Howard Court, North Yorkshire - Once Upon A Time…
We wanted to explore something a little bit magical this Christmas time. We decided to tell the love story about a beautiful Princess and her handsome Prince Charming and their elopement.
Their royal families don't approve of their love, so they decided to run away and marry each other in secret instead.
They found a gorgeous little brick barn and with a wish they turned it into a perfect little hideaway filled with fairylights. They even managed to get a Christmas Tree.
HOWARD COURT FAIRYTALE WEDDING
Howard Court is a wedding venue that we have been desperate to photograph since we found out about it. Not long ago we booked our first wedding here for next year and we’re counting down the days.
When the opportunity came up to get into the wedding barn for a few hours, we jumped at the chance. We hadn’t settled on a plan but we started to think about what we might be able to do. We had been trying to line up a shoot with Afnan and Betti, wildflowercouple, for a few months but things kept getting in the way. We were getting a bouquet from Emma at Rosemary Blooms. Once we knew that Sisters of Grace Bridal were kindly lending us this AMAZING wedding dress and Nick at Dandy Threads had shown us the suit he had lined up we knew. We even had a few accessories that Betti had been given by Luna & Wild that we were able to use.
Howard Court was going to play host to the fairytale elopement wedding of Prince Charming and his beautiful Princess!
Prince Charming dropped to one knee and proposed with the ring that he had brought. The Princess said yes!
They danced and span and loved like never before.
They spent their time just being together. Away from the pressures of their families, their lives and all their responsibilities.
HOWARD COURT WEDDINGs
The theme and the shoot came together pretty easily. Once we knew the suit was straight out of a fairytale, the dress is the sparkliest thing we’ve ever seen and the barn is a grotto of fairylights then it was clear what we had to do. We decided to sneak in as many references to fairytales as we had props and we even stopped off at the shop on the way to Howard Court to grab a couple more. Betti and Afnan’s lift for the day unfortunately had to drop out so we set off to collect them. That did mean that there was only the four of us in the wedding barn at Howard Court on the day though. We love working on these small shoots because we have way more opportunity to be creative and spontaneous.
Prince Charming and the Princess relaxed by the tree. They were content in their own company and were enjoying the peace and quiet.
The barn they had found was really lovely and cosy. They felt completely at home and safe in each other’s company.
CREATIVE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
We love seizing opportunities to be creative and spontaneous. Howard Court definitely allows for plenty of scope. The fairylights play so well with our fractal prisms and we had a great time finding the best ways to use them. The flowers and the Christmas Tree were perfect chances for us to play with multiple exposures too. We would have loved to get outside for the festoon lights that are strung across the courtyard too but the weather was uncooperative so that will just have to wait for our first trip here for proper, real-life wedding photography.
Prince Charming made sure the Princess was all ready and that she had her shoes on.
The last thing that needed to be done was the Princess needed her new crown!
Once she was crowned, it was time to go. They had to return to the Kingdom sooner or later. But now their lives were tied together. They would be supporting and protecting one another.
There was nothing they couldn’t achieve.
And they lived happily ever after…
If you want to find out more about weddings in the North Yorkshire area then please check out our North Yorkshire Wedding Guide. We have a number of our favourite venues listed with a bit of information about them as well as more info about what to consider when booking your North Yorkshire wedding. We talk about your wedding photography but we also highlight a few of the best suppliers in our area, our favourite spots for photoshoots which also work great for picnics or dates, and all sorts of other stuff.
Speaking of suppliers, find the amazing suppliers from this shoot at the following links:
Photographer: Paylor Photography - @paylorphoto
Models: Betti & Afnan - @wildflowercouple
Venue: Howard Court - @howardcourtweddings
Dress: Sisters of Grace Bridal - @sistersofgracebridal
Suit: Dandy Threads - @dandythreads
Flowers: Rosemary Blooms - @rosemaryblooms_
Accessories: Luna & Wild - @lunaandwild
