Houchins Wedding Venue, Coggeshall Essex | Houchins Wedding photographer

Meg & Joe’s Wedding day at Houchins Wedding Venue - Coggeshall, Essex

Joe and Meg’s Wedding was such a dream to photograph! Firstly, they are just the loveliest, most chilled couple. Sometimes you just know when you’re going to click with people and it’s going to feel like a beautiful collaboration.

Then of course - it’s Houchins wedding venue, what’s not to love! A beautiful Grade 2 listed 15th Century farmhouse with stunning grounds and accommodation for guests.

The attention to detail they put into the decor was 10/10! I absolutely loved the buttercream yellow colour scheme and bow details that ran throughout.

Okay more about the venue, because there’s just so much to say.. Houchins leaves wedding photographers spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing backdrops for photos. From the beautiful walled flower garden, the long driveway framed with greenery, the doorway to the charming farmhouse and my personal favourite is the fields surrounding the venue which always seem to have something pretty in bloom!

These can be particularly lovely for evening, golden hour photos.

And then you have inside the farmhouse which to me is just stunning and oozes so much character! The decor Is beautiful and the rich colours in the lounge make it such a lovely room to photograph in. Particularly the bride and groom pre-ceremony and also the first look photos!

To me Houchins wedding venue really stands out and an all rounder venue. It’s been done so well and is so pretty in every direction you look!

Another reason why I love doing wedding photography at Houchins is because of the staff there. As a supplier I always feel so looked after and welcome and everyone I’ve met there has always been so lovely. I think when you’re choosing a venue, this is such an important area to look at as you want to feel a connection and trust with the people that are going to be looking after you on your big day.

Onto the day itself..

I started the day with the bridal party getting ready which was nice and relaxed. I had time to capture some detailed shots from a bag of special items Meg put together, this included some vintage pieces that were passed down which I thought was so special. We also did the first look with the bridesmaids and Megan’s Dad, always such a beautiful moment!

The ceremony was held in the marquee. I love the airy brightness that this produces for photos. It acts as a lovely bright soft box, creating lovely even light!

After the ceremony we moved onto the confetti shot (always great fun!) and big group portrait which was very well arranged by the co-ordinator at Houchins - I was very thankful for this as he did it so quick and efficiently!

This led on to the drinks reception. Houchins has such a lovely outdoor area for the drinks reception. I don’t think I can explain it well enough to do it justice, but imagine gorgeous flowers growing everywhere, a walled garden, fairy lights and lots of greenery.

I’ve never had the weather be as perfect as it was on their wedding day - it was warm but slightly overcast during the day which made for beautiful evenly lit photos and then we got the golden hour we were praying for in the evening. This meant we could do two lots of couple portraits in different lighting scenarios.

Towards the end of the drinks reception we did some group photos and the first lot of couple portraits which was lots of fun! This then flowed into the couple being called into their wedding breakfast where they started with the speeches. These were so heartfelt and beautiful!

After dinner they had a cocktail hour where I was closely keeping an eye on the sun to work out if we were going to get a golden hour. Before the day began I had already scouted around for a golden hour location which I was so excited by so I was really praying! I’m not really sure what the flowers were that I found and to be honest I’m pretty sure they were dying off, but either way they looked so pretty! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a field with different coloured flowers in before!

As it was getting closer to golden hour the sun was coming out more and more and we were so happy! Being able to get a second set of couple portraits with totally different lighting as the sun comes down was just the cherry on top of the day. It’s also nice for the couple to get away and have some time to be together.

A lot of the time I only tend to get backlit shots of the sun going down behind the couple, but to do these coloured flowers justice, I embraced the harsh yet gorgeous light which I’m SO glad I did!

To finish off the day they did their cutting of the cake & first dance - such a cool cake which featured their cat! - absolutely love it when people add little touches like this.

If you’re looking for a Wedding Venue in the Essex area which has charm, character, is surrounded by nature and countryside, has accommodation for guests and has lovely staff that’ll make you feel so looked after then I’d really recommend viewing Houchins in Coggeshall, Essex.

Also if you’re looking for a photographer in Essex and like the look of my work then feel free to get in touch and ask me any questions! Very happy to arrange a phone chat to discuss ideas and more details :)

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