Skipton Castle

At the start of 2022, I had a vision about creating my own bridal styled photography shoot. After a few months of hard work, creating a concept, planning and sourcing a few of the best wedding suppliers around the area, the day came to life in May 2022.

The shoot location was at a 900 year old medieval castle, one of the most complete and best preserved medieval castles in England. Situated in the beautiful market town of Skipton (the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales), Skipton Castle stands at the top of the award winning High Street and alongside Holy Trinity Church.

The overall style of the photoshoot was classic, elegant and romantic with beautiful soft pastel tones. Which all complimented the stunning Skipton Castle just perfectly. We positioned ourselves in the Chapel, to recreate a ceremony setting. Then we explored inside the truly impressive castle for portraits, all the stunning windows, with an array of natural light was a photographers dream. Lastly we walked around the grounds outside, capturing the Castle in all its beauty.

The styling

Walter and Blossom, a Haworth based Yorkshire wedding and event florist supplied the most beautiful florals for the day. She worked alongside Infigo Events, a Yorkshire event stylist who also provides prop hire. They created a beautiful focal point of a wooden hexagon backdrop, decorated beautifully in the main ceremony area. The room was finished by Infigo, with touches added to the benches, an array of floating candles and wooden crate boxes and a rug to finish the styling. The florist also produced stunning bridal and bridesmaid bouquets and a buttonhole for the models.

The dresses

The bride and bridesmaid models wore beautiful dresses supplied by Sugared Almonds Bridal Emporium. An intimate boutique based in Earby, Lancashire and just a short drive over the Lancashire/Yorkshire border to Skipton. They hand pick all their bridal gowns from award winning designers, selecting the latest styles and up and coming trends. Maggie Sottero is just one of those bridal designers stocked and we were lucky enough to have two of their stunning dresses to use for the day. These were “Greer”, a sparkly modern ball gown wedding dress with a mikado bodice and the “Chantal Lynette”, a chiffon wedding dress with illusion lace sleeves.

The suit

Jenson Samuel Menswear, a family business based on the High Street of Skipton, just a few minutes walk away from Skipton Castle. Who provide affordable, fashionable, quality tailoring, shirts, ties and accessories. Supplied the “Alnwick”, a navy three piece suit for our groom model to wear, as well as accessories and shoes.

Hair and Make up

All of the five models hair were expertly styled by the very talented Emily Taylor, owner and stylist at La Bella Boutique, based in Skipton. A very popular boutique which has just celebrated 10 very successful years in business. Emily has an array of talented hair dressers and beauticians situated within the boutique, offering a range of hair and beauty services. I can personally recommend the lovely Emily, as she is my own hairdresser and did my own bridal hair on my wedding day.

Couture hat designer and bridal headwear specialist, Nicola Grace Millinery. Created lots of beautiful headpieces and hair accessories, that matched the theme and feel of the day.

Annabel Bailey, a make up artist who has worked in fashion, magazines, tv and also teaches her trade to others. Worked her magic with the models make up, which all looked stunning.Again Annabel helped me on my own wedding day, transforming me from someone who doesn’t know much about make up into a bride ready for her day.

The shoes

To go with the pastel tones and the “something blue”, The New Glass Slipper company custom made us some beautiful bridal shoes, which matched perfectly with the theme of the photoshoot.

The stationery

A local drypoint etchings and luxury fine art wedding stationery company, Foxglove Press created the wedding stationery. It had a real delicate, luxurious and fine art element to it, which was totally unique.

The final touches

Not very local but someone that I have met before at a wedding workshop, who instantly gives off such a warm and friendly vibe and who I knew would be amazing involved in the day was Danielle. A North East celebrant, who creates and delivers unforgettable wedding ceremonies. Find out more about her here: Will You Marry Us

At the end of the day we had a little fun with two Mr and Mrs balloons given to us by Gasbags.

The four models, Jessica, Kieran, Shona and Kaitie were all an absolute pleasure to work with!

Skipton Wedding Ceremony venue

Skipton Castle is a marriage ceremony venue only and does not have the facilities for a full seated wedding reception. If you did choose this Skipton wedding ceremony venue, then you could choose between the ancient Chapel, the Banqueting Hall or the Granary for up to 80 guests. Enjoy the beautiful grounds and magnificent building that offers a unique backdrop for your photographs, whilst your guests can enjoy a champagne and canapé reception.

Find out more about having your wedding at Skipton Castle by checking out their website here: Skipton Castle Wedding

I made the front cover of a magazine!!

In September 2022, I was overjoyed when Aspire Magazine, wanted to choose one of the images from our photoshoot to be front cover of their bridal guide edition. The magazine is delivered to 28,000 homes in Skipton, Settle, Craven and The Dales. The final image selected by the magazine company, from the full gallery was one of the beautiful Shona, at the very popular yew tree, in the courtyard of the Castle. The tree was planted by Lady Anne Clifford to commemorate repairs to the castle after the English Civil War. Click here to see the cover of September – Issue 91.