If you’ve been thinking about how a winter wedding looks at The West Mill then look no further than Emily & Harry’s big day. On a misty Friday in January, the gorgeous couple celebrated with us after their Church Ceremony. Classic, Modern, Monochrome and oozing elegance they did their day, their way and made the most of the venue in winter by adding lots of candlelight and a magical sparkler shot to boot.
Real Wedding at The West Mill Venue, Derbyshire
Your Love Story?
Harry and I met through his sister and my best friend, Dani. We had known each other for a few years through Dani and been at events together but it was at Dani’s wedding where we properly hit it off, I was a bridesmaid and he was brother of the bride.
We started going on a few dates, but I didn’t tell Dani at first. We even took part in an overnight charity hike of Ben Nevis, and I still didn’t tell her! A whole night climbing a mountain and I couldn’t find the right time to let her know I was dating her brother.
When I did tell her she was in shock but it appeared everyone else had guessed something was blossoming between the two of us. She was thrilled for us and was my maid of honour on our special day.
Harry proposed in October 2019. We had planned a trip down to Cornwall in half term and had booked a gorgeous cottage for the week. Cornwall is a place that is so important to my whole family. We spend many a wonderful summer down there and before that my dad and grandparents did too. It is a place that holds many special memories for us all.
Not long before we were due to go, Harry rung me to say the company had cancelled our holiday due to building works at the property we were due to stay at. Harry is the most chilled person, but he was stressed! Little did I know he was planning to propose.
We managed to find somewhere else to stay and, on the day we went, Harry booked the day off work to pack the car. I should have known something was up!
On our second day we woke up to the most glorious October sunshine. We decided to head over to my favourite beach, Polzeath and go for a walk along the headland. It was here that Harry got down on one knee and presented me with the most gorgeous ring he had designed so perfectly himself. He even managed to hide a go pro camera in the undergrowth and capture the whole thing on film!
What was your inspiration and vision for your day?
We wanted simple, elegant, classic and timeless. Monochrome with a pop of burnt orange and all the candlelight.
We always wanted a winter wedding and loved the classic look of a monochrome wedding. Harry decided he wanted a velvet tuxedo, with the rest of his groomsmen in classic black tuxedo’s and white dinner shirts. They looked so smart!
We had little pops of burnt orange to add a bit of colour but the majority was black or white.
Once I had chosen my dress I knew I needed something fairly simple for my bridesmaids to compliment the lace and detail on my wedding dress. I know white/ivory bridesmaid dresses aren’t for everyone but I love how they look. The girls dresses were so classic and beautifully maid.
As it was winter, we wanted lots of candlelight and our incredible stylist Tara, bought our vision to life. We kept telling her we wanted simple and understated and she delivered! The rooms all looked amazing and everyone commented on how great it looked.
Why did you choose The West Mill Venue?
We had been to a wedding at West Mill not long before we got engaged and commented at how incredible it was. The building, the individual rooms, the service, the staff. It ran so slick, and it was such a beautiful space.
When we visited following our engagement, we fell in love with it all over again. It is such a beautiful building, we loved everything about it! We knew it would work perfectly for our wedding and would look incredible in winter, filled with candlelight.
We are big foodies so loved being able to choose our menu from the huge selection West Mill offer. It was great that we were able to adapt our wedding breakfast and we chose to have five canapes at the drinks reception followed by seated main and pudding.
It was important to us that it was accessible for our grandparents, so the lift is a great bonus and lets be honest, no corkage is a huge bonus!
Did you do any DIY projects?
My mother in law made confetti cones from pages of a Harry Potter book.
Harry and I love Harry Potter so it was a lovely little nod to some of our favourite films.
Tell us about the details…
We always knew we wanted Matt Horan to photograph our special day, in fact, he was one of the first things we booked once we secured a date. He photographed our friend’s wedding a couple of years before and the photos were the best I had ever seen. We loved his style and knew he would do an amazing job or our January winter wedding.
Having a videographer was important to us. A few of our friends who are already married said it was one of their biggest regrets, not having a videographer so it was an easy choice for us. Matt had filmed one of our friend’s wedding previously and we loved his work.
Harry’s Dad owns a signwriting business, @signituk, and we were so lucky that this Auntie, who works there, designed and made all our wedding stationary for us. We loved how simple it was, it worked perfectly with our theme.
The brief for my flowers was, wild, white and green and Rebecca created the most beautiful bouquets I have ever seen, including little ones for the flower girls. They were everything I wanted and so much more.
Our cake was created by the super talented Emma @hellocake.uk. Again the brief was simple, classic, white with a single black silk on a black cake stand. It looked incredible and tasted even better! We only wanted a two tier cake, but we had an extra one in the back which was cut up at the same time, to ensure there was enough to go round!
I can’t say enough good things about our wonderful stylist Tara! She has been incredible throughout the whole process, sending me pictures of things we might like, sharing ideas and always being there for general wedding chit chat. She completely understood what we wanted and made West Mill look even better than usual. I think the photos speak for themselves.
Tanya @daydreamer_creative_studio made the most beautiful hanging for behind the top table. It was black velvet with lyrics from our first dance, I can’t wait to get it hung up in our house! A lovely reminder of our perfect day.
What was on the Menu?
We had five canapes instead of three and a two course seated menu.
We had roasted lamb rump with dauphinoise potatoes, broccoli and butternut squash puree and our vegetarian option was vegetable and feta pie with the same accompaniments. It was a sea of empty plates – the sign of a great meal.
Our dessert was sticky toffee pudding with honeycomb and ice cream – the best winter pud!
For our drinks, we had prosecco with elderflower, beers, red wine (all the way from France) and white.
On the top table we toasted with Camel Valley Rose Brut, my favourite champagne from a vineyard in Cornwall.
What was your favourite part of the wedding?
There’s so many! But a few stand out moments were:
Getting ready with my girls in the morning, it was the most chilled few hours.
Seeing Harry standing at the end of the aisle. I don’t think I will ever forget that moment.
After our church ceremony, we went to see my Grandparents, unfortunately they couldn’t make the day, but it was so precious to see them and I will cherish those photos forever.
The speeches were amazing. Harry, my Dad and George, Harry’s brother and Best man delivered the best three speeches I have ever heard.
The evening was a huge highlight. The dance floor was full, from the moment the band started playing til the very last song. Urban Intro were absolutely incredible, I cannot rate them highly enough, they got everyone up dancing! It was amazing to be surrounded by all our favourite people, dancing, singing, and sharing so many wonderful memories.
We had the most perfect day. There was an overwhelming feeling of love in the room. We felt so lucky to have the day we always hoped for.
Do you have any advice for future brides & grooms?
Try to enjoy it all. Talk to friends who are already married and listen to their advice, it was invaluable to us. And, spend loads of time on the dance floor with your loved ones.
If you’ve been inspired by Emily & Harry’s winter 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.