Wanted: Local Venues with Character
Laura and Andrew are a couple with great pride in where they live and what’s local to them around Stockport. For their big day, they wanted to book and share a couple of the Borough’s gems with their friends and family, some of whom were coming from as far as Wales and Scotland.
An outdoor space surrounded by nature was top of this bride and groom’s list for venues and after consulting with the team at Stockport Events, they discovered Chadkirk Chapel, a Grade II listed building in the centre of the Goyt Valley woodlands. Perfect.
But there was still the question of where to hold the reception, especially as Grade II listed chapels are not meant for a lively evening party. After some research, Laura and Andrew found that a lot of couples who had their ceremony at Chadkirk would then go on to the Roman Lakes for the rest of the day. This is how the couple found me and my work as I had already photographed the same combination at a previous wedding (see Caroline and Paul’s Summer Wedding at The Roman Lakes).
A Special Guest at the Ceremony
A lot of thought and heart went into styling not just the chapel and the guests for the ceremony. The groom, best man and groom’s family all wore kilts along with numerous other Scottish friends who attended the wedding so tartans and sporans were everywhere! Andrew’s sisters each did a reading, one of which was from Andrew’s favourite book (The Hobbit). Laura decked out the venue with faux flowers, and Laura’s nan made the button holes for the wider family and the couple’s special guest, Billie…their dog.
Billie walked Laura and Andrew down the aisle after they became husband and wife but it was then that they parted ways. Billie wasn’t invited to the reception as the couple knew she would upstage them all evening.
To the Lakes!
After confetti had been thrown in the couples’ faces, everyone headed to The Roman Lakes for the reception. With exclusive use of the venues’ grounds, Bride, Groom and guests could enjoy some drinks surrounded by woodland and by the huge lake. To accompany the drinks, a huge selection of lawn games and children’s toys were there to enjoy. There was even a duck food stall for the guests to treat the local wildlife with.
An outside caterer provided plenty of fuel ahead of the speeches which came from the father of the bride, the groom and the best man. All in attendance were happy enough to laugh at all jokes, no matter how bad they were.
A Lively First Dance
To carry on the Scottish theme, Laura and Andrew hired a Ceilidh band to get the party going. The couple picked Gay Gordon’s ceilidh dance as their first dance. Andrew told me that they’d not practised it beforehand so snuck outside with the caller to have a quick run-through 2 minutes before they had to perform!
When it came to everyone joining in the Scottish friends and family had done many a Ceilidh before, but then there were the Welsh and English friends and family who had never Ceilidh’d before! Almost everyone got stuck in and those who hadn’t experienced one before have said every party needs a Ceilidh. I agree!
