Alcumlow Wedding Barn Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A barn at the end of a long green lane

Alcumlow Wedding Barn is at Alcumlow Hall Farm on Chance Hall Lane in Astbury, near Congleton in Cheshire (CW12 4TL). The venue describes itself as nestled in the Cheshire countryside, with fields and views for miles on the approach, and says the ruins of Mow Cop Castle make a backdrop for photographs. Exclusive use gives you the White House, the barn, the courtyard, the grounds and the lake from 9am until midnight.

We have photographed and filmed three weddings here: Martha and Harry in August 2022, Lauren and Jon in July 2023 and Georgia and Marcus in August 2023. This guide stays with the barn itself, with highlight films from Georgia and Marcus and from Martha and Harry. Our Cheshire guide shows it beside other venues in the county. What we say about the spaces comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the photographs comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore Alcumlow Wedding Barn.

01 / The spaces / From the venue's own description

The barn, the White House and the grounds

The venue offers two places for the ceremony. The barn is a converted Dutch barn, and the venue says it comfortably holds 100 people for a ceremony, up to 120 for a wedding breakfast and 180 in the evening. Georgia and Marcus married here in August 2023, and the photograph below catches their ceremony kiss under a canopy of fairy lights, timber rafters above them and their seated guests applauding.

The other is the White House, which the venue describes as a chapel-like structure with suspended windows and flower-filled window boxes, for ceremonies outdoors. The two choices depend on the weather and your preference, and the venue says ceremonies are only offered with the reception at the barn. In the evening the barn is set for dancing, with a central dance floor, rustic benches and a bar, and the venue says live music finishes at 11:30pm and last bar orders are at 11:45pm.

02 / August 2022 / Martha and Harry

Martha and Harry: sunflowers, an arched gate and a ceremony in the White House

Martha and Harry married here on 19 August 2022, and their photographs are the ones that show the White House best. The ceremony photograph looks across the guests to the couple, who kiss under a floral arch in front of tall white open frames shaped like a house and a row of window frames, with trees and a timber fence behind.

Outside, Martha's bridesmaids stand with her in front of a pointed timber door topped with an iron lantern, in blue dresses and holding sunflowers, and in the next frame she and Harry stand hand in hand before white arched gates with black iron hinges.

The evening is in black and white: Martha is twirled under Harry's arm in their first dance on the barn floor, with a clock face and large lit letters on the timber wall behind them.

03 / July 2023 / Lauren and Jon

Lauren and Jon: red dresses, an outdoor aisle and a field of maize

Lauren and Jon married at the barn on 9 July 2023. The day starts in a bright room with white drapes, where Lauren stands with a peach and coral bouquet while bridesmaids in red dresses straighten the very long train of her gown, one of them kneeling beside it.

The ceremony is outdoors. Lauren walks down a paved aisle on the arm of a man in a dark suit, with guests standing on both sides, white blossom in the foreground and the White House frames ahead against a blue sky. Afterwards the wedding party gathers in front of the arched timber door, arms in the air, while Lauren holds her train out wide.

The portraits head into the fields. In the maize, Lauren, in sunglasses, laughs as Jon kisses her cheek, and on the lawn his groomsmen lift him onto their shoulders and he points off into the distance.

Back in the barn the lights are pink and the floor is full. Lauren is dancing in the middle of a group of guests in red, green and patterned dresses, a large clock face on the wall behind them.

Three summer weddings

All three of our weddings here fell in July and August, so the photographs here show the barn in high summer, with maize standing tall in the fields behind the lawns. The venue also runs Christmas party nights and a January open viewing day, but our own weddings here have all been in the summer months.

Whatever the month, the barn is exclusive for the day, and the ceremony choice between barn and White House gives you a plan for rain. The venue also asks that confetti is biodegradable and allows up to 20 sparklers outside the barn in designated areas, so check those details with it for your own date.

04 / Where guests stay / From the venue's own description

Nearby inns, hotels and a bridal room at the barn

The venue does not have bedrooms on site. Its accommodation page lists nearby places, among them The Brownlow Inn, less than a mile away, which it says offers five en-suite rooms that can be booked together, and The Alexandra Court Hotel, a few minutes away, which has a honeymoon suite. At the barn itself the venue offers a Bridal Prep Room as an extra, from 8am to 6pm on the wedding day.

For photographs, ask where the couple will get ready and how far it is from the barn, so we can plan the morning around the drive. The venue also says dogs are welcome and that there is plenty of free parking, including accessible spaces.

Planning your photographs at Alcumlow Wedding Barn

A few things worth asking the venue, and how we would plan around the answers:

1. Barn or White House: choose the ceremony space with the venue, and tell us your plan so we can arrange the morning around it.
2. Rain: agree an indoor or sheltered option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day. On the day we settle it together with you and the venue.
3. Group photographs: we do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. Choose somewhere with room and a sheltered backup, and ask a groomsman or bridesmaid who knows everyone to round people up.
4. Portraits: we usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together, and the fields and the courtyard give you very different backdrops.
5. The evening: the venue says live music finishes at 11:30pm, and our evening coverage follows your booked hours. Ask the venue where sparklers are allowed.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a barn with an outdoor chapel, a courtyard and a lot of field is familiar territory. You get one conversation about the timetable, one set of questions for the venue and one plan for the portrait walk.

The photo and video team package carries a £120 deposit and a £300 saving over booking photography and videography separately. We are based near Cardiff, and travel across England and Wales is included in standard full-day packages.

Questions about an Alcumlow Wedding Barn wedding