Alex, a Doctor, married Chris, a Teacher, on 29th October 2023, at Holmes Mill in Clitheroe.
This fun-loving couple knew from the off they wanted a brewery style setting to celebrate with their guests and it didn’t take them a hot second to book this fabulous Lancashire based wedding venue – only the second they visited.
Alex wore a bridal gown and veil by British bridal fashion designer, Jessica Bennett – regarded for her modern designs for fashion conscious brides.
Photography by the always wonderful Luis Calow. Enjoy!
Venue & Location
We loved the idea of a brewery and literally Googled ‘brewery wedding venues’ – Holmes Mill came up and we went to see it and fell in love with the place and the staff from the off. They made us feel really relaxed and were so flexible with the many changes in plans we made along the way. We loved the 1920’s feel of the bistro and the industrial vibes of the cotton room.
Holmes Mill provided an event planning service as part of the package which was brilliant and took away a lot of the stress of planning a wedding. It was only the second place that we looked and we both loved it. It was a bit different because of the brewery style and the staff were amazing from the start to finish.
Photography
Our photographer was Luis Calow. I’d seen his work on Instagram and through friends of friend’s weddings and LOVED his images and how he captured weddings. Very relaxed and captured the love and fun perfectly! We knew we wanted documentary style images and that’s what we got.
We LOVE all our pics… the problem now is choosing the ones to put on the walls / in albums. Luis is absolutely fab and made us feel at ease from day one! It was great having him as part of the day and all the guests loved him too.
How They Met
Our first date was crazy golf! We both LOVE The Lake District and have spent many holidays there – it’s also where Chris also popped the question, in one of our fave spots by Lake Windermere, whilst having a gin and tonic picnic.
Chris’s suit and shirt were from Reiss and his bow tie, shoes were from Moss Bros. Chris LOVED his suit! We wanted him to be a bit different to the groomsmen by having a velvet jacket that made him stand out but also kept with the black tie suits the groomsmen wore. My step Dad has since borrowed the jacket!
Chris and his groomsmen had pocket squares and bow ties from John Lewis. They all wanted self-tie bow ties so they could look like James Bond in the evening and even did a poll for self-tie vs pre tied. The did all look fantastic. Chris’ Dad was busy tying the bow ties in the morning.
Evening & Dancing
We hired The Party Fettlers – what an incredible band! It was such a good party and everyone loved them. I didn’t leave the dance floor once they started.
Our first dance was to the acoustic version of Simply the Best, by Noah Reed. One of our best friends Ash performed it on guitar for us – it meant the world and it was so special.
We heard it first on Schitts Creek which was the show we both watched though lockdown! It is such a funny clever, warm TV show that was perfect for the scary times that was covid. We both heard it and both thought if we ever get married this is our first dance song! We ended the night with the Tina Turner version and Rocket man by Elton John as we’d seen him at Glastonbury and it just brought back amazing summer memories.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Don’t stress the day will be amazing and it will all come together in the end.
Don’t worry about supplier availability, there are so many incredible suppliers that if the one you want isn’t free another that’s meant to will be.
Keep a spreadsheet from day one – it really helps to keep on track.
Call for help! We couldn’t have done it without the support of all out friends and family.
A great band makes such a difference to the party.
Make sure you have a bit of down time just the two of you at some point in the day just to soak it all in together.
It will go so fast so try to soak up as much of it as you can.
HAVE FUN!
