Stirk House is the venue I have filmed most. Katie and Ben in May 2022, Rebecca and Nick that August, Emma and David in June 2024. Three summers, three different days, the same seventeenth-century house and its twenty-two acres doing a different job each time. Ivy on the front, the gardens behind, the fells on the horizon whichever way you turn.
Eaves Hall was Nichola and David's Christmas wedding, two days before the day itself, the Georgian rooms lit for winter and the grounds bare and pale. Mitton Hall was Peter and Phil in September 2024, the Great Hall fireplace and the conservatory light and the river at the bottom of the lawn. Holmes Mill was Samantha and Lewis, a converted textile mill in the middle of Clitheroe with the machinery still in it.
Then the barns and the estates. Jade and Stuart at The Out Barn, the oval building at Clough Bottom that lets light in from every side. Nichola and Stuart at Wyresdale Park under the Bowland Fells on the second to last day of 2023. Holly and Chris at Gisburne Park, now Ribblesdale Park, after a ceremony at Stonyhurst, in the rain, which was the best thing about it. I have also filmed at Browsholme Hall and Samlesbury Hall.
The valley changes its light by the hour and by the season. Autumn afternoons in the valley are where I learned to pay attention to light, and I have not stopped.
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
Most Lancashire weddings I film are single-site days. Ceremony in the house or the barn, drinks on the lawn, dinner and dancing under the same roof. The exceptions are the church weddings, Stonyhurst or a village church in Whalley or Waddington, followed by a drive to the venue through the valley.
Guest lists tend to be fifty to a hundred and twenty. Big enough for a proper party, small enough that I get to know faces by the speeches.
Weather is part of the day here and the couples who marry in the valley know it. Rain on stone, cloud sitting on Pendle, then twenty minutes of clear light at seven in the evening. Those twenty minutes are usually in the film.
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."
Most of the venues are within a fifteen minute drive of each other and of Clitheroe, so guests staying in town can move between church and venue easily. Ask your venue which local taxi firms actually turn up.
If you are marrying at Stonyhurst or a village church, allow more time for the drive to the reception than the map says. Confetti, photographs at the church door and the walk to the cars take half an hour on their own.
The valley's best light in summer is late. If you want a walk with the fells behind you, plan it after dinner, not before.
Winter weddings here work. Eaves Hall at Christmas and Wyresdale Park in late December are two of the films I would show anyone.
If you are marrying in the Ribble Valley or anywhere in Lancashire, 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.