Elopement Inspiration at an Irish Castle

Ireland Castle Elopement

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, ladies + gents! We felt it only fitting to celebrate this Irish holiday today with a gorgeous elopement editorial, captured by the wildly talented Priscila Valentina Photography. Priscila wanted to recreate a piece of history that happened years + years ago at Dunluce Castle in Ireland. She shares, Lord McQuillan of Dunluce had imprisoned his daughter in the north-eastern tower after refusing the arranged marriage to her cousin. On a wild and stormy night, she and her true love, fled to the Mermaid’s Cave beneath the castle and set off on a rowboat but were dashed against the cliffs. While one may see it as a romantic tragedy, we believe that their souls will forever remain together, and wanted to capture a the love they would have shared today. We may not ever know why tragedy exists, but we hope that this recreation of their love story helps paint a picture of the love the two runaways shared, and gives them a different ending to be cherished…

Ireland Castle Elopement

Claire La Faye Wedding Dress

This dreamy Claire La Faye dress was a picture-perfect match for the stunning green cliffside surroundings + an intricate gold + pearl necklace – scored from a vendor at the Fashion District in Los Angeles – completed the look.

statement necklace

bow tie

Castle First Look

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Wouldn’t this be the most magical location to exchange your vows? The castle + surrounding Dark Hedges (seen in Game of Thrones!) is perfect for a dramatic destination elopement.

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Elopement with a Horse

So, so magical!

long veil

Claire La Faye Wedding Dress

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

One of our biggest challenges for the photoshoot was finding a rowboat to place by the castle. As if haunted by the eerie tale of the Dunluce Castle, we were told by nearly everyone we came into contact with that there was no way we could get a boat in the water during the winter and especially near the castle. We walked into every pub, restaurant, port, and local town to get a lead but no one could help us get closer to our goal of getting the simple rowboat.

The night before the shoot, we had to drive back to Dublin to retrieve equipment, with a full and anticipated day of work ahead of us, we left for our 4 hour drive at 10:30pm only to have had our rental car break down in the middle of the road. With all odds against us, later that night we received a call that made us truly believe in the luck of the Irish. With a quaint Irish accent, a fisherman had called and simply stated: “I got a boat for ya.”

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

Ireland Castle Elopement

You can see even more of this gorgeous shoot in the film below by Storytime Motions:

Thanks so much to the talented creatives below for sharing this dreamy project with us today!

photography: Priscila Valentina Photography // wedding dress: Claire La Faye // videography: Storytime Motions // necklace: Fashion District in Los Angeles // headband: Free People // location: Dark Hedges (As seen in Game of Thrones), Dunluce Castle in Ireland

Explore: