Real Wedding at The West Mill Venue, Derbyshire
Your Love Story?
We met while we were both on holiday with our friends in Prague for New Years Eve 2012, it was a holiday romance that came home. Benn is in the RAF so we have spent most of our relationship long distance, but it works for us! We have a home in the Midlands with our lovely dog Ike. We have amazing friends and family that support us throughout deployments and time spent apart.
Benn Proposed on New Years Eve 2018 with our closest friends on a midnight walk watching the fireworks… it was perfect!
What was your inspiration and vision for your day?
I love sunsets and am always dragging Benn to the best spots on our travels. This inspired our colour palette and our tables were named after some of our favourite places, where we have watched amazing sunsets.
Why did you choose The West Mill Venue?
We loved everything about the West Mill, the design, the grounds and the atmosphere. When we were looking around we spotted an old suitcase with a luggage tag still attached… It was labelled RAF Prize Norton, which was where Benn was based at the time, definitely a sign!
We had to postpone our wedding twice because of covid and The West Mill were so good with us, we were very happy we had chosen to get married there.
Did you do any DIY projects?
We collected corks for years and made some ‘LOVE’ letters with them … I loved the thought of the corks containing so many of our happy memories and I was really pleased with the overall look. We also made a cotton tassel curtain to go behind the architecture table with the seating plan on, this was a bit of a nod to the venue originally being a cotton mill, and it gave the seating chart a nice backdrop.
Tell us about the details…
We hired Nadia for our florist and Tara as our stylist, I’d seen a few weddings and events that they’d done together at The West Mill and loved their style. We had a moongate for the ceremony which was stunning! It contained pinky/peach roses and Dhalia’s and it was a beautiful feature.
The wedding breakfast was styled with beautiful beach table runners, small bud vases and an impressive bunting handmade by Tara. I painted the table names, inspired from our sunset photos and they were framed by Tara. Our name cards where safari inspired animals spray painted gold, with name tags on. The name tags also had the things about that person we loved as a little personal touch… everybody seemed to love their little gold animals!
We provided our favourite scented candles (woodwork fireside) to give our day a scent… this scent will always make us feel loved and feels like home to us.
What was on the Menu?
For the reception drinks we had: Peroni, prosecco and gin & tonic.
The wedding breakfast menu was: ‘We brie-long together’ brie parcels with a mango chutney.
‘I’ve only got pies for you’ cheese & onion, steak & ale or chicken & leek pie served with a leek and mustard mash and roast root veg.
‘Best puds forever’ heather honey creme brûlé, baked pear & gingernut cheesecake heart and warm chocolate brownie.
What was your favourite part of the wedding?
Walking down the aisle with my dad.
Reading our personalised vows.
Our dog Ike as the ring bearer.
The singing waiters were incredible, and gave The Wedding Breakfast a massive boost of energy… our guests loved them!
Our bride and groom photos as the sun was going down.
Do you have any advice for future brides & grooms?
Enjoy it! Soak up all the love and happiness because everyone has a lot to give! Get a videographer because you will want something like that to look back on, its hard to remember everything! Take some time out for yourselves, I really enjoyed our couples photographs as it was just the two of us and we had a good laugh. Choose your suppliers based on their personality … they become a big part of your day and we loved everyone we had chosen.
If you’ve been inspired by Jodie & Benn’s wedding and would like to know more about The West Mill, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to download a Wedding Brochure or get in touch.