We first met by chance in Bury. We’re both from Bury
originally but we’d moved away from the area for a while – I came back to visit
a friend, Steven had just moved back, and then we met each other on a night
out. We got chatting about football when it became apparent that we shared
friends who knew each other, and that our paths had crossed on a number of
occasions so it was surprising we hadn’t met previously.
The proposal was special. We had gone on holiday to Rhodes
in June 2015 and during the holiday Steven arranged for us to sail to another
Greek island; it was a beautiful place called Symi and we stayed there for a
night. After a lovely meal and a few cocktails overlooking the sea he presented
me with a new charm for my bracelet. The
charm said ‘Marry Me’ – he then got down
on one knee and presented me with a gorgeous diamond ring. And of course I said
yes…
We chose Eaves Hall as our wedding venue. We fell in love
with it from the moment we drove up the long drive; the building and grounds are
stunning and we both said ‘how amazing would our wedding photos be here’. The
venue, despite its formal façade, has a relaxed country house feel to it. Eaves
Hall offers exclusive use, and we loved the idea of booking the venue for the
whole weekend and having our close family and friends with us. On the Friday
night we could all enjoy a relaxed meal together, and then on Saturday all of
our guests could stay in the Hall too.
Eaves Hall has a few different function rooms and is
versatile enough to allow people to be in a quiet room if they didn’t want to
party. My grandad appreciated the open fire and comfy sofas! The boys
appreciated the gentleman’s billiard room. We were told that when we booked the
venue it would be ours to do what we wanted for the weekend and the staff were amazingly
flexible and welcoming – even to our dog Rupert.
Our wedding colours were ivory and burgundy. After seeing
Eaves Hall and the decor with sparkly mirrors and chandeliers we decided that
we would incorporate this into our own decor choices to create a magical winter
sparkly wedding. Creative Cover Hire dressed
the rooms with swags and LED lights, a sparkling giant love sign and a
decorative arch with trailing crystals by the sweetheart table . Our florist
Flower Design Bolton complimented this with more trailing crystals on the
centrepieces and crystals in the wedding flowers and bouquets.
We found our wedding suppliers by visiting a few wedding
fairs but mainly looked online for suppliers and came across Little White Books.
This is how we found some of suppliers including our photographer Mick Cookson
and venue stylists Creative Cover Hire.
On the big day itself, our sole intention was for our guests
to have fun and for the day to be joyful, fun and a celebration of our
happiness. We wanted entertainment for the children as well as the adults. We
hired lots of suppliers to make sure the day flowed without flat moments, such
as a magician, caricaturist, photo booth, singing waiters, candy cart,
fireworks, DJ, and a pianist. Our family and friends loved the venue, the
beautiful guest rooms, and the fantastic food which was simply outstanding. A
lot of our guests have said they enjoyed the variety of entertainment and
having souvenirs from the caricaturist and photo booth. However, our singing
waiters seemed to have provided the most enduring impression on our
guests.
I think our most vivid memory from the day was standing on
the front terrace with our guests in the evening watching our fireworks through
the snow, choreographed to Steven’s favourite song Adagio for Strings. Truly a
magical moment. There’s lots more unforgettable moments though, such as saying our
vows at the church, our photos in the snow and our fabulous singing waiters
fooling all of our guests.
All of our suppliers were fantastic and the day went without
hitch. Our florist, Flower Design in Bolton, decorated our church and venue
beautifully. Our centrepieces were breathtaking and every detail was perfect.
Even the sudden onset of snow during our photographs didn’t
deter photographer Mick Cookson, he just kept calm and carried on, producing
photos of a magical winter wonderland. Mick also took some stunning photos of
our family and friends and coped well with our dog Rupert when he insisted on
photobombing pictures!
If I could pass on a piece of advice to other bride &
grooms-to-be, it would be this: as much as we were focused on all of guests
sharing in our joy and having a fabulous time, it is important to remember the
meaning of the day and have time together. This is why we chose to have a
sweetheart table instead of a top table during the wedding breakfast.
Role call:
