Winters Tale Country Barn

Ask about the secret garden when you visit Winters Tale Country Barn. You reach it through a brick archway, and it’s small, quiet and enclosed, with rose borders on the way in, a pergola and a wrought-iron arch. It feels very different from the open countryside all around it.

The ceremony is in front of the barn, which has enough windows to stay bright right through the wedding breakfast, before the fairy lights take over in the evening. The venue’s own field has room for a big guest list in one row, and the old house on the grounds has stone pillars, climbing ivy and a black doorway that gives portraits an almost storybook feel.

Two minutes past the buildings, the Buckinghamshire fields begin, with a country lane, a winding path and long meadow grass. The lane looks especially good under a moody sky.