Sarah & DJ’s Picture Perfect Wedding

THE BEGINNING

We had never heard of Bowcliffe Hall before, despite my parents living 20 minutes away, and we actually came across one of these blogs on google when searching for ‘alternatives to tipi weddings` as that was our first venue idea. A couple had got married at Bowcliffe Hall and had written in their blog that originally they wanted a tipi wedding but when they saw Bowcliffe Hall they never looked back. We felt we had to go and see Bowcliffe because of how amazing it sounded and our story is exactly the same, we never looked back either! The second we drove over that bridge and saw Bowcliffe Hall for the first time we were hooked, we had to get married there. The venue is absolutely stunning and all of our guests commented on that same feeling when they arrived on our wedding day.

THE BRIDE

DJ and I met at University 10 years ago, we were actually due to get married in 2020 however due to COVID we had to postpone two times however looking back now being able to get married on our 10^th year together made it even more special and was the perfect silver lining.

DJ proposed to me on a trip to Berlin in 2018 which I had actually planned as a surprise for his birthday so it was a total shock! He sneakily planned a boat trip (which I thought was just a kind man offering us a lift – seems so obvious now!!) and got down on one knee on the boat and the driver even captured the whole thing on camera – it was perfect! We then had a 2 hour boat ride, drinking prosecco, waving at people like we were celebrities in our engagement bubble!

We ended up being engaged for longer than planned due to postponements so our vision for the wedding changed a bit over the years. Becky our wedding planner, was absolutely fantastic, helped us with ideas and took away any pressure I was feeling with the planning. I am a bit of a control freak but I felt so at ease knowing Becky would pull of our vision for the day and she did not disappoint!

THE GROOM

The first time we met was on a night out in Sheffield whilst we were both at university. My first impressions was that she was slightly loud but very pretty – I knew we’d get on when we were joking around and ended the night at a McDonalds!

We got engaged in August 2018. She had originally announced an early surprise for my birthday with a trip to Berlin. When she announced the surprise, I bought the ring and planned a 2 hour private boat cruise down the river Spree in the heart of Berlin. On the day it was 30+degrees and I had to come up with a few excuses as to where we were going, and eventually the boat pulled up. I pretended to ask for directions whilst she hung back, but the captain of the boat knew what was going on. I shouted to say he’d take us across the river quickly, with Sarah saying, ‘what a nice man, we need to tip him’. I got her to stand up and proposed there and then on the boat, with the captain capturing it all on camara. It was such a great day and feeling!

The main thing we both wanted from the wedding day was to have all of our family and friends celebrating with us. Music and food were a massive part of the day, and it did not disappoint!

ARRIVAL

The groom arrived first by taxi and welcomed all of our guests who took a while getting in because they were all in awe of the venue!

The bridesmaids and mother of the bride then arrived by a stretch Chrysler limo shortly followed by the bride and father of the bride who were in a Rolls Royce Phantom – slightly later than planned whoops!

THE VENUE

The venue was more than we could have dreamt of. DJ wanted a more traditional setting whereas I had been looking for a modern one. Bowcliffe literally had it all, we were so lucky to be able to use the hall for our ceremony and breakfast, the amazing drivers club for our drinks reception and cocktail hour and then the Blackburn Wing for our evening reception.

There was no decision to make with Bowcliffe, it was clear from the second we saw it that we had to get married there. After DJ and I attended on a wedding open event, we quickly returned with my parents, then DJs family and then my grandma and grandad because we wanted to show it off – everyone was totally amazed. My grandad sadly passed away before we could get married so it meant so much that he had been able to see the venue and to know how much he loved it too.

There’s nothing not to love about Bowcliffe our absolute favourite spots were the bar in the wedding breakfast room (so cool!), the grand staircase (which was perfect to show off the long lace train on my dress) and of course the Blackburn wing… I mean how can you say no to a venue that has a treehouse to dance in?!

THE DECOR/THEME

The venue itself barely needed any dressing, our style was quite minimal and simple and we added simple foliage and white flowers to all the rooms. Although the venue itself didn’t need much I am a DIY queen so there was a lot of personalized elements such as a mirrored order of the day/seating plan, DIY scratch cards and menus for our guests and an area for our guests to raise a toast with our grandparents who could not be there. We also had the most amazing wisteria branches over our top table which looked INCREDIBLE!

THE FLOWERS

Our flowers were eucalyptus, white roses and gypsophilia which has sentimental value to me. My bouquet was INCREDIBLE and our florist even helped me to attach a locket to it which belonged to my mums mum and contained pictures of my grandads.

We were so happy we went with mostly foliage and white flowers as it just felt so minimal, elegant and didn’t then take away from all the amazing décor at Bowcliffe Hall.

THE BRIDESMAIDS/GROOMSMEN

DJ’s best man was his twin brother and he then also had 4 groomsman made up of his other brother, Sarah’s brother and his two oldest friends. They all looked very smart and sophisticated in their check grey suits which DJ liked to tell everyone about how much of a bargain they were!!

I had a maid of honour and 6 bridesmaids made up of my sister-in-law and friend and my closest girls who have been in my life for a very long time. They wore dusky pink dresses and held bunches of gypsophilia and looked so beautiful – they were the best bridesmaids ever who threw me 3 hen parties in total in the end – one virtual, one garden party and a trip to Barcelona! More silver linings!

THE CEREMONY

Walking down the aisle with my Dad I could not stop half laughing/half crying. DJ makes me laugh everyday of my life and seeing his huge grin at the bottom of the aisle I just felt so overwhelmed with happiness I was making some strange sobbing/laughing noises! I walked down the aisle to a song called Finally by Lusaint which for obvious reasons just felt perfect. My dad was by my side after holding my hand the whole way to the venue

DJ and I chose to write personal vows for our ceremony and it was one of the most memorable parts of the day for me, I am getting teary now thinking about how perfect they were!

THE FOOD & DRINK

DJ and I are huge foodies and our absolute favourite is tapas. We decided to ask Bowcliffe if tapas could be an option instead of a traditional meal and we were over the moon when they said they would pull us a menu together. THE FOOD WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about how delicious it was and people were saying it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding before. We had build your own bruschetta for starters, followed by 6 traditional tapas mains which everyone shared and then a trio of deserts including churros, brownies and cinnamon glazed pineapple. I wish I could eat that meal again and again! My mum and dad even went in to thank the chef the next day!

Bowcliffe even accommodated our requests for a sangria bike at the drinks reception and a cocktail hour after our speeches as I couldn’t imagine my wedding day without an espresso martini!

We then had a hog roast for evening food which was a huge hit with our guests – the pork crackling was out of this world!

Our cake was another showstopper, we had a 4 tier stand with a small cake on top sitting on top of 3 tiers of cake pops in assorted flavours each with mini forks in so our guests could pick them up. It was so tasty and even had lights on so we could light it up in the evening! It was also DJs nans 85^th birthday on our wedding day and our cake lady made her a delicious birthday cake and all of our guests sang happy birthday to her during the speeches!

THE ENTERTAINMENT

We had a DJ and Sax duo for our evening entertainment who kept the party going all night long, everyone had so much fun and the dancefloor was never empty. We had sparklers and fireworks later in the evening which our guests loved. DJ and I are really sociable people and the Blackburn Wing was the perfect setting to host a party for all of our favourite people.

DJ is a huge house music fan and I had contacted one of his favourite DJs ahead of our wedding day who recorded him a personal mini mix of his favourite tracks which we played late in the evening as a surprise!

A personal favourite moment for me was dancing with my dad to one of his favourite songs tiger feet. The DJ was amazing at accommodating all of our requests.

THE TEAM AT BOWCLIFFE HALL

From start to finish of a long process for us, the team at Bowcliffe have always been more than accommodating and every single staff member we have dealt with has been brilliant. A special mention to Becky who brought our vision to life and was absolutely amazing from the first day we met her – including on the day when she managed to get tomato sauce AND chocolate out of my dress!

We are so so grateful that we found Bowcliffe Hall and genuinely wish we could have our day over and over again, it was so perfect and something we will remember for the rest of our lives. We cannot thank Becky and the Bowcliffe team enough for giving us the wedding we had always dreamt of and more!

THE END

Our final song was a repeat of our first dance song and we stayed on the dancefloor until the last second before being taken to Thorpe Park Hotel and Spa by an amazing chauffeur service!

DJ is a huge house music fan and I had contacted one of his favourite DJs ahead of our wedding day who recorded him a personal mini mix of his favourite tracks which we played late in the evening as a surprise!

A personal favourite moment for me was dancing with my dad to one of his favourite songs tiger feet. The DJ was amazing at accommodating all of our requests.