The Coach House at Markshall Wedding Photographer & Videographer

Gardens, a coach house and a walled garden near Coggeshall

The Coach House at Markshall is near Coggeshall in Essex (CO6 1TG). It was known to us as The Coach House at Markshall when we filmed here, and the estate's own events website now presents its wedding venue under the new name: a Grade II listed building with a private flower garden, a terrace with views of the estate and a fully stocked bar. It describes the setting as 200 acres of arboretum and gardens within 2,000 acres of ancient woodland and farmland.

We filmed Jennifer and Liam's wedding here on 16 June 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 house and the couple. What we say about the venue comes from its own website, and what we say about the pictures comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore The Coach House at Markshall. The venue's website has changed since this wedding, so ask the team which spaces were used for weddings in 2023 and which are offered for your date.

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

A garden gazebo, a terrace and a Grade II listed coach house

The venue says ceremonies can take place beneath the gazebo in its flower garden. It lists a wedding breakfast for up to 140 guests and room for 200 for the evening reception, and it does not say whether the 140 is seated, so ask for the figures in writing.

It describes The Coach House as historic and Grade II listed, with a terrace looking out over the estate, a fully stocked bar and the freedom to bring your own suppliers from its list of trusted ones. The venue's website does not give timings, a licence or a wet-weather plan, so ask about all three.

02 / June 2023 / Jennifer and Liam

Jennifer and Liam: a church ceremony, a walled garden and a dance floor of friends

Jennifer and Liam married on 16 June 2023. The film at the top of this page opens on a still from their garden portraits: Liam in a navy suit and Jennifer in a simple white dress, walking hand in hand along a lawn beside a clipped hedge and a flower border.

Their ceremony was in a church with a gilded organ, pale stone arches and tall arrangements of blue and white flowers. Jennifer walks up the aisle arm in arm with an older man in a navy suit, and Liam, in a grey morning suit with a pale blue tie, turns to look at her at the front.

They kiss as guests applaud, and later the whole group gathers in a garden in front of a gazebo among white and pink roses.

The portraits are in the soft light of the evening. They kiss beside a gravel path with the sun low behind the trees, lean against an old brick wall and walk hand in hand through a walled garden, and Liam opens a bottle of champagne with the spray catching the light.

Later they share their first dance in a barn hung with white fabric and fairy lights, with guests watching and lifting their phones. It finishes with a hug in the middle of the floor.

03 / Staying and getting ready / From the venue's own description

Ask what is available for a night either side of your day

The venue's website does not mention accommodation, so ask whether it has rooms or can suggest places to stay nearby, and which guests it can sleep.

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

Planning your film and photographs at The Coach House at Markshall

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

1. Ceremony place: Jennifer and Liam married in a church and celebrated afterwards. If your ceremony is at the gazebo in the flower garden or somewhere off the estate, tell us the journey and the timings so we can plan the day around the move.
2. Timing: The venue's website does 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. Garden portraits: This couple's evening portraits happened among hedges, borders and an old brick wall. Ask the venue which parts of the gardens are open to you and whether any close to guests.
4. Rain: The venue does not give a wet-weather plan, so agree an indoor or sheltered option 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 church ceremony followed by garden portraits and a barn reception 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 Coach House at Markshall wedding