‘Game of Thrones’ Season 4 Filming Wraps: Royal Wedding Upcoming and Photos from the Set

Game of Thrones season 4 won’t land on HBO until early Spring 2014, but luckily we’ve got a few pictures and some details about the new season that just finished filming….

So the bad news is we’re still at least four months or more away from Game of Thrones returning to HBO, but the good news is there are some photos from the set and a few details about the upcoming season that can be shared now!

Of course the show being based on George R.R. Martin’s book series sets up many story lines that everyone will know about before they happen, and the show has stuck to the source material pretty faithfully at least in the major points so it’s no surprise that some information about the upcoming season has leaked out.

One of the most talked about events coming up in season 4 is the ‘Royal Wedding’ with Joffrey finally taking a wife as Margaery will become queen and the set up for the event was a major happening on set for Game of Thrones.

According to Cat Taylor, who is a writer for Game of Thrones and also runs the production blog for HBO, the wedding took five days to film and ended up with more than 200 extras being placed in the setting. Here are some of the details about the wedding from Taylor:

While the ceremony itself was filmed in one of our semi-permanent sets in Belfast, the Sept of Baelor, the reception was filmed in a beautiful outdoor set located in Parc Gradac in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The park was transformed by our new Production Designer, Deb Riley, and her team into everything you might desire from a Royal Wedding carnival, with elaborate decorations, an epic feast and the most creative and unexpected forms of entertainment for the guests.

Filmed over a five day stretch, we waited with bated breath each day for the clouds to roll in and dampen our fun. Weather reports suggested imminent downpours at the end of the week, and only a few days before, water funnels had formed off the coast in the height of a rain storm. Aside from one short and dramatic burst where Costume scrambled to get all the extras under cover and everyone rushed to protect props, we were spared the worst of the predictions.

In terms of principal cast members in attendance, the Royal Wedding was one of the largest scenes we’ve filmed since the premiere season, with 23 named parts appearing on any given day. In addition, we were delighted to welcome 218 extras as guests to the event, some of them travelling from the other side of Europe and the United States to be a part of the experience. Lookout for some familiar faces in the crowds – Pixie Le Knot is back this year, and one of our crew makes an appearance with the entertainers.

Taylor later posted on Twitter that filming for Game of Thrones wrapped up about a week ago and now begins the process of adding in the effects and all the bells and whistles that bring Westeros to life.

That's all folks. Wolf camera wrap on Series 4 of @GameOfThrones. Until next year!

— Cat Taylor (@CatonSet) November 21, 2013

The other bit of Game of Thrones news comes via Fansided, who managed to collected a bevy of pictures from the set of the new season being shot in Northern Ireland and other locations around Europe. We’ve included a few of the photos here but to see the full set please visit Fansided for the full gallery: