The Frogmill Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A Cotswold stone inn with a river and a watermill

The Frogmill is at Shipton Oliffe, Andoversford, near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire (GL54 4HT). The venue describes itself as a Cotswold stone inn with a river and watermill, with 28 boutique bedrooms, and its wedding pages list a Mill Room, a Snug and a terrace garden. It sits on the edge of the Cotswolds, so the stone, the gravel and the water wheel give the photographs a very particular look.

We photographed and filmed Laura and Ryan's wedding here on 21 February 2022, and Lucy and Jack's on 25 April 2024. Both days are told in photographs in this guide. Laura and Ryan's was in the depths of winter, which is a good reminder that The Frogmill works in February as well as in spring.

For current venue details, explore The Frogmill.

01 / February 2022 / Laura and Ryan

Laura and Ryan: a candlelit ceremony room, confetti on the stone and a gazebo of fairy lights after dark

Laura and Ryan married on 21 February 2022. Before the ceremony the room is set and waiting: white cross-back chairs in rows, candles in dark foliage, bulbs hanging from a high ceiling and a stone wall running up one side.

During the ceremony Laura, in a lace gown and veil, signs the register while Ryan, in a navy suit and mustard tie, smiles beside her. Then the two of them walk back up the aisle hand in hand, Laura carrying a bouquet of white roses, with their guests clapping on both sides.

Outside, guests throw confetti as they walk past glazed doors set in the stone wall, Laura laughing and Ryan beside her in a navy three-piece suit.

The portraits stay close to the building, which suits a short February afternoon. They kiss in front of a pale grey door between stone walls, then walk past an old stone building laughing, Ryan with a hand in his pocket and the bouquet in the other.

Under a wooden pergola, with a low stone wall in front of them and a gravel path and lawn behind, they stand hand in hand and smile at each other.

Winter means the light goes early. After dark Laura and Ryan step into a metal gazebo frame wound with fairy lights and kiss, lit from behind so that they are in silhouette.

02 / April 2024 / Lucy and Jack

Lucy and Jack: robes, confetti and a line-up on the gravel

Lucy and Jack married on 25 April 2024. The morning is quiet and a little giddy: Lucy has her make-up done in a white robe beside a leaded window, and five of her people toast the day with champagne on a bed in a room with patterned wallpaper.

A pale blue welcome sign on an easel stands in front of the inn's honey-coloured stone, and later the day moves to a church, where Lucy and Jack come out through a pointed stone porch hand in hand while friends throw confetti.

Back at The Frogmill the whole wedding party lines up on the gravel in front of the inn: five men in light grey suits and four bridesmaids in terracotta dresses, with Lucy at the centre. It is a good example of how much room the front of the building gives you for a group photograph.

Lucy and Jack slip away to the worn stone steps and the gravel path by the lawn, where the water wheel sits behind them. The inn's stone does a lot of the work, and the whole portrait takes only a few minutes.

The day ends on the dance floor in a panelled room with leaded windows, with Lucy and Jack holding hands in the middle of it.

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

The Mill Room, the Snug and the terrace garden

The venue's wedding page names the Mill Room, with its own bar, timeless stone walls and beams and a stage, and says it holds up to 150 people. The Snug has a private bar and holds up to 50. There is also a terrace garden, which the venue mentions for outdoor photographs and toasts, weather permitting.

Whole-venue hire is listed for much bigger parties. The venue's pages do not set out ceremony, dining and evening numbers separately, and they do not say whether ceremonies take place on site, so ask when you enquire. Lucy and Jack's ceremony was at a church, which is a perfectly good way to use the inn.

04 / Staying at The Frogmill / From the venue's own pages

Twenty-eight bedrooms on site

The venue lists 28 boutique bedrooms, with check-in from 3pm and check-out at 11am. For photographs, a room at the inn means getting ready beside the place you will celebrate. Ask which rooms come with your booking and when you can have them on the morning of the wedding.

Planning your photographs at The Frogmill

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

1. Where the ceremony is: at the inn, or at a church or register office nearby. Tell us the addresses and times so we can plan the morning, the travel and the first photographs around them.
2. Group photographs: the gravel in front of the inn is a roomy, handsome place for them. We do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. 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. The gravel path, the lawn, the stone steps and the water wheel give you several backdrops within a few paces.
4. Rain: agree an indoor option with the venue when you confirm the order of the day. The Mill Room and the Snug are the inside spaces the venue lists.
5. Winter dates: daylight is short in February, so keep outdoor photographs close to the building. We check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so an inn with a water wheel, a gravel forecourt and a terrace garden 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 Frogmill wedding