Kay and Martin's wonderful Ripley Castle wedding
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| The Boar's Head Hotel in Rilpley Village |
Ripley Castle is the located in the heart of north Yorkshire
between Ripon and Harrogate. Ripley Castle has been the ancestral seat of the
Ingilby family for over 700 years.
"Having survived several plagues, invasions, civil
wars, wars, religious turbulence, a plot to commit regicide, numerous periods
of deep recession and everything else that has befallen this country in the
last seven hundred years, the Ingilbys can justifiably breathe a sigh of relief
that they have arrived safely at this astonishing landmark. Theirs is a story
of how one family has been tossed around in the choppy waters of England’s
stormy history – and somehow survived, despite being on the losing side more
often than not. The history of the Ingilbys is a microcosm of the history of
England and features a cast of extraordinarily brave, foolish, eccentric and
courageous characters, black sheep and white. They have gone from high office
in the court of kings and queens to running a wedding and conference venue and
hotel, but they are still at Ripley and the story continues as they steer their
family and business through these challenging times." - Extract from http://ingilbyhistory.ripleycastle.co.uk/700years.html
When I first met up with Martin (unusual to meet the groom
and not the bride at a wedding meeting) to discuss the wedding he seemed so
relaxed and cool about the whole thing I
knew it would be a great wedding to shoot. As it was my first wedding at Ripley
Castle we decided it would useful to do the engagement shoot at Ripley itself.
This gave me the opportunity to get to know Kay and Martin a bit more too. As
usual we had a giggle on the engagement shoot and Martin and Kay were relaxed
and keen to chat about the plans for the big day. Despite the bitter cold we
wandered through the various gardens and glass houses scouting locations and
chatting about the best time to do the family groups and when a little portrait session would fit into their
wedding day.
Our final task for the engagement shoot was to take a short
drive up to the Church. The gem of a church chosen by Martin and Kay was St
Wilfred's in South Stainley.
The wedding day itself started with some bridal prep at the Boar's Head hotel
just around the corner from Ripley Castle. The ladies were relaxing (the
bubbles always help)and seemed very organised as I shot some candid photos a
fabulous shot of the dress hanging from the chandelier and finally got the to
sit together on the bed for some nice smiley shots of them chatting.
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| Ripley Castle Wedding |
Off to church for me then to meet the groom and photograph
some of the guests arriving. The church was festooned with wild flower
collected the day before and it looked fabulous.
The wedding ceremony itself was short and very sweet with a
very loud 'I will' from Martin which sent the congregation into fits of
giggles.
The swish Bentley arrived and after confetti and many hugs
and kisses with friends and family we headed off to Ripley Castle.
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| Wedding Photographer Ripley Castle |
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| Ripley Castle Weddings |
The reception at Ripley Castle was held over two floors in
the East Wing. The area in front of this was a perfect backdrop for a few
family group shots and we got this done in about 20mins. For some further
portraits of the bride and groom we sneaked into the main body of the house, between tour groups, and did some shots on the
stairs and in some of Ripley's state room.
The rest of the wedding photography was comprised of candid
(reportage) shots of people laughing and having a giggle. The first dance tends
to be the end of my night more often than not, as was the case here, but I wanted to do one or two more shots with
Martin and Kay at twilight. After quickly setting up a couple of lights we
strolled into the refreshing air and got some real quite lovely portraits.
Ripley Castle is an amazing wedding venue and my first
wedding their only scratched the surface of the potential for a wedding photographer
with this venue.
Martin and Kay had such a lovely relaxed wedding in beautiful
surroundings. I know they are as delighted with the pictures as I am and I am
looking forward to my next wedding at Ripley Castle.
