Real Wedding Blog Maddie and George December 2023

Real Wedding Blog

Maddie and George December 2023

What made you choose Rowton Hall Hotel as your venue?

It’s an interesting story - after 2+ years of engagement and no plans to actually book a wedding, my fiancé and I attended a colleague’s wedding in September. Spurred on by how lovely the day was, we felt inspired to start what we thought would be the long process of looking into our own wedding. Little did we know we’d end up getting married in just 13 weeks!

One phone call with my recently retired mum later, and we found ourselves with our very own wedding planner, who was more than happy to carry out some venue research with all the newfound time on her hands! My mum immediately suggested Rowton Hall, and after a quick online search, I was sold. We booked a viewing, met with Lisa, looked around the venue and the rest was history…

I fell in love with Rowton Hall’s classy, country feel, and despite it being a mild September day I could really picture the venue dressed for the festive season. I think the timeframe from first laying virtual eyes on the venue, to booking our wedding day was about two days - but when you know, you know.

What was your favourite part of your wedding day?

Having all our favourite people in the same place, in such a beautiful setting, with so much palpable joy in the air. I think every one of our guests had a constant smile on their face - we were all in such good spirits with it being so close to Christmas and the hotel’s stunning Christmas decor topped it off.

I had never really considered a Christmas wedding until the pieces of the puzzle came together when we booked in September, but now I could not imagine not having a December wedding - all the little festive touches really made the day extra special.

What did you wear and what did your bridal party wear?

I went with two quite different looks; a simple, elegant lace dress (House of CB) for the daytime and a 50’s old Hollywood glamour look for the evening.

My mum was kind enough to make several alterations to my evening dress, which was originally from Coast, but with a new halter-neck and lots of pearl buttons down the back, I felt like I was wearing a custom, one-of-a-kind dress just for me. It was also her idea to add the white fur stole to complete the look, further cementing her status as a wedding planner/dressmaker/stylist extraordinaire.

The bridesmaids all wore deep green dresses to compliment the seasonal theme and the groom and groomsmen all looked slick in tuxes.

Tell us about your wedding theme and how you dressed the venue?

We decided very early on that we were going to get hands-on with the decor. George and I were lucky that both of our mums were keen to help with this element of the wedding planning as well (there’s a common theme of our mums being key figures in our wedding, evidently!)

For the look and feel of the place, we wanted to maximise the festive atmosphere whilst complimenting the hotel’s own Christmas decor, using lots of twinkly lights and candles. We lined the Inglenook ceremony room’s aisle carpet with candle lanterns and white petals, with two lit up trees on either side of the ceremony table to finish the look.

For the floral elements, we went with green and white foliage, made up of roses, baby’s breath, and eucalyptus, for an understated, classic feel.

Photography & Videography: Who were they and why did you choose them?

My mother-in-law found our photographer - Stacey Oliver - and we’re so glad she did, as Stacey was lovely, calming and professional. We loved Stacey’s bright and modern style and from the pictures we’ve seen from the day so far, she did a great job at capturing the essence of the day so uniquely.

We had Lee Murad - Sofranc Films - as our videographer. He was such good fun on the day, really helping to bring everyone out of their shells. We loved the bold, cinematic reels on his Instagram feed which swayed our decision to choose him. He too did a fantastic job of capturing the wedding.

Words of wedding wisdom?

I think I have a few pearls of wisdom. Firstly, keep reminding yourself to stay in the present and enjoy every moment. The reality is that it’s only a few short hours of our lives, yet there can be so much pressure to make everything just perfect, to the point that you can easily spend the day stressing and forgetting to experience the moments as they unfold.

To really make the most of the day, try not to drink much, as you’ll want to have as clear a memory as possible (easier said than done if you’re battling nerves or have overly generous guests handing you drinks left right and centre!)

Also, try to make a few days of it if you can – we had a lovely meal for roughly 20 people in a private room at Rowton’s Thyme Restaurant the evening before the wedding, which created such a buzz for the main event.

Finally – and somewhat controversially – let people use their phones to take pictures during the ceremony. I know that registrars now ask whether you would like them to tell people to not take pictures, but in allowing photos, we got loads of extra shots from all sorts of angles that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. All these extra memories have really helped us to relive the day.

What single piece of advice would you give to an engaged couple planning a short lead wedding?

My final piece of advice is - don’t be afraid to just go with it; if you love a venue, think the timescales are doable, and feel confident that your favourite people will be available to share the day with you, you have the core bases covered. With a little bit of planning & support, the rest falls into place nicely. I couldn’t imagine how agonising the excitement would be on your typical 1-2 year wait for a wedding day - 13 weeks was more than enough for me!

If you're interested in finding out more about Weddings at Rowton Hall or want to book an appointment to view our venue, then please fill in the form below and our Wedding team will be in touch.

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