Howsham Hall is the quintessential English country house set in the depths of North Yorkshire, making it the perfect setting for our lovely couple Sarah and Peter to tie the knot in style.
Today’s real wedding spotlight is shining on a beautiful and traditional wedding, with all the charm and elegance that you’d expect from an exclusive venue on a sunny September day. As summer comes to a close, our bride and her groom said their vows in front of their nearest and dearest and the whole day packs a whole lot of pretty.
We’re seeing classic Savin London, tasteful and tonal neutrals, a showstopper of a cake and more happy faces than we can count – and after all is said and done, that’s one of the most important parts of the whole day, right? Let’s find out how Sarah and Peter pulled off their dream wedding day.
With photography by Amy Jordison Photography
Engagement
Sarah says: We got engaged in March 2020, one week before the national lockdown! It happened in the Lake District, on Catbells which was the first mountain we climbed together. We spend a lot of time in the Lake District and it’s somewhere special to us both.
Setting
We were married on September 18th 2021. We always wanted a September wedding because Sarah’s parents and grandparents both got married in September. We also thought September gave us a great chance at getting some good weather and that turned out to be true.
The wedding was at UNVEILED Network Member Howsham Hall, North Yorkshire. We wanted a venue with exclusivity for the day and I loved the venue when I visited for the first time. The bridal suite was an amazing space to get ready on the morning of the wedding. The venue has 12 individually styled rooms which enabled all our close family to stay over and share the following morning with us too.
Theme
We wanted a very classic, traditional wedding but to still have a laid back feel. The weather on the day enabled us to use the outdoor space for guest entertainment with garden games.
Our palette was sage green and neutrals. We felt it was classy and in-keeping with the traditional feel.
Dress
My Savin London dress was simple and classic.
Groomsmen
Peter wore a navy blue Hackett suit with a nude Ted Baker waistcoat and Ted Baker brogues. His groomsmen wore the same but the dads were in a different waistcoat.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids wore Onlyway multiway dresses from Joys Bella Bridesmaids in Riccall.
Beauty
Makeup for the day was done by Emily Josephs and hair was by Hannah Green.
Transport
We travelled by car with my dad driving.
Photographer
Our photographer was Amy Jordison, who we would absolutely recommend.
We had an amazing time doing two pre-wedding shoots and felt so comfortable on the day. So many people have commented on our pictures to say how talented Amy is!
Videographer
Alex at StudioLester was lots of fun on the day and made us feel really at ease. Getting some of the drone shots was really different and was a talking point for the day!
Styling
Willow and Bear were behind our styling. David Austin roses made up the most of my bouquet with a mixture of eucalyptus and other foliage.The majority of our floral decorations were a mixture of foliage and small white roses
In terms of inspo, I actually followed Brides Up North on Instagram from when I got engaged. The website was great for inspiration but our whole planning of the wedding (April 2020 to September 2021) was deeply impacted by Covid so there sadly wasn’t the option of any wedding fairs.
Favours
We had flower seeds and personalised key rings (which we also used as name places) as favours for our guests.
Cake
Cakerbells made us a naked cake with four tiers; two of raspberry and white chocolate, one cherry bakewell and one Victoria sponge. This was then decorated with macarons and eucalyptus.
Dining
We served our guests canapés of Welsh Rarebit, smoked salmon with horseradish puree, and lamb kofta and mint yoghurt dip.
For the main wedding breakfast, we had a starter fillet of beef carpaccio with truffle oil and rocket salad. This was then followed by pork belly with apple puree, braised red cabbage and roasted potatoes, and then a dessert on Eton Mess.
We then also had a French Sauvignon Blanc and an Argentinian Merlot.
Entertainment
We’d hired garden games for the guests during the day on the front lawn. We wanted people to feel relaxed during the breakouts. We also had a DJ in the evening. We’re into some of the 70s and 80s classics but also love some of the 00s dance classics so we had a good mix!
Special touches
We didn’t have a guestbook but instead put out three bottles of wine for our lovely guests to sign. These were labelled one year, five years and ten years, for us to enjoy on each anniversary!
Thanks to
We genuinely feel like every supplier we used went above and beyond. I couldn’t single anyone out! If we were to do it all over again we would be using all the same suppliers.
The venue and staff at UNVEILED Network Member Dine were great and the setting provided some amazing spots for photography – every guest commented how special it was!
Best bit
The speeches were our favourite part! Everyone felt a little nervous before the best man’s speech but it totally stole the show. My dad and Pete were brilliant too, of course. They provided lots of tears and laughter.
Honeymoon
Our original trip to the Maldives was sadly cancelled due to Covid so we had a week in The Lake District instead. We did plenty of paddle boarding, hiking, relaxing, eating and drinking – far too much!
Advice
My advice would be not to stress about the small things because you really don’t notice them on the day. Peter’s tip would be that having a few before the speech always helps the nerves!
