Your Wedding Day Dream Team
Photographer: Seb and Zuzi at Stella Photography – https://www.stellaphotography.co.uk/ and https://www.instagram.com/stellafotos/?hl=en-gb
Videographer: Eric at Bigger Boat Film – https://biggerboatfilm.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/biggerboatfilm/?hl=en-gb
Florist: Maria at Marias Flowers – https://www.mariasflowers.online/ and https://www.instagram.com/mariasflowers__/?hl=en-gb
Band/DJ: James Roscoe (ceremony) – https://www.jamesroscoe.co.uk/ and https://www.instagram.com/jamesroscoepiano/?hl=en-gb
Tell Us About Your Incredible Outfits
What and who did you wear? Dress by Charlie Brear and bought from the White Closet – https://www.thewhitecloset.co.uk/designers/charlie-brear/
The dress had detachable cap sleeves so that in the evening I could take these off and put on a lace top that was embroidered with stars for my ‘evening outfit’ – I wanted something a little different and this was perfect!
Veil by Helen Martin Veils (the length of the train!!) – https://www.instagram.com/helenmartinveils/
Jewellery from Astrid & Miyu – https://www.astridandmiyu.com/
Shoes from Sophia Webster – https://www.sophiawebster.com/10184/wifey-for-lifey?
What and who did your partner wear?
Groom and groomsmen suits from Moss Bros – https://www.moss.co.uk
Page boy outfits from John Lewis
What and who did your wedding party wear?
Bridesmaid dresses from Pretty Lavish – https://prettylavish.co.uk/collections/bridesmaids
Your Love Story How did you meet, was it love at first sight? Tell us about the proposal!
We met on Bumble five years ago – a modern day love story! Bonded over our love of travel, visiting new places and good food and the rest is history.
We got engaged in London in February 2022 – the weekend of Storm Eunice. I’ll never forget the date of our proposal as the storm nearly scuppered all of our plans – every train from Manchester to London had been cancelled so we ended up having to drive, and Jake had booked for us to stay at The Stratford Hotel and eat at Allegra as my Christmas present. The meal was gorgeous and afterwards we were going to go onto the cocktail terrace for a drink (which was where Jake had wanted to propose) but it was closed due to high winds! After dinner we just ended up having a drink in the lobby bar as it was last orders and that’s when Jake got down on one knee – it was perfect and we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with friends and calling all of our family!
Your Wedding Day Vision & Inspiration What was your inspiration and vision for your day?
We wanted a day that would allow us to celebrate with all of our friends and family – basically a massive party. It was really important that everyone we wanted to be there could come, which was one of the reasons we chose the West Mill – we had the max 150 guests – and we chose a 3pm ceremony time so that guests could have time in the morning to arrive without rushing. We also chose not to have evening guests and invite everyone to the full thing to celebrate with us from beginning to end!
Vision wise – we loved the industrial chic vibe of The West Mill and wanted this accentuated with wild flowers to give it a spring chic vibe.
We also wanted to make sure the day reflected us as a couple – which was why we chose to incorporate all of our favourite things. i.e. Jake’s favourite beer (Big Wave) as one of our reception drinks, Sophie’s favourite wine (Whispering Angel) as one of the wedding breakfast wines, our favourite foods (korean fried chicken burgers and macarons) and our favourite music (old school rob, hip hop and disco),
Why did you choose The West Mill Venue?
We needed space for 150 guests and wanted a venue not too far from Manchester – which is where we live and where most of our guests would have been travelling from. After a search spanning the North and the Midlands we were recommended The West Mill by a colleague of Sophie’s who had been a guest at a wedding there and thought it would be the perfect place – she was right. We fell in love with the venue on our first visit and it will forever be somewhere that remains really special to us.
The main things we loved were the industrial chic vibes and the original features – the venue needed barely any accessories and there were so many great places for photographs. We also really wanted somewhere with different spaces – having been to weddings where a room has to be turned, we were quite set on finding a venue big enough to have two different spaces that provided a seamless flow to the day – The West Mill provided this and more. Every floor was stunning and being able to hold each section of our day on a different floor was just perfect. We literally couldn’t have found a better space.
Food was also really important to us as we wanted something a little different – the team at the West Mill Kitchen were amazing and so accommodating. The choice was unbelievable and there was so much flexibility for our guests with dietary requirements (veggies, vegans, pescatarians, gluten free etc) – everyone commented on how incredible the food was and it was one of the main things we remember after visiting the venue for the tasting evening. The team were also SO flexible when it came to the evening food and our desire to have something that was more of a street food vibe – they’d never done korean fried chicken burgers for evening food before but were just as excited as we were about the prospect of having them – and they were incredible!
The other thing that was a huge plus of The West Mill was the ability for our wedding party to stay on site – the evening before I stayed in the cottage with my bridesmaids and it gave us the perfect place to get ready as our ceremony didn’t start until 3pm so we had plenty of chill time in the morning. Then the night of the wedding we stayied in the Mill House with all of our closest family and it was like a 5 star hotel! The house was just stunning and the team looking after us were brilliant – particularly the breakfast in the morning! Having the house was also great as we didn’t have many children at our wedding – just two nephews and a niece – but it being so close meant their parents could easily pop to and from the house when the kids needed anything or wanted a nap.
Also – the setting! The mill on the water was just beautiful.
Did you do any DIY projects?
Wedding favours were little bags of mini eggs – you can’t get married on Easter Sunday and not have mini eggs incorporated somewhere!
Our MC made a mic holder that matched our wedding logo as a surprise which was a lovely touch and is something I’ll keep forever.
Tell us about the details – Flowers, Cake, Decor, Stationary….
Flowers – we wanted in season, spring flowers with a peach, white and green colour palette and Maria created our vision perfectly! We had a beautiful hanging wild flower installation for the end of the aisle that was also moved behind us during the wedding breakfast
Cake – a gorgeous two tier semi naked cake – one tier was champagne sponge with champagne and strawberry conserve and the next tier was lime and coconut sponge with coconut buttercream. Delicious!! Flowers then started on the top and flowed down to the second tier. We also had a dessert table in the evening with double chocolate brownie pieces with mini eggs (link to Easter Sunday), biscoff blondie pieces, pistachio macarons and raspberry macarons. They were just PERFECT!
Decor was minimal – we really made the most of the beautiful setting of the west mill with its industrial chic vibes and just accentuated this with our flowers and simple candle centrepieces
We had a welcome sign on arrival with a boombox and flowers – representing Jake’s love of music and Sophie’s love of floristry
Alcohol. Because No Great Story Started With A Salad (…or did it?) What was on your food & drinks menu?
Reception drinks – Big Wave bottles of beer and bottles of peroni, prosecco and elderflower fizz
Canapes – parmesan crusted lamb, wholegrain mustard, red amaranth; tortilla crusted tiger prawn, jalapeño jam, tomato salsa, avocado puree; mint and pea arancini, sweetcorn puree, micro leaf cress
Wedding breakfast – west mill crab cake, fresh crab salad with a chilli, lime and ginger dressing coriander cress; sirloin of beef, truffle pomp puree, charred baby leek, celeriac and shallot bon bon, red wine jus; white chocolate cheesecake with passionfruit coulis, caramelised white chocolate and cookie crumb
Wedding breakfast drinks – Whispering Angel rose (provence), Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand), cafayate estate malbec (Argentina) – three of our favourite wines from around the world
Evening food – Korean fried chicken burgers – double fried, ultra crispy chicken burger with lashings of sticky chill sauce – served with sweet potato fries and kimchi slaw – we love street food and were keen for a really relaxed, but tasty / delicious evening food that was something a little different. We had personalised greaseproof paper and stickers printed with our wedding logo for the added personal touch
We also asked the bar to stock our favourite drinks for the evening – spiced rum and Old Jamaica ginger beer, spiced rum and Ting, baby guinness’ and rhubarb gin and tonic
The Hangover Only Lasts A Day But The Memories Last A Lifetime Can you sum up your wedding day in 3 words?
Memories made forever <3
What are your favourite memories or highlights of your day?
Every single second of it – we would not change anything about our day, it was perfect and we’ll remember it forever.
Personal highlights include:
James Roscoe’s ceremony music – we wanted a modern twist to piano music and he played:
Pre-ceremony music:
The Weekend – Blinding Lights (repertoire)
French Montana – Unforgettable (request)
Rihanna – Umbrella (request)
Emeli Sande – Next to me (repertoire)
Love on Top – Beyonce
Wilest Dreams – Taylor Swift
Aisle song: John Legend – All Of Me (repertoire).
Signing song 1: The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun (repertoire)
Signing song 2: The Verve – Lucky Man (repertoire)
Exit song: Chaka Khan – Aint’ Nobody (repertoire)
Our friends personalised readings – they were just perfect!
Spending some solo time whilst having our photographs taken to just take it all in.
The food and the speeches!
Our first dance – Wayne Wonder – No Letting Go – we only wanted to dance for about 30 seconds and after a short time the DJ mixed our first dance song into Uh Oh by Lumidee and all our guests joined us on the dance floor – the perfect start to his set which was a mixture of 90s/00s RnB classics, disco and hip hop.
We will remember it all!!
Do you have any advice for future Brides & Grooms?
Don’t worry about the details, take a moment for yourselves and drink it all in. The day will go in a flash, but it will be the best day of your lives.