Ripley Castle Wedding Photographer: Elise & Tom
Another week and another beautifully sunny Castle Wedding in Yorkshire. There’s worse ways to earn a living.
Elise got ready at her parents house just outside Harrogate. It was a beautiful farmhouse in a rural Yorkshire village and it had one of my favourite features…Dogs!! I always love it when people get ready at the family home. You can tell a lot about a family by the photo’s on the wall, the certificates on the fridge, muddy boots in the doorway etc.
After getting ready, it was off to Ripley castle for the wedding ceremony. The only problem with shooting weddings at Ripley Castle on a Saturday in Summer is that it’s just too good. It’s such a lovely little village and area, that it’s always absolutely packed. The only way to get parked near the village is to either inherit a parking space or park in the out-of-village parking area (a big field). That means carrying all your camera gear, in the boiling heat, for about 1/2 a mile. I chose option 2 and by the time I got to the Castle, I embraced the Air Con like a long lost friend (Nb. Aircon was not authentic medieval build and has been added at a later point).
The rest of the day was all at the Castle – enjoying the grounds, wondering if the ancient edition Shakespeare book in the library was real, having a few drinks and catching up with family & friends (Not me obvs. I was taking photo’s). Elise, Tom & I had a lovely walk around the gardens in the evening and took some portraits and then it was back for the dancing…
Ripley Castle Wedding Venue
These days, Ripley castle enjoys a reputation as one of Yorkshire’s best wedding venues. It’s only 3 miles outside Harrogate so it’s well supplied with places to stay for guests too. That’s not to say that the castle hasn’t had a few famous guests in it’s past.
The castle belonged to the Ingilby family. They were great friends of King James I and he stayed at the castle. 2 years later, they tried to blow him up in the gunpowder plot that made a name for Guy Fawkes, but kept the REALLY rich people’s names out of it. 9 of the 11 Gunpowder plotters were closely associated with the family. Oliver Cromwell was even kept prisoner there after the battle of Marston Moor. The castle has belonged to the same family for over 700 years.
Now, it has absolutely stunning gardens and is the perfect setting for a country wedding in Yorkshire. Apart from the parking, I do love working there.
Want to See More ?
Elise & Tom went for a full day package, so I was there, taking photographs from the first cup of coffee in the morning when Hair & Makeup arrived, to the dancing in the evening. If you’d like to see loads more real weddings, head to the Wedding Page where there’s loads more real weddings that you can look through.
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