Thornewood Castle has been on my list of wedding venues that I wanted to photographed at and so I was so excited when Codi & Sam reached out to me for their spring wedding there. Codi had told me in our first meeting that their wedding would be “French Bistro” themed which I think makes Thornewood Castle a great backdrop for their wedding. In doing some research on Thornewood Castle I discovered Thornewood Castle was built to the specifications of Mr. Chester Thorne, one of the founders of the Port of Tacoma, in beautiful Washington State as a gift for his bride, Anna. The building of Thornewood was truly a labor of love. In 1907, Mr. Thorne purchased a 400-year-old  Elizabethan manor in England and had it dismantled and shipped, brick by brick, from England to be included in the building of Thornewood. The famous architect, Kirtland Kelsey Cutter, was in charge of this most interesting Tudor Gothic project.

Thornewood Castle is constructed with concrete and steel on a solid three-foot-thick foundation. Exterior walls are brick and concrete with steel reinforcement. The floors are ten inches of concrete. Construction took three years to complete, from 1908 to 1911, with many of the materials, including the brick, oak paneling, oak staircase and the medieval stained glass coming from the castle in England. The red brick facing on the outside of the estate was imported from Wales.  Three ships were commissioned to transport these building supplies around Cape Horn to the Pacific Northwest.

Codi & Sam’s French Bistro themed worked perfectly with Thornewood Castle as their backdrop, originally they had planned to have the entire wedding outside in the beautiful sunken garden at Thornewood but due to rain the day before it was just too wet to have it outside but thankfully we didn’t have any rain on their big day so we could still do all the photos outside. Codi & Sam wanted to wait to see each other for the first time till Codi was walking down the aisle with her parents. After their ceremony we had some time to do a few portraits in the sunken garden then it was time for dinner by Pacific Grill Catering. During the reception they had an amazing Gypsy jazz band called Rangers & the “Re-Arrangers” which was perfect and seriously one of my favorite music to listen too now. Congratulation to Codi & Sam your wedding was seriously so beautiful and thank you letting us be part of your special day.

Photographer: Jenny Storment Photography
Venue: Thornewood Castle
Officiant: A Wedding with Heart
Band: Ranger & the “Re-Arrangers”
Cater: Pacific Grill Events & Catering
Floral: Pacific Grill Events & Catering
Bridal Gown: Weddings With Joy
Hair & Makeup: Aurian Swift Fire Beauty
Second Photographer: Lindsey D.