Chloe & Leo - A Glorious Summer Wedding at The Priest’s House, Skipton - Yorkshire Wedding Photography
“And then I saw her face
Now I’m a believer
And not a trace
Of doubt in my mind
I’m in love
I’m a believer
I couldn’t leave her if I tried”
Some wedding venues you photograph once and immediately think, please, please let someone invite me back.
The Priest’s House in Skipton is very firmly one of those places.
After the extreme heat we've had over the last few weeks, it was rather lovely to have a gloriously sunny August Saturday that didn't feel like we were all slowly melting. And what a Saturday it was.
This was my first time photographing a wedding at The Priest’s House, and I really, really hope it won't be my last. Tucked into the Yorkshire Dales, this extraordinary little building sits amongst the ruins of Bolton Abbey, with centuries of history woven into its stone walls. It is the sort of place that feels like it shouldn't quite be real.
And somehow, Conor and his wonderful team have turned it into a wedding venue without losing any of that magic. Everything feels incredibly sympathetic to the history of the building – beautiful, relaxed and completely un-fussy. Honestly, it was pretty much perfect.
I started the morning at Chloe's parents' home, where she was getting ready with her bridesmaids. There was that lovely mix of excitement and calm that comes with the morning of a wedding you've been looking forward to for ages, before I jumped in the car for the hour-long journey across the Yorkshire Dales to The Priest’s House.
Leo was waiting there with his groomsmen, and before long the 75 people Chloe and Leo had chosen to share their day were gathering together.
And what a lovely bunch they were.
Their ceremony was incredibly heartfelt – the sort where you can feel just how much history and love there is between two people. Once they'd officially become husband and wife, everyone spilled out into the gardens for Pimm's, sunshine and a very enthusiastic confetti throw.
From there, the day just unfolded.
Lawn games, live music, drinks in the sunshine, lots of hugs and the sort of laughter that carries across a garden. There was no frantic rushing from one thing to the next. Just plenty of time to actually enjoy being married and being surrounded by the people they love.
Later on, Chloe and Leo and I snuck away for some golden hour portraits. The light was absolutely ridiculous, bouncing off the stone and filtering through the trees, and we had that lovely little pocket of time where the rest of the world seemed to disappear for ten minutes.
Then it was back to the party for a first dance beneath the trees, which felt like the most perfect way to finish the day.
Chloe and Leo are genuinely wonderful people. Warm, kind, completely lovely and the sort of couple you feel very lucky to have been invited into the story of.
I've loved getting to know them, and I absolutely loved photographing their wedding.
And The Priest's House?
I'll be keeping everything crossed for another invitation very soon.
