Lauryn & Ben's Wedding Story
Ben & Lauryn held their day with us on 9th October 2021.
We got engaged in March 2020, literally just as the first lockdown was about to come in. We had a weekend away in the Lake District booked and Ben had planned to propose while we were there. That weekend ended up being the first weekend of lockdown! Obviously we couldn’t go. So instead, a few days before, Ben told me he was going out to get some bits for tea. He came back with flowers in hand. I didn’t think much of this and went to go put them in some water. When I turned back around he was on one knee, had the ring out and popped the question! Obviously I said yes! While Covid ruined his initial romantic proposal plans we still managed to get engaged in a very us kind of way, very low key and in our kitchen.
We knew we wanted a barn or an old industrial style venue for our wedding. We had ties in Manchester and Yorkshire so narrowing down the area we wanted to get married in took us a bit of time. Once we’d settled on Yorkshire, we ended up googling something like ‘barn wedding venue Yorkshire’ and, among others, up popped Deighton Lodge. ‘How did you find this venue?’ was the question we got asked most on our day!
Deighton Lodge was also one of the first venues to offer viewings when restrictions started to ease. It ended up being the first and only venue we actually went to see. We loved it so we went for it. We had viewed others online but couldn’t physically go and see them due to lockdown and after seeing Deighton Lodge we didn’t want to look anywhere else.The barn itself is stunning; the refurbishment they’ve done on it is terrific. It looks modern but still keeps the rustic elements of the barn and that’s exactly what we were looking for, and from what we’d seen online that seemed quite rare.
We also really liked the fact that it was completely dry hire so we could make the venue work for us rather than us having to work around the venue. The freedom to choose every supplier down to the furniture really helped make our day individual to us. Having the farmhouse attached was an added bonus and being able to stay the night before as well as on the wedding night, without having to arrange any extra transport or accommodation and having the full bridal and grooms party there, was just brilliant. It also meant no stress with trying to get there!
One of our favourite moments was the post-ceremony/post speeches mingling. The big legal and stressful parts were out of the way. We consciously planned our day in quite a laid back way so we could just relax and it really gave us chance to chat to friends and family we’d not seen in ages, and in some cases, literal years. Having everyone together after all the lockdowns and getting to see – and hug! – everybody was just the best feeling!
A shout out to our brilliant photographer, who not only expertly herded all the cats that were our strong-willed family and friends during the staged photos, but she also captured the day beautifully. She did an absolutely amazing job, the photos are stunning. So many people have commented on the brilliant job she did!
We had the New York Brass Band for our evening entertainment. The band were another part of the day we really enjoyed. We always knew we were going to go with a brass band but we didn’t realise how much everyone else would love them too. It was so much fun to have everyone dancing and getting into it (earlier than normal at a British wedding!), and just generally having a brilliant time.
We loved seeing everyone we love enjoying themselves. It made the evening even more fun – especially after the 18 months everyone had had.
During the planning everything was a bit up in the air. Since we didn’t know if there’d be restrictions, we planned for every eventuality we could think of – including a reduced guest list. So actually getting to go with Plan A and have (nearly) everyone there that we wanted to be there was just amazing. It meant that the time we got to actually chat to people was extra special. All of these things combined meant we could have a wedding that was truly ‘us’ in this venue without having to compromise, and that’s absolutely how it turned out.
