Wedding Photography at Peckforton Castle

We were mighty chuffed when Jenny and Nick came to us a year prior to their date to have a chat about photographing their wedding.  Peckforton Castle in Tarporley on the outskirts of Chester has a fine reputation as a wedding venue and is not without it’s share of publicity for ‘celeb’ weddings.  It’s a really striking Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle and surrounded by hundreds of acres of woodlands.  Lots of big ‘name’ photographers have worked here and – well, now we have too :-)

Jenny and Nick booked us for a slightly longer day so we travelled up to Chester the previous afternoon and had an overnight stay in a local hotel.   We wanted to start the day fresh especially since we had photographed another huge wedding two days prior and had another back home two days hence!

Peckforton is primarily a hotel so there’s plenty of choice on where to get ready.  Nick and the fellas stayed in The Lodge, which was once the castle’s gatehouse and sits at the entrance to the grounds.  Jenny was in the main castle building in one of the many beautiful bedrooms.

The heart of the venue – The Great Hall – is where the ceremony took place.  A really beautiful space with vaulted stone archways, tapestries, tiled floor, minstrels gallery and intricately carved rood screen.  The florists did a superb job decorating the room and the final effect was nothing short of … ‘wow’!  But the ceremony itself was a lovely – personalised and warm with heartfelt readings from friends and family.  We’d also like to mention the registrar who conducted the proceedings.  She was a delight to work alongside and was both helpful and inclusive with us – that’s something we don’t always get at weddings so when we do, we notice! :-)

With a guard of honour closing off the ceremony, it was onto drinks in the Long Gallery and a few ‘couple’ photos in the castle interior before the meal in the Drawing Room.  The flower arrangements from the ceremony had been moved here to become the table centrepieces and again, it all looked a bit ‘wow’!

Jenny and Nick’s main photo shoot in the castle grounds was something we were really looking forward to, but we actually started up on the roof!  Can’t say we’ve ever done that before :-)   And although Peckforton doesn’t really have formal gardens, the enormous woodlands which surround the venue make for fantastic images.

Onto the evening.  Some wedding parties are really into their dancing –  others…. not so much.  Jenny and Nick’s guests filled the floor and were ‘going for it’ as soon as the couple had finished their first dance.  What a great crowd!  The Great Hall also look completely different compared to earlier in the day – lighting makes such a difference to an evening party and this was one of the best examples we’ve seen in recent memory.

Classy, elegant, magnificant.. and ‘wow’.  That’s probably we can bust sum up Nick and Jenny’s wedding.  Both the couple and the crowd were a pleasure to work with and of course the venue was sublime.  Our favourite bit though?  The woodlands.   At venues with tended gardens we’ll often make our way over the parts that a little less perfect, a little more overgrown as they’re just more interesting spots in which to create pictures.  Peckforton’s woods (forest?) kind of took that to a new level.  Beautiful.  A massive thank-you to Jenny and Nick.  Enjoy the photos…

Suppliers:

Venue: Peckforton Castle, Tarporley, Cheshire
Hair: Heather Cocker
Make-up: Laura Shelton for MakeupByJodie
Florals and table styling: Luxury Events Group
Cake: Cake Design by Pamela
Stationery & Table plan: Feel Good Invites
Evening Band: Victoriana

Peckforton Castle wedding photographers Robin & Sarah Gillespie, husband-and-wife wedding team based in Worcestershire.