North West Wedding

sweet on you. a valentine’s wedding in the north west – rachel & ian

Rachel Hirst

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (33)

Today’s wedding couple encountered every bride and groom’s worst nightmare when their chosen reception venue went into administration just months before their big day.

Keeping their cool Rachel and Ian found an alternative venue in The White Heart at Lydgate. Though they had to switch their date from early April to Valentine’s weekend, the determined duo decided to stick with their pretty pastel springtime colour palette and were pleased to say it worked seamlessly. Add in some cute vintage touches and fabulous florals and you’ve got one

very sweet

big day!

With images by Katie Sidell Photography.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (2)

rachel says:

We got engaged whilst on a relaxing weekend away at the seaside in Bridlington in July 2013. We went for a walk to the beach at Flamborough Head where Ian had planned to propose. However when we arrived it was rather busy and a young family and then a man with a metal detector spoilt the moment for Ian so he chickened out! We later went for a walk along the cliff tops and whilst sat on a bench overlooking the sea Ian got down on one knee!

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (7)

We should have been getting married on the 4th April 2015 but after the wedding reception went into administration we were left to find a new venue just before Christmas! The White Hart Inn at Lydgate came to our rescue and we got married on the 15th February 2015 – it was to be a valentine’s wedding weekend!

We got married at St Paul’s Methodist Church in Shaw, which is the church I have attended along with my family all my life. It was really important to me to get married there because it’s a place where I have grown up!  Ian doesn’t go to church so it took me a few years to persuade him! Our reception at the White Hart was absolutely perfect and we couldn’t recommend this venue enough.  It is surrounded by picturesque landscape and amazing scenery.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (11)

Having got engaged at the seaside in Bridlington, we came across a shop called Behind the Times (one of our favourite shops) which recycles materials to produce vintage products which soon became our theme. We purchased our save the dates and wedding invitations along with lots of other bits from there.

After deciding on a spring wedding we went for a neutral colour scheme with a variety of pastel shades.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (19)

My dress was from a bridal shop called Amelia’s Bridal Boutique in Clitheroe. We visit Clitheroe quite a lot and my Mum always said that when my sister or I got engaged we would go there to look for dresses. So that’s where I went. My dress was the very first one I tried on, and I just knew it was the one. The dress had a high lace neck and a stunning low V back which led into buttoned detailing down to the satin train. It also had a beautiful detailed waist band and pockets, which was a real quirky selling point for me!

Ian wore a slim fit navy blue suit with matching waist coast and tie with a fresh white shirt.  The suits were from Next.  His shoes were black brogues, also from Next.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (24)

I looked for months at bridesmaid dresses and couldn’t make my mind up! In the end my sister, who was my maid of honour, ordered them online and surprised me one night with all my bridesmaids wearing them!  The dresses were a simple, long, high-necked, maxi dress from BHS in a champagne colour. The dresses had a lovely detailed waist band which tied into my waist band. The groomsmen meanwhile all wore matching suits, shirts and tie to the groom.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (26)

We travelled in my Grandfather’s vintage Mercedes. My Grandad was thrilled when we asked him if we could use his car and if he would be our chauffeur for the day. Him and my Grandma went all out and dressed the car in bows and put flowers on the parcel self – they loved it! It was perfect!

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (27)

Our photographer was Katie Sidell. She is absolutely brilliant and we can’t recommend her enough! Her pictures are so beautiful and natural. She managed to capture every precious moment of our special day from start to finish. The best part about Katie is that you don’t really notice she is there!! It was exciting to see the photographs as there were so many pictures that we hadn’t realised she had taken on the day. Aside from the photographs she is a really lovely person who made me, and particularly Ian, feel at ease with the camera and we do hope she will be free for a christening one day!

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (30)

I carried a mixed bouquet of roses, carnations, lisianthus and gypsy, all in pale colours. The bridesmaids had something similar but on a smaller scale. The flowers where from a family friend called Nina Forbes, she is brilliant and knew exactly what I wanted!

Nina made the flower arrangements for the reception which stood on the top of some tall vases. The vases were then situated on round mirror plates that were dressed with chrome tea-light candle holders. We also dressed the room using four big flower arrangements from the church. Some of the ladies at church, including my two Grandma’s, made these arrangements up the day before and they were beautiful!

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (34)

I have a very sweet tooth so as favours we filled jam-jars full of our favourite sweets!  We then dressed the top of the jars in some vintage flower material and tied brown luggage labels around them with the guest’s name on. These then doubled up as place names.

A family friend Elaine Day made our cake. We had one layer Victoria sponge, another chocolate and another lemon drizzle. It was gorgeous.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (38)

For entertainment we used the resident DJ at the White Hart who was brilliant. He played a range of music had had everyone on the dance floor all night! Later he was on his way to a local club with four of the guests in a taxi at closing time!

We asked our guests to give us their favourite three songs to be played on our wedding day. We then used these songs to create a playlist for the wedding breakfast and a playlist for the DJ at night. This added a special touch to the day and night as people’s choices were played throughout the wedding letting them enjoy their favourite songs while we were enjoying our special day. In the evening it was also fun to name and shame some of the guests who had put some embarrassing choices on their top three – the DJ made sure they were pointed out and brought on the dance floor to our amusement!

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (41)

The White Hart Inn is amazing and we would definitely recommend the venue to others! The service we received in the build up to the wedding and on the day was brilliant. It was like they couldn’t do enough for us! They were in regular contact and had even thought of things we hadn’t to make our day run smoothly. Having an attentive manager on hand at all times throughout the day was reassuring to us both that if there were any issues they were sorted out straight away. Both of us have and will continue to praise the venue, location, food and the experience we had to all our friend and people we know.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (60)

Our whole day was perfect from start to finish.  We wish we could do it all over again! Ian particularly enjoyed seeing his best men (his uncle and his youngest brother) stand up for their speeches. Both were so nervous before the day (a few gin and tonics were drank before the speeches) but they both stood up and spoke in front of around 130 people. They did an amazing job with funny and embarrassing stories but Ian couldn’t have been more proud.

A pretty pastel wedding at The White Hart Inn (c) Katie Sidell Photography (57)

For our honeymoon we spent a week in Paris straight after the wedding and it was perfect. It was so romantic! We visited all the sites and spent our nights in swanky restaurants and bars. It was just a shame we had to come home as the reality hit that it was all over and we had to go back to work!

My top tips for other Brides Up North is to not stress about the planning and organising before the wedding. No matter what happens it will be absolutely perfect! Also, let your guests come to you!  Don’t stand at the door welcoming guests and then saying goodbye to guests. It’s your special day and your guests will know to find you on the dance floor!

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