Carlton Towers Wedding Photographer – A Guide to Getting Married Here

Carlton Towers in East Yorkshire is one of the finest wedding photography venues in the north of England. It’s a Victorian Gothic stately home with dramatic architecture, grand State Rooms, extensive parkland, and a walled garden vineyard – giving you multiple distinct settings within walking distance of each other. I’ve been photographing weddings here over the last five years and it never disappoints. The staff are AMAZING!

What Is Carlton Towers Like as a Wedding Venue?

Carlton Towers is a working stately home near Goole, still owned and lived in by the Duke of Norfolk’s family – and that’s exactly what makes it feel different from purpose-built wedding venues. It is historic, not dressed to look it. You feel that the moment you turn down the driveway.

The architecture is Victorian Gothic – towers, turrets, elaborate stonework, enormous rooms with high ceilings. The State Rooms, the Venetian Drawing Room, the Card Room – all genuinely grand, rich in colour, with tall windows that bring in beautiful directional light. As a Yorkshire wedding photographer, walking into a room like the Venetian Drawing Room on a bright day is one of the best parts of this job. The challenge isn’t finding the light. It’s deciding which of it to use.

Outside, the estate runs to around 250 acres – formal gardens close to the house, open parkland beyond, and the walled vineyard giving you a setting that’s genuinely unlike anything else in Yorkshire. I’ve shot summer weddings here in 30-degree heat and with it being so beautiful inside there is never any fear of bad weather!

What Makes Carlton Towers Special for Wedding Photography?

Variety. Most venues give you two or three backdrops. Carlton Towers gives you six or seven, in fact so many you have to do a great job with some of them rather than run yourselves ragged trying to get it all, each with its own character. Within a single afternoon, I can move a couple from the ornate State Rooms to the formal terrace, out into the parkland, through to the vineyard, and back to the house for a twilight shot – and none of those images will look like the same venue.

Ben Cumming Photography has photographed weddings at Carlton Towers several times. That familiarity matters. I know where the light falls in the Venetian Drawing Room at 2pm versus 5pm. I know which corner of the walled garden works even on a grey day. I know the rhythm of how Carlton Towers days tend to run, and I know where to be before the moments happen – not a second after.

What Does a Carlton Towers Wedding Day Actually Look Like?

Most days follow a similar shape: bridal prep in the morning (usually in one of the venue’s accommodation suites), ceremony in the State Rooms or chapel, drinks reception on the terrace, formal portraits and groups, dinner in the main dining room, evening reception. It’s a full day – which is exactly what a venue like this deserves.

The group shots are the most structured part, and the setting actually helps here. When you’re standing in front of a Victorian Gothic stately home with 250 acres around you, people loosen up. The building does some of the work for me. I always talk through a group shot plan beforehand so we’re not spending 20 minutes rounding people up from across the estate – the Carlton Towers team are great at helping with this too.

One thing I’d strongly encourage every Carlton Towers couple to build into their evening: a twilight shoot. Twenty minutes outside with the house lit up behind you at around 9pm in summer – the towers against a darkening sky – will give you images that look completely unlike anything else from the day.

How do I operate?

I’m been a Top 10 Photographer of the Year with the Guild of Photographers, won image of the year in 2025, done qualifications with both the Societies of Photographers, Flash Masters & the Guild.

I mention that not to lead with credentials, but because it I’ve spent 25 years working across all conditions – natural light, overcast days, candlelit evening rooms – Carlton Towers gives you all of them in a single day. I’m always learning and pushing myself to give my clients the absolute best of me.

My approach is documentary at heart for perhaps 80-90% of the day. I’m not there to direct your day. I’m there to capture it – the laughs, the quiet looks, the moments between the moments that you won’t remember until you see them in your images. Portraits, whilst structured are done in a way to get your own personalties to shine, if you feel uncomfortable then you’ll always remember that feeling when you see the image. I make my shoots fun and about you, not what some photographer things you should look like!

At Carlton Towers, with so much happening across such a large space, that instinct to be in the right place at the right time matters enormously. I highly recommend having a second photographer too, this increases candid moments tenfold.

Can I Have Both Photography and Videography at Carlton Towers?

Yes. Ben Cumming Photography works with Hazel from HD Films for wedding videography, so you can book both photography and film coverage together also saving you £200. Having a photographer and videographer who already work well together makes a difference on the day – we’re not in each other’s way or competing for the same moment. Working with the Mrs is great chemistry! (not sure if I’m still the boss though!)

When Should I Book a Photographer for Carlton Towers?

As early as you can. Popular summer Saturdays at Carlton Towers can go two years ahead – and the same is true for photographers who know the venue well. My advice is to get in touch as soon as your date is confirmed, even if the rest of your planning is still in early stages. An early conversation costs nothing and I’ll always give you an honest answer about whether I’m the right fit for your day. I’m always gutted when I receive enquiries for here and I’m already booked elsewhere.

If you’d like to see more from weddings I’ve photographed at Carlton Towers, head to my weddings page, or get in touch and I’ll pull together a gallery from recent days there. Either way, I’d love to hear about your plans.