The Orangery Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A former mill in landscaped gardens

The Orangery is at Turkey Mill on Ashford Road in Maidstone, Kent (ME14 5PP). The venue's own site describes a multi-award-winning wedding venue in nine acres of landscaped gardens with a lake, a waterfall and a woodland walk. It says the site was a cloth mill in the 1600s and a paper mill in the 18th century, gives the first recorded wedding at Turkey Mill as 1920, and says The Orangery opened as a wedding venue in the 1990s.

We photographed and filmed one wedding here: Kevin and Diana on 8 August 2022. It is the one wedding in this guide, so every photograph below is from that day.

For current venue details, explore The Orangery.

01 / August 2022 / Kevin and Diana

Kevin and Diana: a rope swing, evening sun and lit arched windows

Kevin and Diana married on 8 August 2022. The photograph at the top of this page is the two of them on a rope swing beside an old stone wall, Diana in a white lace dress with a bouquet of pale flowers, Kevin in a blue suit with an orange-red tie. The morning is quieter: in black and white, Diana's dress hangs in front of a tall sash window while her hair is finished, and five men in grey and blue suits walk together along a paved path.

In the low evening sun, Kevin and Diana hold each other beneath tall dark trees.

As the light goes, the two of them stand hand in hand in front of the lit arched windows of the building, under a deep blue sky.

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

The Lapa, the Gazebo, the Garden Room and the orangery

The venue names three ceremony spaces, each seating up to 150 guests. The Lapa is a newer lakeside structure with an oak frame and a thatched roof that is open on all sides, so the view of the lake is kept. Couples walk through the woodland and along a boardwalk to make their entrance, and the venue lists the boathouse, the lake, the jetty and the Wellingtonia pines as in view. The Gazebo sits in the landscaped grounds, with a walk past the lake and waterfall beforehand. The venue says the Gazebo and the Lapa can host outdoor ceremonies during British Summertime, and that the Gazebo is weather permitting.

The Garden Room is the year-round indoor option for civil ceremonies. It adjoins the orangery, with five double doors on its front looking onto the Mill Barn Garden, a central glazed roof lantern that keeps it light, and views of the gardens and the river. The venue also has a bride's private room, used to meet the registrars before the ceremony.

The orangery itself is the dining and evening room, a light room with arched floor-to-ceiling windows over the gardens, listed at 150 guests for dinner and 250 in the evening, with the bar in the same room. A terrace with large parasols in front of it suits reception drinks. The venue lists a fireworks display over the lake and a DJ in the evening, and says discreet floodlighting brings the building to life after dusk, which fits the lit arched windows in the dusk photograph above.

The venue's packages page lists three packages: Classic, Twilight (October to April, with a dusk ceremony, a casual buffet and an evening party in the orangery) and Dry Hire. Classic includes exclusive venue hire with inside or outside civil ceremony options, a wedding coordinator and an evening manager, and the venue's home page says every package includes exclusive use. Neither page gives a finish time or music limits, and no on-site accommodation is listed; the Classic package mentions discounts with local hotel partners. Ask the venue for the finish time and music limits in writing.

03 / Getting ready / From the venue's own page

The Wisteria Suite

The venue lists the Wisteria Suite as the dressing room, with make-up stations, seating and a private dressing area, and says it is included in the wedding packages. The packages page gives exclusive use of the on-site dressing room from 9am until midnight under the Classic package, and does not say whether the other packages differ. Ask when it is yours on the morning, since that is where the first photographs happen.

04 / Getting there / From the venue's own pages

Parking and the walk to the gardens

The venue provides free designated parking for events in The Orangery car park, and asks visitors to use only that car park and not park within the business park. From the A20 Ashford Road, turn into the Turkey Mill Estate, drive under the railway arch and straight on to the roundabout, then take the last exit, signed Orangery Parking.

From the car park, guests take the footpath, cross the bridge over the stream and follow the signs. The entrance to the gardens is ahead and to the right, and beyond the gate a top path runs straight along to the building. The venue's pages do not give the nearest station, taxi arrangements or accessibility details, so ask the venue.

Planning your photographs at The Orangery

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

1. Where you marry: the Lapa, the Gazebo or the Garden Room. The Lapa and the Gazebo are the venue's outdoor options in British Summertime, and the Lapa entrance is by a woodland walk and a boardwalk. Tell us your choice so we can arrange the day around it.
2. Getting ready: ask when the Wisteria Suite is yours on the morning and how many people it comfortably holds. The Classic package gives the dressing room from 9am until midnight.
3. Rain: the Garden Room is the venue's year-round indoor ceremony space, and the Gazebo is weather permitting. The Lapa roof is open on all sides, so ask the venue how it handles wind and rain. Agree an indoor option when you confirm the order of the day.
4. Group photographs: we do as many as you like and typically recommend around 15, which usually take about 20 minutes. The terrace in front of the orangery, with its parasols, is where the venue puts reception drinks, so ask the coordinator where a large group could stand, with a sheltered backup.
5. Portraits: we usually take a portrait walk of about 15 minutes, with photo and video together. The old stone wall, the trees and the lit arched windows in Kevin and Diana's photographs give you very different backdrops, and the venue lists the lake, the waterfall and the woodland walk. In August we check sunset and light times for your date in advance and agree the plan with you.
6. Arrivals: guests walk from the car park over a bridge and along a path to the gardens, so allow time for that when you set the ceremony time.

One team for the photographs and the film

Cam and Beth have photographed and filmed over 400 weddings together, so a former mill with a lake, a gazebo and landscaped gardens 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 Orangery wedding