Skipbridge Country Weddings

A few years back I second shot for another photographer at Skipbridge Country weddings and have been desparate to get back to this quirky wedding venue. As soon as Abby and Dan contacted me about their wedding photography I was very excited!

Skipbridge Country Weddings – Yorkshire wedding venue

Skipbridge is a unique wedding venue, a farm located between York and Harrogate. You can share your day with resident donkeys, alpacas, ponies, goats, llamas and chickens.

The Willow Bower under the Willow tree is licenced for outdoor wedding ceremonies with the teepee for your wedding reception. On site there are holiday cottages and glamping options.

Pre-wedding preparations

Abby and her bridesmaids were getting ready in one of the cottages. The four bridesmaids wore two piece outfits with different colours deep red, dark blue, burnt orange, sage green. Abby wore an elegant strapless wedding dress with an overskirt, changing it for the evening. The nerves hit Abby before the ceremony during moments spent with the bridesmaids and her parents.

Outdoor wedding ceremony

When Dan and Abby first spoke to me about their wedding day, they told me that they were having an outdoor ceremony with no plan B for if it rained. Luckily their summer wedding was rain free so they could enjoy an outdoor wedding ceremony at the Willow Bower. Since a change in the law following the pandemic, legal wedding ceremonies in the UK can take place outdoors without the previous requirement of a permanant structure such as the Willow Bower.

Drinks and Photographs

Once Abby and Dan were officially married, they walked down the aisle to “Be my baby” by the Ronettes, with guests throwing confetti. Friends and family got to congratulate the newlyweds with a drink or two. The couple’s excitable dog Heidi joined them for a couple of pictures with Abby’s Aunt’s dog who was very well behaved!
I took the bride and groom for a wander around the grounds to grab a handful of couple portraits before the wedding breakfast.

Wedding breakfast and Speeches

Dan’s mum Roz made the wedding cake which they cut before the speeches. I have seen a lot of speeches in my many years of photographing weddings. Not one has been as well planned as the father of the bride’s! Dad Justin had enlisted the help of Abby’s sister with signs, props and a couple of embarrassing videos.

Evening Reception

Skipbridge Country weddings is the type of venue where there’s plenty to do in the time before the evening reception starts. For the boys it meant having shots and hanging out with a llama. Other guests enjoyed the lawn games or seeing the ponies.

As the evening rececption started, Abby and Dan had their first dance to Taylor Swift’s “Lover” and the band kept the dancefloor busy.
As darkness fell, the naked teepee was illuminated with festoon lighting and the fires were lit.

Skipbridge is such a unique wedding venue. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer for your Skipbridge Country wedding, please get in touch. I’ll do a little giddy dance because it’s such a fun venue to work at.