You know its been such a long time since I photographed a wedding at Peckforton Castle. Being a wedding photographer in the North West I have photographed a couple of weddings here especially in my early days. As the years have gone by and my perspective on light, moments and compositions have changed. It was great top get back and see the venue from a new perspective. There are a few venues in this area I’ve been to as a Cheshire wedding photographer and I just love the grandeur of this place.
Bride + Groom Castle Preparations
I also forgot how good the light is at this wedding venue. The textures on the walls and the shapes of the windows all help aiding me to make my photographs. Robert got ready with his friends down at the entrance to the entire venue. With his tartan trousers to introduce a Scottish twist into his attire. Whilst his groomsmen wore kilts. A relaxed morning with these guys and perhaps a wee dram of whiskey before helping each other our with their button holes. Once ready they headed up to the main castle for the wedding ceremony.
Jessica’s bridal preparations where low key but in no terms lacked character. There was a really nice and calm mood during the build up to the wedding from the brides perspective. I tried to capture the calm and the excitement at the same time. I love to try and illustrate the vibe in my images. It’s important to me that when people are looking back at the images, it visually recreates the atmosphere. Jessica’s dad was super proud and love these images of him seeing her for the fist time in her dress.
I’ve also tried here to set the scene with the Airel photo of the guests hanging out from above before the wedding began. Also the gorgeous flower arch built by Flowers from Bureau Botany are just gorgeous. These guys also provided the flowers for the rest of the wedding including Jessicas bouquet.
Peckforton Castle is a dark wedding venue inside and when shooting wedding ceremonies in here it can be difficult if you have no control over the light. So with it being a dull overcast day already I decided to create my own light using my off camera flashes. Once the beautiful wedding ceremony was over Jessica and Robert enjoyed some drinks and canapés with their guests before going on a shot walk together around the castle grounds. During this time I took a laid back approach to making some beautiful photos of just the bride and groom. Its mostly about the couple just being themselves and enjoying each others company. I don’t like to turn weddings into photoshoots so I try to keep my photographs as natural as possible.
It wasn’t until later in the afternoon when the wedding breakfast was served and with the speeches being after dinner, it was really dark outside leaving only some ambient light inside. This light was nice enough but again its light I had no control over so decided to create my own again using my trusty off camera flash. I love to make sure again that I’m setting the mood and atmosphere in the images to give a representation of what its like when you’re there. These speeches were full of great moments and reactions from the wedding guests and wedding party. Such a great part of a wedding to photograph and a part I always look forward to.
The dancing and sparkler photos are all taken again with low light though I only used my OCF (off camera flash) for the dancing. The sparkles photos you can see are all taken using the cosy warm ambient light given from the sparklers themselves.
I want to give my biggest thanks to Jessica and Robert for having me along to their wedding. Putting their trust in me really gives me the drive to make the best wedding photos I can. Capturing the greatest moments and giving them something to look back on in many years to come! Thanks to Peckforton Castle for having the great space that is their wedding venue and to all of the suppliers who came together to make the day unfold perfectly for Jessica and Robert.
