Becki & Stewart's Wedding Story
We had looked around a few venues, but we were really struggling to find a place that really ‘wowed’ us. We heard about Bowcliffe Hall through Becki’s mum, as she works in the wedding industry and was recommended by a work associate. Bowcliffe Hall is truly a hidden gem. We had never been before but as soon as we drove through the gates we knew we had found a breathtaking venue. Bowcliffe Hall is so stunning, with every intricate detail the whole venue has so much class, but it’s all the tiny details about Bowcliffe that make it so special. We were so happy, relieved and knew we had found ‘The One’.
The vision for the day was for it to be very traditional and classic. I knew that I wanted lots of green, and a slight botanical, romantic and slightly boho feel. I wanted to have t he best day ever surrounded by all the people who mean the most to myself and Stu.
I wore a beautiful Enzoni A-line dress. It’s true the saying that you know when it’s the right dress when you try it. It was named after my grandpop’s favorite flower and as soon as I put it on I wanted to cry as I loved it so much. It had everything that I wanted, super girly, a bit boho and classy.
Luckily Becki’s parents own a vintage wedding car and décor business and so we already knew which vehicles we wanted well in advance! The bridesmaids travelled in a VW camper van. Amongst the classic cars to choose from it was always going to be the 1967 Morris Minor as it’s always been Becki’s favourite.
After the ceremony we put on a bus for our guests which dropped everyone at Bowcliffe Hall. We wanted our friends and family to relax and enjoy the evening without worrying about transport (as we married over a race day bank holiday weekend). Most of our friends and family live in surrounding villages and the bus driver was very kind to do stop offs for everyone.
We wanted a beautiful venue that felt personal to us but also wanted somewhere that all our friends and family could be in an area that was accessible for both the day and night event.When it came to choosing the venue we both knew Bowcliffe Hall was the one. We loved not only the house but the stunning grounds and beautifully kept garden. We adored all the little hidden quirks to Bowcliffe Hall which really make it such a special venue. It was defiantly the elegant green ballroom that won us over completely. Our colour theme was sage green, so we decided to have both the wedding breakfast and evening reception in the ballroom as we felt it is such a beautiful room. Also the huge light up chandelier really enhanced the atmosphere to our night do! We also loved the drivers club and all the fixtures and fittings which makes Bowcliffe such a standout venue.
The venue is so beautiful in itself that it really didn’t need to much decorating. We opted for a more glamorous, romantic style and so our florist added a little Ruscus foliage to the candelabras. We had little tea lights dotted sporadically on each of the tables with a mix of small vases with flowers. The table names were a single fern leaf tucked into the napkins with peoples name placed over the top. We wanted the theme to be as fresh looking as possible so we opted for more foliage over flowers. On the top table we had a runner of Ruscus that draped over the end of the table, with candles at varying heights to add a bit more of a romantic look. We also had a weeping willow arch tree behind the top table to create a dramatic but beautiful effect.
The food, service and general ambience of Bowcliffe Hall just added to the overall amazing day! We had our drinks reception on the garden terrace with a ‘Pimp My Prosecco’ station and beers. We chose for our canapés goats cheese, mini Yorkshire puds and nori rolls which went down a treat..
For our wedding breakfast we chose butternut squash spring rolls, belly pork for mains with Anna of root vegetables for the vegetarian option and a raspberry tart for desert.
We went with tradition by giving all the ladies a wedding favour. We used a lovely lady who owns a business called Sweet Chic that specialises in cakes and favours, she made a beautiful box with three chocolates with a green topping to match our theme.
For our drinks reception we had a Frank Sinatra tribute singer. He was absolutely incredible and he set the atmosphere! He first sang on the garden terrace and then finished with Frank Sinatra’s biggest hits during the wedding breakfast. It was probably one of my favourite moments of many when everyone had their arms in the air swaying and singing to Frank Sinatra. He fitted the venue and the theme perfectly!
Our first dance song was Ray LaMontagne ‘You Are The Best Thing’. It’s a beautiful song and the lyrics are so lovely.
For the evening entertainment we had a band called The Undercovered. They were fantastic! They sang all the best classics from ‘Summer of 69’ to ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and had everyone up dancing all evening. I can’t recommend them enough. We loved the entire evening and just wish we could do it all again as it went by in a flash!
By the end of the night and maybe a few too many, apparently I was begging the band not to finish and went to the very lovely girl behind the bar and again begged her to play Meatloaf ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’ which she very kindly did. Then I believe it was a case of trying to rally everyone off the dance floor and back onto the bus. In true classy style me and Stu ended up going through McDonalds drive through before staying at Hotel Du Vin for the evening.
