Crockwell Farm Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A family-run wedding venue in the Northamptonshire countryside

Crockwell Farm is at Eydon, near Daventry in Northamptonshire (NN11 3QA). Its own site describes a specialist family-run wedding venue with a vaulted stone barn, an orchard pavilion for outdoor ceremonies and a starlit marquee, set on a farm with 400 acres of wildflowers and grasses. The venue says it has hosted weddings for over twenty years, beginning in 2002 with the restoration of the vaulted stone barn. Couples have exclusive use of the venue over three days, from 2pm the day before to midday the day after, and the venue does not hold weddings on consecutive days.

We photographed Bryan and Faye's wedding here on 11 March 2023. These are the two photographs of their day that are on this site: a quiet walk on a gravel path in the daytime, and a portrait after dark under a lit willow tree.

For current venue details, explore Crockwell Farm.

01 / March 2023 / Bryan and Faye

Bryan and Faye: a gravel path by day and a lit willow at night

Bryan and Faye married on 11 March 2023, and we photographed their day. The photograph at the top of this page is from it: the two of them walk arm in arm along a gravel path with a long veil trailing behind the bride. A bare weeping willow and a farm building stand behind them, and the March sky is soft and grey.

The second photograph is from after dark. Bryan and Faye stand close together under a clear umbrella in front of a very large weeping willow, which has strings of small lights hung through it. A fence outlined in lights runs along the lawn beside them. It shows how much a good tree and a few lights can do once the daylight has gone. The venue says its gardens come to life from early June to October, so a March wedding like theirs is a bare-branch, soft-light version of the same grounds.

02 / The spaces / From the venue's own pages

The Vaulted Barn, the Orchard Pavilion and the Starlit Marquee

The venue's ceremonies and receptions page names three spaces, all licensed for civil weddings, partnerships and naming ceremonies: the Vaulted Barn, the original ceremony space, with oak beams, high ceilings and candlelit window alcoves, which it describes as ideal for up to 90 guests (a live video link to two HD screens on the dance floor takes extra guests); the Orchard Pavilion, an outdoor ceremony among trees with a winding aisle from the garden, which seats up to 200 and is only practical in good weather, with the registrar making the final decision and no surcharge for an outdoor ceremony; and the Starlit Marquee, which seats up to 200 and is warm in any weather. The registrar conducts the service and you book them yourselves. The page says Crockwell is registered with the Northamptonshire registrar, and its FAQs say a civil ceremony takes around 30 minutes, a little longer with readings or music.

After the ceremony the venue says guests have drinks and photographs outside on a fine day, or in the barn and bar, while the marquee is set up for the wedding breakfast. The gardens are described as extensive, with an enormous walnut tree for shade on a hot day. In bad weather and over winter, drinks move to the refurbished rustic bar and the oak vaulted barn. The wedding breakfast is served in the barn for small numbers or in the Starlit Marquee for up to 200, which has underfloor heating. The marquees sit inside permanent, insulated farm barns, and the front wall has large windows onto the South Northamptonshire countryside.

A separate but connected dance floor, with a stage and starlit ceiling, stays hidden during the breakfast and is revealed for the evening, when the venue says its spaces open up into one large room. The venue's pricing page gives a maximum of 220 guests in total including evening guests, with the wedding breakfast seating capped at 200.

Three more photographs show the venue at work. Bryan and Faye walk out through a shower of confetti, Faye in a white fur-trimmed wrap with her bouquet, past guests outside a brick building. Inside the marquee, a round table is laid for dinner with cross-back chairs and a tall floral centrepiece under draped cream fabric and fairy lights. In another they walk hand in hand through the marquee, Bryan holding a drink, the bar and wood panelling behind them.

03 / Staying at Crockwell Farm / From the venue's own pages

Rooms in the farmhouse and the converted cottages

The venue's home page and FAQs say there are eleven bedrooms across two converted ironstone cottages and the 18th-century farmhouse, while its accommodation page says twelve rooms on site and up to 35 guests in total with family rooms and sofa beds, one of them fully accessible, so confirm the numbers with the venue. The wedding party has the rooms the night before and the night of the wedding, and the page says a full breakfast is included on both mornings. Marrying couples' accommodation for both nights is included in the facility fee, according to the FAQs. Ask which rooms come with your booking and when you can have them.

The accommodation page names the Farmhouse, Dryden (a one-bedroom cottage), the Garden Room, Tyrell Cottage (two family bedrooms) and Maybury (a ground-floor accessible room), plus a Breakfast Room and a Prep Room. The FAQs say there is a fully equipped make-up room, and that even if you do not stay the night before, the venue is exclusively yours so you can arrive when it suits you to get ready. From 2025 the venue says guests may use the whole Farmhouse, including its kitchen, dining room and snooker room, and the Farmhouse can host a self-catered welcome supper for up to 24 on the evening before.

04 / The day / From the venue's own pages

Lighting, music and the drive in

The venue's explore page says the venue is lit with fairy lights threaded through the large walnut tree in the garden, lamps and more fairy lights in the barn and on the veranda, candles inside and dimmable chandeliers. Music finishes at midnight and the bar closes at 12.30am, and the FAQs say there is no sound limit for DJs or bands. A band can set up during the wedding breakfast because the dance floor is concealed, using a separate entrance. The venue's sound system covers the ceremony and main marquee but not the dance floor, so you need a DJ or band for the evening.

The guest area says the venue is about 10 miles from Banbury, Daventry, Towcester and Silverstone, warns that satnav can send drivers down a farm track only passable by 4x4s, and asks guests to use the venue's own map and directions instead. There is free parking and cars can be left overnight. The venue can arrange taxis home from the bar on the day, which is easier if booked beforehand.

Planning your photographs at Crockwell Farm

How the venue's own layout shapes the photographs, and what to settle with the venue:

1. The ceremony space: The barn (up to 90), the orchard pavilion and the marquee (both up to 200) are the options, and the pavilion depends on the weather and the registrar's decision. The venue's pricing page says an outdoor ceremony is planned with a back-up option, so tell us which you are leaning towards and what the back-up is, and we plan the morning and the first photographs around both.
2. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. The venue's plan is drinks and photographs outside after the ceremony on a fine day, and in the barn and bar if not, while the marquee is reset for the breakfast, so ask the venue which part of the gardens or which room suits a big group, and ask someone who knows everyone to round people up.
3. Portraits: We usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together if you have booked both. The gravel paths, the lawn, the walnut tree, the veranda and the willow give you several backdrops close together, and the venue says the gardens look best from early June to October.
4. Getting ready: The venue has a make-up room and the cottages and farmhouse on site, and the venue is yours from 2pm the day before, so the morning can be calm and close to the ceremony. Tell us where the dress and rings will be.
5. Rain: The barn, the marquee and the rustic bar are the indoor spaces the venue lists, and the marquees sit inside insulated buildings with underfloor heating. Agree which you would use for portraits when you confirm the order of the day.
6. After dark: The venue says the garden, barn and veranda are lit with fairy lights, lamps and candles, so a portrait in the evening like the one under the willow is a matter of asking the venue what is already in place. With music until midnight, we can plan around the first dance or the dance floor reveal.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a family-run farm venue with a barn, a marquee and open gardens 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 £400 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. When the drive is over two hours we always stay in a hotel the night before and cover it.

Questions about a Crockwell Farm wedding