Real Wedding at The West Mill Venue, Derbyshire
Your Love Story?
Paul and I met on a student night out whilst at college in 2003. He proposed whilst we were on holiday in the very beautiful Lake Garda, Italy in the summer of 2018. After over 15 years I can honestly say it was the biggest but best ever surprise!!
What was your inspiration and vision for your day?
We wanted everyone to simply be able to relax and have fun, whilst enjoying good food & drink listening to some decent music.
Being an autumnal wedding, we chose a colour palate of deep pinks and purples, navy blue, green and cream which complimented the rich tones of The West Mill.
As we don’t live local to the West Mill, on the day of our wedding we brought a little bit of Yorkshire to Derby! We used local suppliers where desired, sourced some of our alcohol from a local brewery and designed vintage postcards of our home town which we used as our guest book.
Why did you choose The West Mill Venue?
Following our engagement we spent a couple months researching and visiting a number of very different wedding venues, none of which felt quite right for us. We widened our search outside Yorkshire and this is when we came across the stunning West Mill. We excitedly booked a viewing and knew this was the venue for us as we walked alongside the river, through the courtyard and into The Gallery where we were met by Abi who showed us around. We were immediately able to visualise our wedding day here. We loved the industrial style with its many original and carefully restored features. We were struck by the way in which light entered the building through its many windows creating a unique feel and atmosphere. We also loved the fact that the venue was set over four floors giving us a dedicated room for each part of the day so as unpredictable as the British weather may be, we knew this certainly wouldn’t be an issue if it was pouring down with rain on our wedding day.
Did you do any DIY projects?
I love fresh flowers and always have a vase full of them at home so from the moment we got engaged up to a week or so before or wedding day I gradually dried these in order to make our own confetti. My Nan sadly was unable to attend our special day, however this confetti also included some rose petals from her garden that summer which made our DIY confetti extra special.
We both love our music so from the day we got engaged we started work on different playlists, putting together our favourite songs to compliment each part of our wedding day, around 10 hours of music in total. We also hired a band in the evening who co-ordinated our evening playlists in-between their sets which worked really well.
One of my bridesmaids Hanneka, is a graphic designer and very kindly offered to design all of our stationary. We had a lovely time chatting through various ideas and piecing everything together. We didn’t have a traditional style guest book however chose to give each guest a post card to write their note on instead. We enjoyed sourcing many old/vintage type images of our home town which Hanneka then used to design the postcards. They looked brilliant and were a real talking point amongst our guests during the wedding breakfast.
We also created a timeline of photographs which included some childhood photos and a photograph of us as a couple over the past 17 years. Some of the early photographs provided our guests with a bit of a laugh!
Tell us about the details…
The West Mill is such an incredible venue so apart from flowers we didn’t feel it was necessary to add too much additional decor. We kept our stationary clean and simple but stylish. We had a welcome sign for our guests which included some local slang to help describe different parts of the day which our guests seemed to enjoy. Our cake was a 3 tall tiered victoria sponge cake, covered in white icing with some gold foil detail around the base of each tier. Our flowers were stunning, lots of rich colours matching our colour palette with so many different textures, my bouquet was just divine! We had a beautiful arrangement of flowers on each table during the wedding breakfast and reused the bridesmaids flowers around the table plan which, alongside some additional foliage looked really effective. We also opted for a floral backdrop in the ceremony room which was then carefully moved by The West Mill staff behind the top table this created a great focal point to each room without being overpowering. We scattered a few vases and tea lights about to create a romantic and warm atmosphere.
What was on the Menu?
Drinks reception – We chose a selection of different canapés that were served by the brilliant Jenkinson’s team alongside Prosecco, Ale from our local Acorn brewery, Elderflower fizz, Tea and Coffee.
We chose a simple menu for our wedding breakfast that we knew would be enjoyed by all guests. I however, being the bride opted for Salmon for my main course as this is my favourite!
Starter – Smooth Vegetable Soup served with warm bread rolls
Main course – Beef and Ale stew with a puff pastry lid and seasonal vegetables. Dessert – Afternoon tea cake selection
Drinks – Red and White Wine. Tea and Coffee. Champagne to toast.
Evening food – We chose our absolute favourite food, a selection of pizza’s & wedges which went down a treat!
What was your favourite part of the wedding?
The whole day from start to finish was just incredible, we have so many happy memories and there are so many highlights to write about however if we were to choose one…….
During our wedding breakfast, with food and drinks flowing & for the first time as bride and groom we weren’t at the centre of our guests attention. Paul and I took a few moments together during this time to sit back and look around the room to see all our family and friends chatting and laughing, whilst listening to some of our favourite music. It was a great atmosphere and such a lovely memory of our incredible day.
Do you have any advice for future brides & grooms?
– We loved every aspect of planning for our wedding, its a very special time so ENJOY!!!
– When you start planning for your big day don’t worry initially about a particular theme or vision as this will develop naturally over the months as things start coming together. For example, we didn’t decide fully on our colour theme until a few months before. This wasn’t a problem since we had kept our stationary clean and simple so that we weren’t tied into any particular style from the beginning.
– Don’t worry about the small things/minor detail you or your guests won’t notice these things on the day.
– If your budget allows, get a videographer.
– On the day itself, we don’t have any new or different advice were afraid to what’s often advised but its very true…….RELAX and soak it ALL up, the day WILL fly by.
If you’ve been inspired by Paul & Kristina’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.