As soon as Louise visited the Boat House during an Open Day back in 2015 – on a tip-off from her mum - she knew she’d found the perfect venue for her and David’s big day. On the lookout for a Staffordshire wedding venue that offered an airy, open-plan space to reflect the couple’s penchant for modern décor, the main room itself impressed. Features like the modern hanging lighting installation and views across the marina through bifold doors clinched the deal – it was, in Louise’s own words ‘absolutely stunning’.
With the venue decided efforts turned to planning and, with Louise keen to exercise her creativity, she decided early on that she wanted to take on dressing the wedding venue as her ‘project’. Leading up to her first visit to the Marina, Pinterest and Etsy had been a major source of inspiration, and most evenings and weekends when she had a spare hour or so after the kids were in bed, Louise would spend time getting ideas down on paper and sourcing the materials and elements to bring vision to reality.
The results on the big day were simply stunning. Louise combined her love of geometric styling and a clean, modern palate of rose gold, grey and white to create a theme that would complement The Boat House’s sleek, minimalist interior. Louise’s dad’s amazing metalworking skills were employed to craft tall copper table centrepieces which Louise then sprayed and finished off with geometric copper hanging lantern. The day before the wedding, Louise and a team of family and friends decorated the room with items she’d collected and upcycled over the months, with the end result surpassing all expectations.
With the Boat House dressed to perfection, on the morning of the wedding Louise got ready at her mum’s house in Barthomley; surrounded by parents, bridesmaids and her best friend. Her breath-taking dress was designed by Nicole Spouse from J and J Designs in Newcastle, while Beth from Sweethearts Hair Design did elegant updos for the bride and her bridesmaids and Sarah Broadgate created the makeup look. Throughout, Patrick from M and G Photographic was on hand to capture those special moments - like the look on Louise’s dad’s face when he saw her in her dress for this first time.
The couple said their vows outside in glorious sunshine, just minutes before the rain made an appearance. A true family affair, the bride was accompanied down the aisle by sons Noah and Joel and nephew Jack as Page Boys, with niece Cara and sisters Rachel and Corrie as chief bridesmaids. To ensure her elegant-modern theme flowed throughout the whole day, Louise used the smaller centrepieces from the tables to line the aisle along with the top table flowers - lovingly created by ladies at Moody Blooms in Stoke – decorating the registrars’ table.
Favours followed the clean, modern theme – small, screw-cap masonry jars filled with Rhubarb and Ginger gin which went down a treat. In a change to tradition, the couple opted to give speeches before the wedding breakfast so that they could relax and enjoy their meal (and so Louise’s dad didn’t get indigestion from all the nerves of his impending speech)! With the formalities over, the wedding party enjoyed a bespoke Spanish-themed 3 course menu tailored by the Boat House’s kitchen team to reflect David and Louise’s love of Spanish cuisine; comprising of Spanish meatballs and chicken in Parma ham served with oregano sauce.
The evening celebrations saw the couple’s friend and local house DJ legend Pete Bromley play the first dance before DJ’ing into the early hours; reflecting the hours spent ‘throwing some shapes’ on the dancefloor to Mr Bromley when they first met. As a surprise for the Bride & Groom, Louise’s sister Rachel booked a live house saxophone player, something the couple had wanted but ruled out due to budget.
Looking back on their perfect day, Louise says:
“It sounds cheesy, but we honestly didn’t want the day to end. It seemed to go by so quickly I was still trying to catch up with the day in my head. But to stop and look around and see that all of the late night and planning was worth it made me feel so proud. I don’t think you can quite beat that feeling of ‘wow, I did all this’.
“My advice to any other brides planning their weddings would be to DIY as much as possible! Use Pinterest and other sites to give you ideas - by re-creating them yourself, you get a great sense of achievement, and also save some pennies. It was a struggle around work, looking after my boys and trying to maintain some form of social life, but you just find a way of getting it done.
“Venue wise, I didn’t think there are any out there in the area that can beat The Boat House – the setting, room, food and staff were faultless and they all helped in so many ways to make our day one of a kind. Thank you so very much to everyone involved, you made it a day that we will stay with us forever.”
Love Mr & Mrs Taylor
To discuss how your dream wedding day could become reality at The Boat House, contact our events team on 01785 819702 /
[email protected] 
