We asked Jane and Paddy to tell us about their wedding day at Danby Castle and this is what they had to say!
Our wedding was on a very hot sunny day on June 11th 2023. We had 40 guests for our ceremony and a lot more guests for the evening party.
We chose Danby Castle from the moment we viewed it as it ticked every box and more of what we were looking for. The views all around are breathtaking, the castle ruins are amazing and the barn, old court room and every other room and building on the grounds are just magnificent. We love visiting places steeped in history and we love Whitby so everything about Danby Castle Barn made this our dream location.
We heard of the venue as a passing comment someone made and decided to visit. It was the only place we viewed and we booked our wedding there and then as we were both wowed by everything about Danby Castle Barn.
Did you have a theme for your wedding?
We chose burgundy and dried wild flowers as our theme. We booked archery and an artist doing caricatures to entertain our daytime guests. The archery added to the castle theme as did the dried flowers. We chose burgundy as it’s a colour of love and passion and also suited the skin tones of my 5 bridesmaids.
What cake did you have? Who made it and how did you choose your cake?
We designed and built a campervan out of a Ford Transit van and it’s our pride and joy so our wedding cake was a replica of our van. It was made by a very talented cake maker called Birdys Bakery on Facebook. It’s a small business. It looked and tasted amazing.
What did you wear? What was the inspiration for this?
I had a traditional A-line silk wedding dress and had off-the-shoulder sleeves and a diamanté belt added to it, giving a princess style. The dress was heavy and I was very hot on the day as it was an exceptionally warm day but I was able to cool in the shade from time to time.
The men wore suits that were a navy blue check with a burgundy tie. Paddy surprised me by wearing a ridiculous spotted tie (typical of quirky him haha)
My daughter was my Maid of Honour so had her own style floor-length dress. My 2 best friends were bridesmaids in matching floor-length gowns and my 2 stepdaughters had matching bridesmaids gowns too. Due to the uneven ground, I let them wear comfy shoes and trainers on the day as the dresses were all floor length so feet couldn’t really be seen!
My son walked me down the aisle and my younger son was the ring bearer. Both wore the same suit as Paddy and his best man. They all looked amazing.
Who was your florist? What flowers did you have in your bouquet; bridesmaids; decor?
We had minimal decor as we loved Danby Castle just as it was and didn’t feel it needed extras. The only flowers we had were table centrepieces that were from Dunelm. Our mothers and my friends took them home after the wedding as their keepsakes. Our bouquets and button holes were dried flowers from Etsy. They were wild spring flowers and smelled gorgeous. As they are dried, they are now in a vase in my living room at home and also my bridesmaids have theirs too. The button holes are on display in our campervan.
Who decorated the venue for you or did you do it yourself? What was your inspiration?
We did it ourselves as we wanted minimal decor due to Danby being so beautiful as it is. We have 3D printers so made personalised light-up ‘moon’ style globes as favours for our guests. We also had personalised mini bottles of tequila rose (our favourite drink), personalised chocolates and mini wooden games on the tables to keep guests entertained between courses and speeches
Who was your photographer/videographer?
Johnny Blades was our photographer, he can be found on Facebook. Lee Axon was our videographer and can be found @digifinsocial or www.digi-fin.com
What other suppliers did you use? Any you can recommend?
My cousin did our hair. She does this for a living but up in Scotland where she lives. Her Facebook page is Hair by LD. I did makeup myself.
We had an artist called Barrie James, see him on Instagram @barriejamesart. He is amazing!
What was the best part of the day for you?
Walking down the aisle, saying our vows and walking through the confetti lineup was my favourite part.
