The Ashes Barns Wedding Photographer & Videographer

Stone barns, a lake and a country house

The Ashes Barns is on the A53 Leek Road at Endon in the Staffordshire Moorlands (ST9 9AX). The venue describes a rustic, exclusive-use barn wedding venue in rolling countryside, with formal lawns, an apple orchard, a pond, a lake and wildflower edges, and a Country House whose lawn looks out over the historic barns.

We photographed and filmed Jolene and Kelvin's wedding here on 17 October 2024. This page follows their day in photographs. Our Staffordshire guide shows The Ashes Barns beside other venues in the county, and here we stay with the venue itself. What we say about the barns comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the photographs comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore The Ashes Barns. Jolene and Kelvin married in October, so ask the venue how the grounds and the lake look in other seasons.

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

A 17th century ceremony barn, an East Barn and the grounds

The ceremony takes place in the West Barn, which the venue describes as a restored 17th century stone barn with exposed oak beams, original mullioned windows, a long stone aisle and a Juliet balcony for live musicians. It is licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 150 guests, and there is no minimum number. Ceremonies can also be held outdoors beneath the stone archway at the Coach House, depending on the weather.

After the ceremony, drinks are served in the courtyard between the barns and on the Country House lawn, or in the West Barn in cooler months. The wedding breakfast and the evening party are both in the East Barn, with stone walls, oak beams, a polished oak floor, an oak-sprung dance floor and a bar upstairs that takes card payments only.

The Orchard Dressing Room is yours from 10.30am, and the venue says a second dressing room is available from February 2026, a short walk up the private driveway. The venue also lends its rowing boat free of charge to couples for photographs, arranged in advance and supervised by the event manager. You can supply your own daytime drinks with no corkage, and the venue's guest information says it closes at 12.15am.

02 / October 2024 / Jolene and Kelvin

Jolene and Kelvin: red confetti, a flock of birds and copper leaves

Jolene and Kelvin married at The Ashes Barns on 17 October 2024. The photograph at the top of this page is from their portraits: Jolene in a long-sleeved lace gown with a veil and Kelvin in a navy three-piece suit walk arm in arm along a path lined with trees in orange and copper, looking at each other and smiling, under a blue sky with clouds.

In the morning six women in cream and floral pyjamas stand shoulder to shoulder on a wooden balcony with their arms around each other, their hair pinned with gold leaf slides, looking down into the stone barn strung with fairy lights.

Outside the ceremony Jolene and Kelvin kiss as red petals fly through the air, Kelvin holding a glass of fizz and her bouquet of white and red flowers between them, with guests lined up on both sides and an old stone barn behind. Later Jolene laughs with a bridesmaid in a sage green dress, each holding a bouquet of white roses, with the lake and the hills soft behind them.

In black and white the couple stand hand in hand on the lawn with their backs to us, looking out over the lake as a large flock of birds crosses the cloudy sky.

From across the water they are a small pair of figures on the far bank in front of a gabled stone house, framed by autumn trees with a little wooden hut on the left and their reflection in the dark pond below.

03 / Staying at The Ashes Barns / From the venue's own description

A Grade II listed house, a Coach House and a shepherd's hut

The venue describes a Grade II listed Country House dating back to 1560 with five double suites, booked as a complete unit, a vintage-style Coach House room above the archway, a shepherd's hut, and a wedding night suite included in the venue hire for the couple. Check-in is from 12 noon for the Coach House and shepherd's hut and 1pm for the Country House, with breakfast from 8am to 9.30am in the Farmhouse Kitchen and check-out at 10.30am.

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

Planning your photographs at The Ashes Barns

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

1. Timing: The dressing room opens at 10.30am and the venue says it closes at 12.15am, so the day runs inside a defined window. The venue says it typically allows an hour and a half for the drinks reception, which is a natural time for portraits. Tell us your timings once you have agreed them with the venue and we will plan the portrait walk around the light.
2. Autumn light: Jolene and Kelvin married in mid October, and their portraits came from the lakeside lawn, the pond and a tree-lined path in copper leaves. We check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you before the day.
3. Rain: The venue says the West Barn is the indoor back-up for an outdoor ceremony at the Coach House and for drinks in cooler months. 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.
4. Confetti: The venue allows biodegradable confetti in certain areas, but no confetti cannons or metal or foil confetti, and in winter it does not allow confetti outside if there is a risk of overnight frost. Ask your event manager where it is allowed.
5. Group photographs: We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. The venue has a courtyard between the barns and a Country House lawn; 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. The venue suggests being fully dressed at least 30 minutes before the ceremony, with the registrars usually arriving around 15 minutes before.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so stone barns, a courtyard and a lake with open lawns 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 The Ashes Barns wedding