Arley Hall was Eleanor and Matt in August 2025. The house is Victorian built to look Elizabethan, with plasterwork ceilings, stained glass that throws colour across the stone floors when the sun is on it, and eighteen acres of gardens with the herbaceous borders at their best in late summer. Eleanor ran through them at one point and it is the shot everyone remembers.
Alcumlow Wedding Barn is a sixteenth-century thatched barn near Congleton with a separate outdoor ceremony space they call the White House. Rebecca and Murray married there in July 2023. It is a venue that gives you two completely different looks within fifty yards of each other.
The others are the Cheshire that most people picture. Peckforton Castle, a Victorian castle on a hill. Combermere Abbey, a house with a glasshouse and a lake. Colshaw Hall and Merrydale Manor, both estates built for weddings with the details already thought through.
Cheshire venues are well run. The coordinators have seen everything, the timings hold, and that leaves me free to watch for the things that are not on the schedule.
I'm Chris Oxley. I film weddings at country houses and private estates across the UK.
I started this because when I got married in 2015, we didn't have a videographer. I wanted to build something I wished had existed for us. Films that hold up years later. A real record of a real day, not a montage of prompted moments.
I handle the consultation, the filming, the edit, the grade, and the delivery. I film a limited number of weddings a year, and I'm personally at every one.
Recognition: TWIA Regional Finalist
Venues Include: Grantley Hall, Froyle Park, Storrs Hall, Brympton House and 15+ leading venues
Cheshire days are almost always single-site. The venues are built for it, with a licensed ceremony room or garden, a reception space and grounds that carry the drinks. Church weddings happen, but less than in the counties around it.
Guests come from Manchester, Liverpool and the county itself, so the day starts earlier than a destination wedding and has a shorter travelling-in period. That means more of the day is the wedding and less of it is arrival.
These are venues with formal gardens, and formal gardens reward a walk. Eleanor and Matt's film has one at Arley that took four minutes to film and carries a whole section of the edit.
Many wedding videographers arrive with a shot list. I don't. I arrive early, stay quiet, and pay attention. The film comes from what actually happens. I might offer the occasional quiet prompt when it matters, but I'm not staging moments or running through the same poses as everyone else.
I tend to work with couples based in and around London who want something honest. A real record of a real day. Not a highlight reel built from the same five moments as everyone else's.
I film fifteen weddings a year. That number lets me edit every film personally, respond to every email myself, and still show up fully present on your day. Every frame graded and cut by me. No outsourced editing. No house style.
"We don’t even know where to start! Hiring Chris to shoot our wedding video was the BEST decision we made for our wedding. From the first meeting we had to discuss his style and approach, we knew we were on to the right person. Chris’ attention to detail is parallel to none."
"We weren’t originally going to get a videographer but it was worth every penny. The whole day is so much to process that you forget bits after. Having this video to treasure forever was the perfect way to cure the wedding blues."
"Before meeting Chris, we weren’t sure how to appear on film. After working with him, we felt completely comfortable, and he captured every organic moment we wanted."
If your venue has formal gardens, walk them with your photographer and me before the day and pick a route. Twenty minutes in the borders after the ceremony beats an hour of posed portraits.
Cheshire venues run to time. If you want a slower day, tell the coordinator early. They can build it in but they will default to brisk.
Arley Hall's stained glass only does its thing when the sun is out and at the right angle. Ask the house what time of day the colour hits the floor and see if the ceremony can be near it.
Manchester Airport is close to several of these venues. If you want drone footage, ask me early so I can check the airspace for your specific site.
If you are marrying in Cheshire, send me your date and venue. I take on a limited number of weddings a year so that I can edit every film myself, and I will come back to you personally within a day.
Send your date, venue, and the collection you're leaning towards. If you're not sure, just outline your plans and I'll suggest the right approach. I'll come back to you personally within 24 hours.