Tayler & Jacob’s Hammond Castle Elopement | Gloucester, Massachusetts

Tayler and Jacob knew exactly what they wanted for their wedding day.

No huge guest list. No giant production. No worrying about whether Aunt Karen is offended because Uncle Steve got invited and she didn’t. No standing in front of 150 people while everyone watches you get married.

Just Tayler and Jake.

They wanted their wedding to be about the two of them, and that meant eloping at one of the most incredible places imaginable: Hammond Castle in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

And honestly? I freaking loved everything about that plan.

I actually met Tayler and Jake just a few days before their wedding for their engagement session at Greenlawn Cemetery in Salem. We spent some time wandering around the cemetery, getting to know each other and making some pretty badass images. Then, just a few days later, we were all meeting up again, this time at a medieval castle.

Because apparently that’s just how Tayler and Jake do things.

Getting Ready: Just the Two of Them

When we arrived at Hammond Castle, Tayler and Jake decided to get ready together.

No getting ready photos. No bridal party. No family members running around. No crowd.

Just the two of them in one of the small rooms inside the castle, getting ready for their wedding day together.

And that really set the tone for the entire day.

There wasn’t any pressure to perform for anyone else. They weren’t trying to entertain guests or keep a giant timeline moving. They were simply there to get married and enjoy the day together.

And that’s exactly what they did.

A Ten-Minute Ceremony in a Castle

Their ceremony was short and sweet, probably around ten minutes.

Just Tayler, Jake, their officiant, and the absolutely ridiculous backdrop of the Great Room at Hammond Castle.

They said their vows, got married, and that was it.

No drawn out ceremony. No elaborate production.

Just the important part.

Then we got to do what Tayler and Jake really wanted to spend their day doing:

taking pictures.

And as a photographer, I’m certainly not going to complain about that.

Hammond Castle Is Basically a Photographer’s Playground

I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph at Hammond Castle several times over the years, and it is easily one of the most unique wedding venues I’ve ever worked in.

Everywhere you turn there’s something interesting: different architectural styles, stone walls, enormous staircases, medieval artifacts, arches, windows, old wood, and little corners that look completely different from the one you were standing in five minutes ago.

And I’m lucky enough to be back there again this year, with another Hammond Castle wedding already on the calendar for next year.

But Tayler and Jake’s day gave me something I’ve never really had before.

The Great Room.

Normally, when I’m photographing a wedding there, the Great Room is filled with tables, guests, a dance floor and all the usual reception chaos.

But this time?

There were no guests.

Just the two of them.

So we got to use the entire room.

We wandered around the Great Room and used the massive staircase leading up toward the atrium. We played with the architecture, the light and all those incredible little details that make Hammond Castle what it is.

And because Tayler and Jake had specifically chosen me because of my use of light, we had plenty of time to create something a little more artistic and intentional than your standard “stand here and smile” wedding photos.

Every Corner of the Atrium Became Its Own Set

From the Great Room, we made our way into the atrium.

This might be one of my favorite places in the castle because every wall feels completely different.

Different architecture. Different textures. Different light.

You can basically turn around and have an entirely different backdrop.

So that’s exactly what we did.

We moved around the atrium, using each little section as its own scene and creating a variety of portraits without ever having to leave the building.

And then I got to do something else I’d never done before:

go into the library.

I’d never photographed in the library before, and I had never even been inside it.

The ceiling is this incredible dome shape, and the acoustics in there are bizarre in the best possible way. You can talk and hear your voice echo back down at you.

It’s one of those rooms where you walk in and immediately think, Okay, this is freaking cool.

So naturally, we took advantage of it.

Then We Took It Outside

Eventually, we made our way outside to explore the rest of the castle grounds.

We used the gardens, the exterior walls, the drawbridge and those famous arches overlooking the ocean.

I’m honestly not even sure what those arches were originally intended for, but at this point they’re one of those unmistakably Hammond Castle spots that you just have to photograph.

And of course, we did.

Because when you have a couple who has given you basically the entire day to create portraits in a freaking castle, you use every damn inch of it.

Ending the Day by the Ocean

We eventually left the castle and headed down the street to a rocky little stretch of beach.

And it was the perfect way to finish their portraits.

The ocean crashing against the rocks was LOUD. Like, really loud.

The rocks, the water, the sky and the sound of the waves created a completely different atmosphere from everything we’d just been doing inside the castle.

After spending hours surrounded by stone walls and medieval architecture, suddenly we were standing beside the ocean with Tayler and Jake completely alone.

It felt like the perfect ending to their day.

A Wedding That Was Completely Their Own

One of the things I loved most about Taylor and Jake’s wedding was that they never tried to make it into something it wasn’t.

They didn’t want a big wedding.

They didn’t want a huge guest list.

They didn’t want to be the center of attention.

They didn’t want to worry about hurting someone’s feelings by leaving them off the guest list.

They wanted to get married, spend the day together, have some incredible photographs and enjoy the experience without a bunch of outside expectations attached to it.

And they did exactly that.

Tayler and Jake are both incredibly private, genuinely sweet people, and it was so easy to see how much they enjoyed simply being together.

From our engagement session at Greenlawn Cemetery just a few days before the wedding to wandering around Hammond Castle and eventually ending up on the rocky Massachusetts coast, the entire experience felt very them.

And I’m so damn glad they chose me to document it.

Because sometimes the best weddings aren’t the biggest ones.

Sometimes it’s just two people, a castle, a little ocean air and a whole lot of time to make some really cool photographs.