Danielle and Benjamin met more than five years ago when they were introduced through friends on an evening out in Leeds. Since this moment the couple have spent most weekends together, and it was during this time that they came to find their future wedding venue.

“We chose Ripley Castle, as it is somewhere we like to visit on a weekend. The first time we visited, long before we were engaged, we noticed a wedding there and commented on what a lovely venue it was, so it was the perfect choice a few years later. We wanted a venue that we could return back to. We were so well looked after at both our church and at Ripley Castle.”

Danielle and Benjamin wanted a wedding that was completely personal to them. “We wanted to be able to speak to each and every guest during our wedding, yet we didn’t want to have to restrict numbers. We chose to have a receiving line and a spaced out wedding breakfast so that we were able to do this. We didn’t have a theme for our wedding we just wanted everyone to be able to have fun and enjoy themselves, which we hope they did. Hopefully the Wedding was personal to us and our family and friends from all the personalized details we added.”

The couple chose Kirsty of Kirsty Mattsson Photography, to capture their special day. “We went to a wedding fair at Ripon Cathedral and saw lots of photographers, however, Kirsty’s display really caught our eye as she had captured some lovely natural moments. We spoke to her and soon decided she would be our photographer at our wedding.”

Advice for other brides and grooms?
“Choose everything that you want from your big day, no matter what others say and enjoy every moment of the planning because it all goes by so quickly!”

What was your highlight of the day?
“The whole day was a highlight, from getting ready in the morning, the ceremony, the wedding breakfast, right through to dancing in the evening. Everything went just as we planned and we couldn’t have wished for a better celebration to start our married lives!”

Find out more about Ripley Castle as a wedding venue and see more of Kirsty Mattsson's work in our brand new Yorkshire issue of Belle Bridal available online now.