Cloughan Castle Wedding Video, Co. Galway

Ava and Christopher were married at Cloughan Castle in Kilchreest, near Loughrea in Co. Galway. Eighty guests, one castle, and nobody else on the grounds all day.

I film all over Ireland and I had not worked at Cloughan before. It is not a hotel with a wedding wing. You take the whole place.

What Cloughan Castle is

Cloughan is a 13th century castle, last inhabited in the 15th century by Hugh deBurgo, and restored since. It sits in several acres of matured woodland outside Kilchreest, reached by a long sweeping driveway, with a four storey tower, ornamental stonework and countryside views in every direction. Inside there are seven bedrooms and two reception rooms: a banquet room and a drawing room.

You will also see it written as Cloghan Castle, including on the castle's own history pages and on visitgalway.ie. Same place. If you have been searching one spelling and finding very little, try the other.

The part that matters most for a wedding is the exclusivity. The castle is hired whole. There is no second wedding in the next function room, no residents' bar filling up beside your drinks reception, and no five o'clock handover to another couple. For a day of around 80 guests that changes the feel of the whole thing.

What that means for the film

Exclusive hire is the single biggest practical difference between a castle like this and a hotel, and it shows up in the finished film more than couples expect.

In a hotel I am working around other people's days: strangers in the background of a wide shot, function signage, a corridor I cannot use because another party is coming through it. At Cloughan there is none of that. Every frame is your day and your people. It sounds like a small thing until you watch the film back and realise there is not a single stranger in it.

The grounds do a lot of work too. A long driveway, mature woodland and a four storey tower give real variety without anyone getting into a car. That keeps the timeline calm, which is the thing that actually protects a wedding film. Time lost driving between locations comes out of the day somewhere, and it usually comes out of the relaxed part.

Ava and Christopher's day

Christopher came over from the States for this one, so it was an Irish castle wedding with a good chunk of the guest list flying in.

They did a first look at half one, before the ceremony. I am always glad when couples choose that. It gives you a genuinely private few minutes together on a day when you have almost none, and it takes the pressure off the portrait time later.

When Ava first got in touch, she described what she was after like this:

"Intimate, romantic and loads of fun. I'm drawn to your work because you capture those quiet, intimate gestures in such a subtle and elegant way."

The banquet room

The banquet room is where the evening happens, and it is a genuinely different proposition to a hotel ballroom. Bare stone, a working fireplace, a long table rather than rounds, and low light once the candles are lit.

For filming that is a room that rewards patience and punishes bright lights. I would rather work with the candles and the fire than flatten it all with a lamp, so speeches here look like the room actually looked.

Suppliers

Photography on the day was by Gary Collins.

The film

Highlights film coming soon!

Thinking about a Cloughan Castle wedding

If you are planning a wedding at Cloughan Castle, or anywhere in Galway, you can see recent wedding films, read about how my wedding videography works, or check whether your date is free.

Keith