The Barn at Upcote Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A stone barn venue in the Cotswold countryside

The Barn at Upcote is at Withington, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire (GL54 4BL). The venue describes a family-run, exclusive-use wedding venue set in Cotswold countryside, with a country garden courtyard, a Secret Garden and surrounding fields. The photographs show a stone barn with oak roof beams, wide stone steps and open fields beyond.

We photographed and filmed Harriet and Kyle's wedding here on 26 May 2023, and their day is the one in this guide.

For current venue details, explore The Barn at Upcote.

01 / May 2023 / Harriet and Kyle

Harriet and Kyle: a stone barn, two dachshunds and an open field

Harriet and Kyle married on 26 May 2023. The photograph at the top of this page is the two of them smiling at each other in low golden evening light, Harriet in a pearl headband and a long-sleeved gown, Kyle in a tweed suit with a dried-flower buttonhole. The morning is giddy, with Harriet and her bridesmaids in robes laughing on a bed with glasses of champagne.

The wedding breakfast is in a stone barn with exposed oak roof beams and an iron chandelier, with round tables in white linen, green table runners and a hexagonal floral arch at the far end. During the speeches Kyle reads from a sheet of paper while Harriet looks up at him.

Outside, Harriet and Kyle each hold a brown dachshund in front of a large tree, and Kyle leads Harriet by the hand down wide stone steps with open fields and a bright sky behind them.

Harriet and Kyle slip away into the open fields around the barn, where Kyle kisses Harriet on the cheek as she holds a bouquet of dried flowers, with ploughed fields behind them.

The whole portrait takes only a few minutes, and the countryside does the rest.

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

The Threshing Barn, the Grain Store and the courtyard

The venue's pages name the Threshing Barn, which seats 10 to 120 for a formal wedding breakfast, and the Grain Store, which holds up to 50 in a more intimate setting, with a Bar Barn for drinks and dancing. They give 2 to 120 guests for daytime events and up to 150 in the evening, with exclusive use of the venue all day.

The venue says it holds a civil ceremony licence through the Gloucestershire registrars. Ceremonies can be held indoors, in the courtyard with gazebos and umbrellas available, or at a local church about 15 minutes away, and couples can bring their own celebrant. The residential bar is licensed until midnight, with a music curfew at midnight, and there is no corkage on drinks for the reception and breakfast.

03 / Staying at The Barn at Upcote / From the venue's own pages

A honeymoon suite and nearby places to stay

The venue says the Hay Barn Honeymoon Suite, in the barn courtyard, is included in the hire charge from 11am on the wedding day until 10am the next morning, with a continental breakfast delivered to the suite. The pages do not give a bedroom total for the venue. They name local options including The Frogmill Inn, about 2 miles away, and Southwold Barn, about 3.5 miles away, and mention on-site glamping on certain dates, so ask the venue what is available for your date.

Planning your photographs at The Barn at Upcote

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

1. Where the ceremony is: indoors, in the courtyard or at a local church. Tell us the plan and the times so we can arrange the morning around them.
2. Getting ready: ask when the Hay Barn Honeymoon Suite is yours on the morning, since the venue says it opens at 11am, and where early preparation can happen before then.
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 someone who knows everyone to round people up.
4. Portraits: we usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together. The stone steps, the Secret Garden and the open fields give you very different backdrops. In May, we check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you.
5. Rain: agree an indoor option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day. The venue's pages say gazebos and umbrellas are available for courtyard ceremonies.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a stone barn with a courtyard, steps and open fields around it 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 Barn at Upcote wedding