Your North West Wedding - October/November 2019 (Issue 58)

REAL WEDDINGS 33  C aroline and Clare’s friendship slowly grew into something more. “We worked as civil servants and became inseparable,” says Caroline. “We make each other laugh, and I love how caring and funny she is.” Clare proposed during a holiday to Venice. “We were celebrating Clare’s 30 th birthday,” shares Caroline. “We were on a speedboat, exploring the sights and much to my surprise, she asked me to marry her. I couldn’t have been happier, and I was so excited to spend my life with her.” SETTING THE SCENE “Our original wedding venue called and cancelled a few months before the wedding,” says Caroline. “We were devastated, but as soon as we saw Cote How Lake District Weddings, we knew it was meant to be. The barn and house are beautiful, and the owners, Caroline and Steve, were so helpful and friendly.” The couple made their favours. “I collected vintage teacups and put candles in them for our female guests,” Caroline explains. “For the men, I made a pink grapefruit and elderflower gin, and we had handmade linen bags filled with toys and sweets for the children.” They opted for pastel flowers. “We visited Laura at Greenwheat and told her what we wanted,” says Caroline. “We ended up choosing a combination of peonies, hydrangeas, roses, delphiniums, astilbes, lisianthus, eucalyptus and thlaspi.” Instead of purchasing a traditional cake, Caroline and Clare decided to plant a tree in the venue’s grounds. “My dad wrote a poem that my auntie read while we were digging,” Caroline shares. “It was a memorable moment, and we loved the idea of being able to visit the tree in years to come.” The lovebirds hired a Range Rover from Malvern Wedding Cars to transport them to the property. “We decorated the venue with lots of blooms,” explains Caroline. “Our main goal was to create a relaxed and informal setting. We placed rustic jam jars full of wildflowers on each table and hung pictures of our parents on their wedding days from a tree.”