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The Grounds

The main gardens and courtyard offer wonderful opportunities for great photographs to help you re-live your best day. This area is home to the stunning Cascade water feature as well as enabling access to the Orchard and wider gardens and our evergrowing photo 'features' throughout the grounds. The main house and its classic fountain also work beautifully as a photo backdrop.

But this is only part of the story of what we offer - Shortmead is positioned on the edge stunning Bedfordshire countryside and boasts a certain, intentional, wildness in places. Some couples choose to take images in this surrounding countryside using the attached bridleway for access to a completely different kind of backdrop.

Many couples choose to take a wander and have pictures along and around our gorgeous quarter-acre lake, utilising the classic gazebo and log arches for a quiet moment together. The longer grasses in this area create a really different feel to your photos, or bring your besties along with you for some unique wedding party shots.

An Eco-Friendly Venue

We believe we have a responsibility in protecting the environment and we work with our couples and suppliers to minimise any negative impact. Shortmead runs off its own natural water supply, allowing us to keep our gardens green without wasting water, it is also powered by Shortmead’s very own Solar Farm, which sits on a separate part of the estate.

We also endeavour to recycle, compost and are often planting additional trees within the boundary. We deliberately maintain areas of the estate to sustain wildflowers, grasses, wildlife, and our very own Great Crested Newt population, which can be found in the lake.

In addition to these, we ask our couples to refrain from balloon releases and only permit use of biodegradable confetti (petals or rice paper work brilliantly!) during weddings.

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