Your North West Wedding- June/July 2020 (Issue 62)

All our stationery was by the talented Eaton Cards and Stationery. Our invitations, table plan and place cards had a grey marble theme and looked great. We also put a pen and bucket list card on every table and asked our guests to add an item to it. We love to travel, but it may take us a lifetime to complete the list! I love to bake, so the cake was one of the most important details! Some of my family are dairy and gluten-free, so I wanted to make sure it would cater for everyone. It was the biggest bake I’ve ever seen! It was five tiers with handmade fondant flowers and a Victoria sponge, lemon, chocolate, white chocolate and raspberry filling. We love the Lake District, so we wanted to support local businesses where possible. For our favours, we chose mini bottles of gin and gingerbread from The Lakes Distillery and Grasmere Gingerbread, which made great additions to the tables. Our centrepieces were tall vases surrounded by floating candles. We chose blush pink and cream roses, eucalyptus and foliage. Abbey House Hotel also created a beautiful flower arch that we placed at the entrance of the venue. We have a large family and lots of friends so we needed a reception venue that would be big enough to accommodate everyone. We viewed lots of venues, but as soon as we saw Abbey House Hotel, we knew it was the place for us. It’s a stunning hotel with original features which has been modernised and refurbished. While the place was beautiful, it was the staff that made the biggest difference for us. We weren’t just another couple through the door, we were given a genuinely warm and friendly welcome, and from that moment nothing was too much trouble for them. The service and attention to detail set them above any other property that we viewed. We’re quite traditional and wanted to get married in a church. I grew up in Hest Bank, and in 2016 we decided to build our first home there. It meant we could spend the morning of the wedding in my home town without having to travel far to the ceremony. 42