Prepare yourself for part one of a two day wedding event at Selby Abbey in Yorkshire UK as planned by Luxury Wedding and Event Planner, Sarah Haywood. Sarah and I had met years before and knew we would be collaborating in the future, we just had to wait for that first epic event. Well, this wedding proved to be just that! Sarah flew me across the pond to photograph all of the details and behind the scenes work for her, which was the first of several jobs I would do for her. What a smart idea, I thought, in order to create a cohesive look to your work, since every photographer has a different look!
We started the event at Selby Abbey, which has a long story that you can read more about HERE. I was just floored to be in a building that was over 900 years old! It literally took my breath away at every turn, as I thought about the chaos, the good times and the bad that had happened in this space that I was now in. It still stands, now, tall, proud and renovated after fires and strife, and is absolutely magnificent.
Creative Partners for this epic wedding at Selby Abbey in Yorkshire UK:
Luxury Wedding and Event Planner: Sarah Haywood, London England
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck, Hartford CT
Wedding Venue: Selby Abbey, Yorkshire, UK
Florals: Aisle of You, England
Catering: The Last Supper
Craft Bar: Holy Water
Wedding Dress Designer: Mikael Derderian
Groom’s Suit: Alexander McQueen
The florals, the artwork, the stained glass. There is literally something to revel in at every turn. Take a moment and really look at each image and SEE the craftsmanship that went into literally EVERYTHING in this space! The wooden birds right above the flowers here…magnificent!
Yes, a harpist playing her beautiful angelical music in this space literally made me feel as if my head was going to pop off and explode in a giant poof of glitter and butterflies! Like, give me a BREAK!
The vicar of Selby Abbey takes a moment here to just be present before the ceremony.
Sarah wanted me to photograph these jewels on loan from a jeweler in Paris and I was beyond thrilled. Show me some sparkle and I am sent into orbit, sister! And I’m talking about just run of the mill kindergarten craft glitter! THESE WERE REAL DIAMONDS. And these babies came complete with two escorts, one a lovely gloved ‘handler’ and the other an armed guard. I had literally no where to go to photograph these, so we were in a closet and I had to light them with my iPhone! The armed guard turned out to be multitalented and was quite the lighting assistant for me! He held that iPhone light with purpose and care and we bonded and laughed the whole time I was photographing! Although maybe they wanted to yell when I was repositioning the jewels without a gloved hand … oops! Didn’t make that mistake more than once! So I present to you: giant diamonds lit by an iPhone flashlight held by an armed guard photographed in a closet!!
I got to be perched up in the balcony for the beginning of the ceremony, and my biggest claim to fame is that I made it into their wedding video clip that has since had millions of views! I am the shapeless out of focus blob of black in the balcony , and I have never been prouder to be an out of focus blob of black, ever ever!
These bridesmaids dresses gave me life. I was like, sis, you look like delicate ribbon candy and also I want to put you in a little display box and just look at these cute dresses all day! Adorable!
It’s almost as if you can hear me yelling in my head here, right.
I was allowed in to photograph and got to listen to this choir…. whaaaaat. I wish I had some sound here for you!
This detail in the stained glass window is magnificent!!!
They were really singing to me here. Just me!
Literally right after the wedding ceremony commenced, Sarah Haywood and her team immediately started to transform the aisle area into a fancy post-wedding tea. They had 6 MINUTES to set it all up and even had rehearsals the day before to plan ahead. It was one of my favorite things to watch and I loved the birds eye view I had up in the balcony!
Viola! These cakes and sweets, or pudding, as they say in the UK were works of art. So beautiful I don’t know how anyone could eat them all!
I was and still am, quite taken with Selby Abbey. It is one of the most beautiful places I have been in. The architecture left me breathless and I wanted to feature it at almost every turn! I am sure you all can get that after seeing the tons of imagery here, and can see why!
The cocktails were some of the most beautiful I have photographed. Every detail was considered!
Sarah Haywood in action before the space is reveled to the guests. She makes sure every last detail is perfect!
At one point during the reception, the groom, who is a really big deal pop star that I can’t name, sat down at the piano. It was a little removed from the party, and he was alone. He started playing and singing softly to himself, with only me and the videographer Matt as his audience. We looked at each other, incredulous. There is no imagery or audio or video of this moment. We both made the choice to just be present and enjoy this private moment together. I think of this every now and again, when I think about the hoards of fans that made the trek to even just catch a glimpse of their idol on his wedding day. Definitely not a moment I took for granted.
Stay tuned for part two of this luxury wedding!
To see more luxury weddings photographed by Carla Ten Eyck, click the links below:
Welcome Party at Mount Stuart Scotland with Sarah Haywood
Scottish Highlands Wedding with Sarah Haywood Part Two
Hi! Thank you for sharing these incredible pictures! I am a big fan of Jay Chou – the groom in this wedding. He is a super famous pop singer and musician in Asia for 20 years (Top1 in Mandarin Pop). A lot of people born in the 1980s or 1990s growing up with his music. I was reviewing his wedding clips on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s34fl3eFYMc)and found your post on Google. Such a beautiful wedding and thank you so much for posting all these amazing pictures.