Mid-November at Balcombe Place has its own pace. The leaves were deep orange, the air cold enough to remind you winter was close, and most of the warmth came from inside. Charlotte and Sam’s day matched that rhythm perfectly. Calm to begin with. Quiet. Then gradually, steadily, building into something much livelier by the evening.
Everything took place at Balcombe Place, which always helps a day settle into itself. Guests moved between rooms as Charlotte and Sam got ready in different parts of the house. There’s a sense of scale there – generous rooms, fireplaces, wood panelling – but it never feels overwhelming. The ceremony was held in front of the fireplace, which felt exactly right for mid-November. Intimate. Close. No need for excess when the space already carries so much character.
Charlotte and Sam are not attention-seeking people. They seemed content to let the day unfold around them, taking moments as they came rather than trying to orchestrate them. You could see them checking in with each other throughout. A small squeeze of the hand. A quiet word before greeting the next group of guests. They felt like a couple genuinely looking forward – not just to the wedding day, but to whatever comes next.
Drinks and dinner moved into the Great Hall, where the late autumn light faded quickly beyond the windows and the candlelight began to take over. Speeches were warm and sincere, rooted in family history and long friendships. It never tipped into spectacle. It stayed grounded.
Then, slowly, the shift happened. The live band started up. Guests who had been quietly chatting all afternoon found their way to the dance floor. By the end of the night, the calm exterior had given way to something much more animated. Charlotte and Sam included. They didn’t rush into it. They let it grow.
A late autumn wedding at Balcombe Place in Sussex that began softly and ended with real momentum, carried by two people clearly moving forward side by side.
Balcombe Place Wedding Venue
Situated just outside of Haywards Heath, Balcombe Place markets itself as a ‘home from home’ and I totally agree. When I arrived in the morning, Sam, the groom-to-be opened the door and invited me in, before showing me around. Often the first contact I have when arriving at a wedding venue would be a member of staff – but to be invited in by the groom really lent itself to the homely vibe that Balcombe goes for, as well at the warm and welcoming, friendly vibe that Sam and Charlotte were clearly drawn to.
Balcombe Place is a manor house wedding venue and from the drive in you can see what a truly grand property it is, even in the depths of late autumn when the leaves were a brilliantly rusty shade of red and the skies were cold and grey, the building looked warm, cosy and inviting – within, the fireplaces glowing with embers providing the cosiness one only gets from a real fire.
From spending the morning in one of it’s many bedrooms, before heading down the beautiful wood staircase into the gorgeous ceremony room – where Charlotte and Sam were married beneath the most impressive marble fireplace I’d ever seen, Balcombe provided a real elegant and sense of significance to proceedings.