Sarah & DJ's Wedding Story
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.
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 10th 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 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 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!
