A PHOTOGRAPHER’S VENUE GUIDE
ASHFORD
OVAL
Ashford Oval is a private macadamia farm estate on Airport Road in Plettenberg Bay, built around a purpose-made cricket oval and clubhouse.
WEDDING VENUES • PLETTENBERG BAY • WEDDING VENUE • UPDATED 2026
01
WHY COUPLES CHOOSE IT
Why couples choose Ashford Oval
Ashford is Plett’s best-kept secret venue: a cricket oval mown like velvet, a clubhouse with fireplaces and a proper bar, macadamia orchards and riverine bush around it all. The Yates family built the oval as a love letter to the game (and to Katherine’s cricketer father), and they host only about twelve weddings a year, exclusivity by design.
For big marquee weddings, that field is the flattest, greenest stage on the Garden Route; for small ones, the verandah does golden evenings over the orchards.
01 / LOCATION
Airport Road, Plett
02 / BEST FOR
Verandah intimate
03 / CEREMONY
Clubhouse verandah or the oval
04 / WET WEATHER
Clubhouse, fireplaces & bar
05 / STAY
Estate home + glamping options [CONFIRM]
06 / FOOD
External caterers/planners [CONFIRM]
07 / WEDDINGS/YEAR
±12, exclusivity
08 / STYLE
English cricket-lawn estate
THROUGH SHARYN’S LENS
Photographing a wedding at Ashford Oval
A cricket oval is a natural amphitheatre for light, open to the sky, ringed by trees, flat enough that golden hour rolls across it like a tide. I’d stage marquee wides from the boundary, couple portraits into the orchards, and finish on the verandah as the riverine bush goes dusk-blue.
The clubhouse interiors, cricket memorabilia, fireplaces, that bar, give the evening set a character most farm venues can’t match.
PLANNING AROUND THE LIGHT
A timeline shaped around your date.
Sunrise and sunset shift throughout the year, so there is no single perfect ceremony time at Ashford Oval. I build each timeline around the sunset time on your actual date, the ceremony space, the weather and the open oval’s rolling golden hour and the orchard edges.
MAR TO SEP
March – September
The sun sits lower and golden light arrives earlier in the afternoon. Low light rakes the oval beautifully from mid-afternoon, earlier ceremonies leave the field-crossing portrait walk in full gold.
OCT TO FEB
October – February
Days run long and the light stays strong late. Summer evenings hold the field bright late, later verandah ceremonies flow into orchard portraits at the soft end of the day.
YOUR DATE
Your personal timeline
Once your date is confirmed, I work backwards from sunset and create a photography timeline around your ceremony, portraits and reception, with enough flexibility for weather and the unplanned moments that make the day yours.
THE RHYTHM
The shape of the day
Getting ready → Ceremony → Family photographs → Golden-hour portraits → Dinner & dancing
FLEXIBILITY
Exact times stay personal
Exact times are created for your date, never copied from a generic schedule.
SHARYN’S WORK NEARBY
My work nearby.
I haven’t photographed a wedding at Ashford yet, these Plett galleries show my work minutes away, and this oval is firmly on my wish list.
MIKAYA & JAMES / CASEY & MICHAEL
“
A cricket oval is a natural amphitheatre for light, open to the sky, ringed by trees, flat enough that golden hour rolls across it like a tide.
SHARYN HODGES / PHOTOGRAPHER’S VENUE NOTES
THE PRACTICAL BITS
Plan the day, keep the feeling.
Facts to reconfirm with the venue before you book, capacities and packages change.
BEST FOR
Verandah intimate
CEREMONY
Clubhouse verandah or the oval
WET WEATHER
Clubhouse, fireplaces & bar
FOOD
External caterers/planners
NEED TO KNOW
Before you book.
A photographer’s answers to the questions couples ask most often about Ashford Oval. Venue details and packages can change, so confirm the final information directly.
Intimate ceremonies suit the clubhouse verandah; marquee weddings on the oval run to 200–300 guests per press coverage.
The family caps it at roughly twelve a year, the estate is a home and working macadamia farm first, which is exactly why it feels special.
The clubhouse, fireplaces, lounge and bar, plus the marquee itself cover the weather.
External planners and caterers are brought in, The Event Planners have produced weddings here.
ALREADY IMAGINING IT?
Getting married at Ashford Oval?
Twelve weddings a year means every Ashford date is rare, and I’d love to photograph one. If the oval is yours, let’s make the most of that extraordinary lawn.
