The clock question at Rathsallagh House

We want to lead with the practical warning, because it is the single most useful thing we can tell you about this venue and almost nobody thinks about it until it is too late to change.

Rathsallagh commonly runs ceremonies at half three. Through the summer that is a perfectly good hour. From mid November to late January it is not, because the sun in Ireland is gone by about half four. A ceremony starting at half three finishes close to four, and by the time you have been congratulated by everybody and made it outside, the daylight has gone. No confetti in the light. No portraits outside. No drone. Your whole film moves indoors before the reception has even started.

In summer the half three ceremony is fine. In winter it quietly costs you the outdoor half of your film.

What to do about it

If you have your heart set on a winter date here, ask the venue about an earlier ceremony when you enquire, not after you book. An hour makes an enormous difference. A two o'clock ceremony leaves you a genuine window of daylight afterwards, and everything that makes a country house wedding look like a country house wedding happens in that window.

If the time cannot move, the answer is a first look. Meeting before the ceremony, just the two of you, gives us the portraits and the quiet footage in daylight and takes the pressure off the afternoon entirely. Plenty of couples resist the idea at first and then tell us afterwards they were glad of it.

The house itself

None of the above is a criticism of the place. Rathsallagh is a converted Queen Anne stable yard in the Wicklow countryside, low and rambling rather than grand and vertical, and it has the comfortable feel of a house that people actually live in. That suits our style of filming. Nobody stands on ceremony in a room like that, and guests settle much faster than they do in a formal ballroom.

The grounds are generous and quiet, with no traffic noise to work around, which matters more to the sound of your film than most couples expect.

Worth asking before you book

• What time is the ceremony, exactly? Ask at the enquiry stage, and ask whether it can move. This is the most important question at this venue and it costs nothing to raise early.
• Check sunset for your actual date. Look it up rather than guessing. A wedding in early October and one in late November are completely different propositions here.
• Consider a first look for a winter date. It protects the part of the film you cannot recreate afterwards.
• Book summer if the date is flexible. With long evening light, the timing problem disappears entirely and the grounds come into their own.

We would happily film here any month of the year. We would just want to have the timing conversation with you first, and most couples never get told to have it at all.