Swinton Park Hotel Wedding Photographer in Ripon
Tucked away in the extensive grounds of Swinton Estate, the castle is lavishly decorated and packed with historical features and luxury details. When I say extensive grounds, we’re talking 20,000 acres of gorgeousness in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Working as a Swinton Park Hotel wedding photographer, there’s so much incredible scenery and so many beautiful details to capture in your photos, I’m spoilt for choice! Explore the magic of this exclusive castle venue for your wedding at Swinton Park Hotel in the Yorkshire Dales, and I’ll capture your day in my signature award-winning style!
Quick links!
We delivered SO many beautiful images from this wedding, we couldn’t narrow down our choices – here are some quick links to jump to each section!
Swinton Park Hotel wedding photography – Yukina and Edward
I met Yukina and Edward back in 2019 at a wedding show, so we’d all been chatting for a long time about their plans, and my Amazing PA, Rhi, helped out with juggling dates when they needed to postpone their original wedding. It was well worth the wait, these two are so completely adorable together, and we absolutely fell in love with them too! Love, music, dancing… and a sausage dog called Winston! Joining Yukina and Edward for their wedding was everything I could have dreamed it would be!
First wedding booking we made, before anything else. Best decision ever.
Yukina and Edward
Without question we would highly recommend Rich. We love Rich’s work, and the whole team. They are nothing short of amazing, incredibly professional and wonderful humans!
Getting ready
I arrived at this incredible castle-like venue on the Swinton Estate in Ripon, Yorkshire, and immediately the fairytale began, it was going to be an emotional day! I joined Yukina and the girls as they got ready in one of the exquisite rooms with beautiful high ceilings and luxurious decor.
They all chatted and laughed together as they had their hair and makeup perfected by Becca Hutton and Debs Chalmers from Love Hair and Beauty Boutique, drinking glasses of champagne in the natural light that was pouring in through the enormous sash windows.
My second photographer, Emil, was enjoying his morning with Edward and the boys in the billiard room, with Winston the sausage dog keeping an eye on them as they helped each other get ready. Their suits were hired from Humphrey and Tilly’s in Thirsk, with some luxury Mont Blanc accessories.
Yukina is a professional ballerina, currently performing at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the ballet chorus of the Opera Populaire, in the West End production of Phantom of the Opera, so she had us all speechless as she twirled around in her beautiful wedding dress.
Her super high heels from Sophia Webster were quite a change from her usual pointe shoes! Her bridesmaids tearfully cheered her on, helping her with her Tiffany & Co accessories before we all prepared to leave for her to get married to Edward at a local church.
Church wedding near Swinton Park Hotel
We jumped in our cars and zoomed off to the pretty 13th Century St Michael’s Church in Kirklington. Guests were beginning to arrive and one of the bridesmaids was practicing her violin in the corner of the churchyard, ready to play as Yukina and Edward signed the register.
Edward was waiting with his groomsmen, and I had a quick chat with the vicar, who I have to say was (and I think I told him this..) ‘an absolute legend of a vicar’! He was so flexible, friendly, and welcoming, allowing us total freedom to move around the church and capture all of the important moments of the ceremony.
Yukina walked down the aisle with her lovely mum, with her long veil trailing down the aisle behind her – the way Edward’s face lit up when he saw her was absolutely priceless, I think everyone shed a tear at that point!
Another thing I loved about the vicar of St Michael’s Church, was the fact he was so animated and fun, he had everyone giggling, smiling, and enjoying every second of the ceremony.
The confetti!
The confetti photo is one of those must-haves in every wedding album, and I’d recruited a guest to help make this one extra impressive! He was on hand to tip an entire box of confetti over Yukina and Edward, and did so with absolutely perfect timing, covering them in a flurry of petals and creating some amazing images.
A confetti-covered Bride and Groom jumped into their vintage car from Brooklands Wedding Cars to head back to their Swinton Park Hotel wedding reception. Some of the locals had gathered outside the church to wave them off, and a few of the children spent some time playing in the snowdrift of confetti left on the church path.
Swinton Park Hotel wedding reception
We arrived back for their Swinton Park Hotel wedding reception, in the beautiful drawing room. The sumptuous gold details, oil paintings, and decadent heritage fabrics framed a beautiful musical performance of the Japanese folk song, Sakura.
Yukina’s mum, Yoko played the flute, and bridesmaids Karin and Elisabeth played the flute, violin and piano, with their talented friend Saori singing the captivating song. It was a really special moment, with everyone enjoying the emotional music, and being swept away in the magic of the day.
The attention to detail at this venue is SO impressive, as a Swinton Park Hotel wedding photographer capturing such incredible details of the wedding breakfast room really creates a lasting memory of all the planning and effort that went into organising Yukina and Edward’s gorgeous day. Their friend Fran, who is currently starring as Madame Giry in the West End production of Phantom of the Opera, added a personal touch to the decors by creating their table cards (clearly a woman of many talents!). The Swinton Park Hotel weddings team were all brilliant throughout the day, making sure everything was perfect.
Swinton Park Hotel wedding photography – Group portraits
It was a humid July day, so I decided to capture group portraits in the drawing room, making the most of the beautiful decor whilst keeping everyone comfortable and out of the heat. Using the features of the room to create dramatic, classical-style portraits as part of Yukina and Edward’s Swinton Park Hotel wedding photography really added a sprinkle of magic and personality.
Of course their additional groomsman, Winston needed to feature in some of the group photos, he was the furry guest of honour after all!
Swinton Estate wedding – Speeches and wedding breakfast
While we were inside capturing group photos, the guests enjoyed garden games on the lawn, with some competitive croquet under a hazy summer sky.
Yukina and Edward’s wedding breakfast started with some really personal and emotional speeches, including from Yukina’s brother Valentin, who had created a slideshow of the Bride and Groom growing up. There were quite a few tears shed (including from me!), and there were huge smiles across the whole room.
Yukina and Edward
Apart from the stunning architecture and incredible interior decor, one of the things I love about being a Swinton Park Hotel wedding photographer, is the fact we can explore the grounds for your photos together as newlyweds. The mature trees and impressive stone walls looked incredible in the afternoon light, and there was even a herd of deer roaming freely through Swinton Estate too.
I couldn’t resist taking Yukina and Edward back inside to use the soft light from the windows to capture some romantic portraits of them enjoying a few moments of alone time, before heading back to cut their cake and rejoin the party to celebrate their wedding at Swinton Park Hotel.
Cake and first dance
Despite being blinded by a rather bright pink up-lighter, Yukina and Edward cut their wedding cake from The Sugar Florist, under a cherry blossom archway in front of their guests, then headed onto the twinkling white dancefloor for their first dance.
With Yukina being a professional ballerina, to say expectations were high for their first dance is probably an understatement! We weren’t disappointed, with effortless spins and an impressive amount of skill from Edward too as they captivated their guests. I definitely cried buckets at this point too!
Yukina’s lovely bridesmaid, Aicelle Santos, sang their first dance song ‘Make you Feel my Love’ by Adele. Aicelle is a famous singer from the Philippines, who made the trip with her beautiful family to share Yukina and Edward’s day, something I know meant the world to them both.
The groomsmen finished the first dance with confetti canons, showering the couple in golden glitter, a real wow moment!
Party time!
Their family and friends joined them on the dancefloor, with everyone hugging and having an amazing time. Their wedding band Happy Hour, got the party started and seriously rocking, and they even helped out with an awesome surprise that came later!
Outside, there was space for the kids (and big kids!) to cool off, with garden games and places to relax and chat while the party continued inside.
‘The Lift’
Sometimes I have ideas, that some might think are a little crazy… this is one I’ve had in my mind for a while, and what better people to get involved than a group of professional dancers. With just a few whispers about trying ‘the lift’ from Dirty Dancing as a surprise for their guests, a team of experts had gathered ready for a little secret practice outside. With safety at the front of my mind, I wanted to be sure Yukina would be safe, so we practiced the lift with some help from the pros.
Yukina and Edward were super excited about surprising everyone, and after stopping momentarily to knock back some tequila they headed back to the dancefloor.
Back inside, with the floor swept free of slippery confetti, we gathered everyone to watch something amazing happen! The look of pure joy on Yukina’s face, and the reaction from their guests was absolutely EVERYTHING!
The groomsmen decide that Edward also needed to experience being lifted, with fairly hilarious results!
Fireworks
The balmy summer evening finished with sparklers and a display from Rainbow Fireworks next to the river. It was a magical end to a spectacular day, one that I won’t forget for a long time either. I’m almost sad to get to the end of editing this wedding, it’s been as much of a delight as it was being there on the day as Yukina and Edward’s Swinton Park wedding photographer. I’m pretty certain I will see them again, and maybe next time I will have learned a few more graceful dance moves too!
Congratulations Yukina and Edward!
Check out their suppliers on Instagram
Venue and Catering: @swintonweddings @swintonestate
Wedding Dress: TBC
Shoes: @sophiawebster #swyes
Hair and Make-up: @deblovehair @rebeccahutonn
Suits: @humphreyandtilly
Flowers: TBC
Wedding car: Brooklands Wedding Cars, Durham
Cake: The Sugar Florist, York
Band: @happyhourmusic
Fireworks: Rainbow Fireworks, Scunthorpe
Looking for Swinton Estate wedding photography?
If you are looking for your Swinton Estate wedding photographer I’d love to join you, please do get in touch to check my availability! My amazing PA, Rhi will reply straight away so we can start planning! For more inspiration, check out some of my other work at weddings across the UK, including as a Temple of Minerva wedding photographer, weddings at Bredenbury Court Barns, Hengrave Hall wedding photography, and some gorgeous venues in London like this wedding at Inner Temple.
