Weddings in North Yorkshire - everything you need for your North Yorkshire wedding

North Yorkshire is the largest non-metropolitan country in England with around 40% of the landscape covered by national parks which includes most of the Yorkshire Dales and also the North York Moors. If you are looking for a wedding venue with a rural and dramatic backdrop, then North Yorkshire is the place to be.

Choose from an exceptional range of stunning castles, stone mansions and grand country houses, some are commercial hotels with a range of wedding packages, others offering an intimate setting with exclusivity for your special day. Priories, mills, rustic barns and pretty farms offer a variety of options with formal gardens, pretty villages or remote drama-filled landscapes depending on your preference. Look carefully as there are some unique venues seeking to produce something a little alternative even though the surroundings may be classic and traditional.

For an impressive town setting, why not choose the county town of York with its historic streets and characterful buildings or the medieval city of Ripon, the third smallest city in England with a rich heritage reflected in splendid architecture and largely untouched by the industrial revolution. For a different vibe, the Victorian spa town of Harrogate, offers all the charm of North Yorkshire, a wedding location with style. Hawes is an attractive market town popular with holidaymakers or with good access to Harrogate, there are the four charming North Yorkshire towns of Knaresborough, Masham, Boroughbridge and Pateley Bridge.

For those who want a wedding by the sea, North Yorkshire has a stunning heritage coastline just 26 miles in length with picturesque fishing villages between Saltburn and Cloughton, all part of the North York Moors National Park. There are some classic seaside towns including Whitby with its famous abbey, Staithes with its warren of pretty alleyways and traditional fishermen’s cottages and don’t overlook the beautiful and quaint Robin Hood’s Bay. Scarborough offers something for everyone. This medieval settlement overlooked by a castle dating from the 1150s, became Britain’s first seaside resort in the 17^th century and is notable for its rocky limestone cliffs that split the seafront into two sandy bays. Scarborough is the perfect destination for a bride and groom looking for a traditional ‘bucket and spade’ backdrop for their wedding.

North Yorkshire is a popular holiday destination so plan ahead with your date and accommodation for your wedding party as hotels and bed and breakfasts in busy locations can book up months in advance. Remember also that whilst a winter wedding in a bleak windswept landscape can offer some fabulous photo opportunities, your guests do need to be able to access the venue in the depths of a Yorkshire winter.

North Yorkshire benefits from the trunk road, the A1(M), bisecting the county with the M1 a little to the west in West Yorkshire. North Yorkshire is on the main East Coast mainline with train services from London King’s Cross stopping in the county as they head off towards Scotland. Leeds Bradford airport is only thirty miles from York with plenty of flights to and from popular European destinations.