Houchins Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A farmhouse with a barn and landscaped grounds near Coggeshall

Houchins is about a mile east of Coggeshall in Essex, with direct access from the A120. The venue describes a farmhouse with a history going back to the 17th century, a converted barn, landscaped wedding grounds and exclusive use of the venue, and says it opened for weddings in 2014. Its own site lists weddings from 25 to 150 people.

We filmed Kiana and Ryan's wedding here on 28 July 2023, so this page is different from our photograph-led venue pages: every picture on it is a still taken from their wedding film, and the highlight film plays at the top of the page. Our Essex guide shows the same day beside other venues in the county, and here we stay with the farm and the couple. What we say about the buildings comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the pictures comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore Houchins. This wedding was in high summer, so ask the venue how the grounds and the ceremony spaces work in other seasons.

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

A loggia and a winter barn for the ceremony, a grain store for the meal

The venue's pages describe the day in stages. The civil ceremony can be held outside in the Ceremony Loggia and Wedding Garden from May to October, with guests seated in a connecting marquee, and indoors in The Foundry for winter weddings. The venue's home page mentions a choice of four ceremony areas, while its venue page names two, so ask which are open for your date and how many each holds.

Drinks are in The Chitting Shed, which has a bar and a large west-facing terrace over the gardens. The wedding breakfast is in The Grain Store, which the venue says seats up to 150 and has a large open fireplace and a mezzanine gallery. The evening party is in The Foundry, which becomes a dance barn.

02 / July 2023 / Kiana and Ryan

Kiana and Ryan: a marquee ceremony, a swing and a field of flowers

Kiana and Ryan married on 28 July 2023. The film at the top of this page opens on a still from their portraits: Ryan in a cream jacket and Kiana in a veil, standing together against the white front of the farmhouse with lavender and red roses in the foreground.

The ceremony was in a white marquee with festoon lights, looking out on a garden. Kiana walks down the aisle in a lace dress with a bouquet, guests standing either side, and the guests later sit on white chairs facing the celebrant, with a heart made of twigs on the wall behind. Ryan, in a black bow tie, smiles at her during the vows.

The portraits use the whole farm. Ryan leans in to kiss Kiana as she sits on a rope swing hanging from a large tree, they kiss beside a white door framed by red roses, they walk through a field of pale purple flowers, and they cross the lawn hand in hand past an old brick wall with the farmhouse behind them.

Back with the wedding party, Ryan sprays champagne while the bridesmaids and groomsmen laugh around him, and the guests gather for drinks on the terrace outside the barn.

In the evening they share their first dance in a dim room lit red, with a neon Let's Party sign nearby and their guests standing close around them.

03 / Staying at Houchins / From the venue's own description

A farmhouse and a honeymoon lodge on site

The venue offers stylish overnight accommodation in its farmhouse and a secluded Honeymoon Lodge. Its pricing page says accommodation is for a maximum of 16 people and that the farmhouse sleeps 14, and it does not give a number of bedrooms, so ask how many of your guests it can sleep and what the arrangements are for the morning after.

For the film and photographs, ask which rooms you can use for getting ready and when they open, so we can plan the morning around where each of you is.

Planning your film and photographs at Houchins

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

1. Ceremony place: Kiana and Ryan married in a marquee in the garden. The venue's outdoor ceremony season runs from May to October and winter ceremonies are indoors, so tell us which you have booked and we will plan the day around it.
2. Timing: The venue's pages do not give finishing times, so ask for the timings of your date in writing. Tell us once you have agreed them and we will plan the portrait walk and the evening around the light.
3. Portraits: This couple's portraits used the farmhouse front, a swing, a brick wall and a nearby field of flowers. Ask the venue which parts of the grounds are open to you and whether any are closed to guests.
4. Rain: Agree an indoor or sheltered option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day, and we settle it together on the day.
5. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. Ask a groomsman or bridesmaid who knows everyone to round people up.
6. Getting ready: If you and your partner are in different places, we move between you together, splitting our time as a team. Groom preparation typically takes about 15 minutes.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a farmhouse, a marquee ceremony and a barn party 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 Houchins wedding