guests quickly.

Because all the spaces at Swancar are connected, the day carries on as normal. We use the indoor spaces for portraits and pop outside for a few minutes if the weather gives us a gap.

Yes. Twilight portraits come with my Signature and Complete packages and take about fifteen minutes. The front of the farmhouse with its lit windows is a lovely spot for them.

Yes. I’m based in West Yorkshire, and Swancar Farm is an easy run down the M1, so it’s no trouble at all.

Check my date

More Wedding Venues

If you’re still choosing your venue, have a look at my guide to wedding venues in Yorkshire, or visit my Nottingham wedding photographer page for more weddings in the East Midlands.