The Retreat at Elcot Park Wedding Photographer & Videographer

A country house with walled gardens near Newbury

The Retreat at Elcot Park is near Newbury in West Berkshire (RG20 8NJ). The venue describes a country house with gardens, 55 bedrooms and suites, and exclusive use of the house, gardens and guest bedrooms for your guests. Its own site lists an Orangery, a room called the Portobello Room, and a garden marquee called the Secret Garden with views of the North Wessex Downs.

We filmed Lydia and Alex's wedding here on 30 August 2025, 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 Berkshire 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 buildings comes from the venue's own website, and what we say about the pictures comes from looking at them.

For current venue details, explore The Retreat at Elcot Park. This wedding was in late summer, so ask the venue how the house and gardens change in other seasons.

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

An Orangery, a marquee in the grounds and a hand-papered room

The venue says it is licensed for ceremonies and celebrations of up to 120 seated guests. It does not say which rooms are licensed, so ask which spaces can hold a ceremony.

For the meal and the party it lists the Secret Garden, a marquee in the grounds for up to 120 seated or 200 standing in the evening, the Orangery for up to 80 seated with room for 20 more as the evening goes on, and the Portobello Room for up to 36 guests, which has hand-painted De Gournay wallpaper. The venue also offers a spa, which it suggests for the days before and after a wedding.

02 / August 2025 / Lydia and Alex

Lydia and Alex: a walled garden, a flint church and a dance floor full of friends

Lydia and Alex married on 30 August 2025. The film at the top of this page opens on a still from their portraits: Alex in a navy suit and Lydia in a veil, laughing together beside a white iron gate in a walled garden full of flowers.

The portraits carry on through the same garden. The two of them walk hand in hand through an arch in an old brick wall with wild flowers in the border, and then away along a gravel path, Lydia's veil trailing behind her.

The ceremony was in a small flint-walled church. They stand smiling in front of its dark wooden door, Lydia holding a bright bouquet, and later kiss in the arched doorway among flowers.

Inside, they walk up the aisle to applause and kiss at the altar beside tall arrangements of flowers. Outside again, guests shower them with confetti as everyone around them laughs.

Back at the house, the two of them walk hand in hand past two smiling members of staff at the bar. In the evening they share their first dance in a plant-filled room, with guests filming and clapping around them.

03 / Staying at Elcot Park / From the venue's own description

55 bedrooms, a spa and the house to yourselves

The venue lists 55 individually styled bedrooms and suites on site, and says the house, gardens and guest bedrooms can be reserved for your guests alone. Ask how many of your guests it can sleep, which rooms come with your date and what the arrangements are for the morning after.

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

Planning your film and photographs at Elcot Park

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

1. Ceremony place: Lydia and Alex married in a church and came back to the house afterwards. If your ceremony is somewhere else, tell us the journey and the timings so we can plan the day around the move.
2. Timing: The venue's wedding page 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: The walled garden gave this couple their portraits, and it works in late summer light. Ask the venue which parts of the grounds are open to you and whether any are closed to guests.
4. Rain: Agree an indoor or sheltered option with the venue 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 country house, a walled garden and a church a short drive away 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 Retreat at Elcot Park wedding