Emma & Sam’s Picture Perfect Wedding at Bowcliffe Hall

THE BEGINNING

We came to the Bowcliffe Hall Wedding Fayre funnily enough to see a Tipi as I was desperate to have a Tipi Wedding. We had looked at a couple of venues and we hadn’t seen anywhere that we both loved and couldn’t seem to agree on what we wanted (maybe we were a bit confused!). We could not believe how beautiful Bowcliffe Hall was as we walked around the Wedding Fayre and when we got outside to the Blackburn Wing we decided that it was the venue for us.

THE BRIDE

Sam and I met almost 5 years ago to the day of our wedding through work (I actually interviewed him for a job!) He proposed three years later in a beautiful restaurant in The Shard in London just 2 weeks before Christmas. It took me completely by surprise as, although we had talked about marriage, we had just bought a house so I was happy enough with that! I said yes, of course, and we started looking at venues early in 2020. We wanted a relaxed, informal, fun and sociable wedding but wanted to keep some tradition. The venues we had looked at were quite formal and strict with food options and how the day should run and we didn’t really like that, but Bowcliffe Hall were just so wonderful and accommodating on our every request – nothing was too much hard work!

ARRIVAL

Groom arrived with groomsmen in their cars and the bride and mother of the bride arrived in a Vintage Beauford (with the roof down!!) and my three bridesmaids arrived in a Chrysler rented by Yorkshire Bridal Cars (Couldn’t recommend them enough).

THE VENUE

What did you want from the venue?

We wanted a classic, elegant venue that could provide an amazing experience for our guests. We wanted exclusivity and flexibility with how the day ran, what we ate etc and also a venue that offered something a little bit different. I have never been to a venue like Bowcliffe Hall before,

How did you choose your venue?

It was such an easy decision! As soon as we pulled through the gates we were both blown away and couldn’t believe we had never heard of Bowcliffe Hall before. We had decided within the first hour of being there that we would get married there. The Bowcliffe staff at the Wedding Fayre (Becky and Laura were the two we first met) were so friendly and approachable – we had loads of questions and they were absolutely amazing and came back to our emails after the Fayre straight away. They even took us into the newly refurbished mens toilets so we could see them (toilets are an important factor for a wedding!!) and they were impecabbly decorated.

THE DÉCOR/THEME

Did you need to do much to the venue to get it to the style you wanted?

We loved all the little quirks, like all the signs around the outside of the venue, the old memorabilia such as the radios and artwork and absolutely loved the Drivers Club. There is so much history to the venue and so many of our guests commented on the décor of the Hall, it really is so impressive! The grounds are absolutely beautiful too and our wedding photos are just exceptional! Toilets are stunning also!

Did you utilise any of the lighting elements, if so how did they contribute to the overall theme?

Yes we did – we had our night do in the Blackburn Wing so we had the multi coloured ceiling lights on, the trees were also all lit up outside as well as the wing itself. We loved the flashing lights over the bridge into the Blackburn Wing (like a runway!). Also, the chandelier in the Bowcliffe Room was stunning – we had this green to match our wedding theme!

THE FLOWERS

Sam’s mum did our flowers for us and they were stunning. We had white roses and greenery to match our wedding theme. We also used Limelight Emporium who supplied us with canopy blossom trees for our ceremony and canopy Wisteria trees for above our top table that were absolutely beautiful.

THE BRIDESMAIDS/GROOMSMEN

1 maid of honour and 2 flower girls – my sister was my maid of honour and wore an emerald green Ted Baker dress and my two flower girls wore white lace dresses with emerald green sashes. They looked beautiful.

Sam had 3 groomsmen- 2 of his best friends and his nephew. The groomsmen wore Navy 3 piece suits to match the groom from Moss Bros.

THE CEREMONY

I was so excited to walk down the aisle! I had been so nervous all day and I just couldn’t wait to see Sam and get the party started! My mum walked me down the aisle and she was so excited to do this and kept my nerves at bay (and giving me a couple of glasses of champagne on the way!). I walked down the aisle to Forever Love by Gary Barlow played by our amazing pianist. My favourite part was arriving in the Beauford as the car was so stunning and we pulled over to get the roof down (and top up the champers!) and the sun was shining down on us which was amazing for the end of October!

THE FOOD & DRINK

Wow it was just unreal! We didn’t want a formal three course sit down and from the very start the team worked with us to offer whatever we wanted. Initially we were going to do a buffet, then we talked about Sharing Platters (charchuterie boards) and then decided with the time of year we wanted a Roast Dinner (can’t beat it!). We have had so many compliments from our guests on how amazing the food was! We had the option of beef, chicken or mushroom wellington, they all went down so well. We didn’t have a starter as it was a late wedding, and for desert we had Crunchie and Terrys Chocolate Orange Tiffins (packaged up as favours)! They were amazing and personal to us as they’re our favourite chocolate bars.

Tell us about the cake…

Our family friend made the cake for us – a two tier Lemon and Carrot cake, it was beautiful! It was iced with white icing and had some of our wedding flowers on the top.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

First dance was Can’t Help Falling in Love by Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee – my two favourite artists.

This was followed by a band (Undercovered) who were amazing and did 2 x 1 hour sets and then they DJ’ed in between!

We also hired a Magic Mirror Photo Booth and it was so so fun!!

THE TEAM AT BOWCLIFFE HALL

The best team ever and an absolute testament to the business. From the first day of meeting the staff (Laura and Becky) at the Wedding Fayre we knew this would be our wedding venue as they were so nice and so friendly. They totally understood our vision and assured us that they would work with us to create the wedding we wanted. We had been to a couple of venues where we just didn’t really get the same feeling from the staff and things seemed quite rigid and we didn’t like this. Becky was our wedding coordinator and she was amazing from start to finish, even when I was emailing her three days before the wedding trying to add canapes (haha sorry Becky!) she still tried her best to accommodate this and make things work. The staff on the night were amazing – the service level was exceptional considering a lot of the team were quite new. We had so many comments about how stunning the venue was, how great the food was, how great the staff were and how everything just ran so smoothly. I would and will recommend Bowcliffe Hall to every single person I meet as without doubt the best wedding venue in Yorkshire.

THE END

We danced all night and got a chauffer pick up from the front steps. I remember looking back out of the window to see Bowcliffe Hall lit up, looking absolutely spectacular and feeling like the luckiest girl in the world!