Beth & Ben
After meeting through a mutual friend at a house party 7 years ago, it was a Yorkshire Barn Wedding for happy couple Beth & Ben
Originally from West Yorkshire, Beth moved to London for work. Beth & Ben both live together in Ben’s home town of Kent.
Firstly, their engagement happened just before they moved back to the UK for work after four years living in Australia. Beth told how the couple would talk about their perfect day together in conversation. Ben had the perfect blueprint for how he’d propose. ‘I have a favourite beach I like to go to to see the sunrise. Ben got me in the car at 5:30am asking which beach I’d like to go to and winding me up. I said I didn’t care, we needed to hurry up because we were going to miss the sunrise’ Beth says.
‘He knew no one else would be on the beach at that time. We sat down and he gave me a card with a note written inside, then he got down on one knee. He’d planned my perfect day as we had coffee on the beach, went for a swim and had lunch’.
Following on from their engagement the couple moved back to the UK. They had a week to look for venues before starting new jobs and saw 5 venues in one day all across Yorkshire. Beth and Ben finally settled on Yorkshire Wedding Barn. Beth had been previously with her mum and really liked it. ‘None of the venues were as magical as this one, so we went back the next day and booked it’, Beth remembers.
The wedding planning ran pretty smoothly; ‘if any of my friends need me to plan a wedding, I’d do it.’
The happy couple also decided to make their wedding into a weekend affair. This importantly allowed them more time to catch up with their guests.
With some of the 133 guests travelling from down south and Australia, Beth and Ben had warm up drinks on the Friday.
‘It took the pressure off the next day having to try to talk to everyone’ Beth says. ‘We had a pizza van and invited all 133 guests to the Friday. 125 of them turned up so it was really busy’.
As it was a weekend wedding, the couple had full access all weekend. Yorkshire Wedding Barn has 2 big barns for use on a lake. It additionally has multiple cottages that are set around the lake, sleeping nearly 100 people.
‘It was a massive plus, we didn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere with so many travelling’, Beth says. Therefore it was definitely perfect.
On the wedding day, despite being in early March, the weather was bright and clear. Beth wanted the theme to be neutral with touches of pastel pinks and blues so it felt more springlike.
Beth and Ben had their civil ceremony at the venue. It included two readings and a song for all the guests to sing. ‘We sang ‘ain’t no mountain high enough’ and got everyone to sing. Everyone was dancing as a string quartet played along during the ceremony’, Beth says.
"We sang ‘ain’t no mountain high enough’ and got everyone to sing. Everyone was dancing as a string quartet played along during the ceremony."
Following the ceremony, proceedings moved to the other barn and the string quartet played modern songs in Bridgerton style. Speeches happened before the meal and Beth had created a wedding playlist to play in the background while guests ate. About halfway through the meal, the whole room started singing ‘when you say nothing at all’ by Ronan Keating.
‘Everyone was swaying along and it was quite funny’, Beth remembers. A memorable moment for Beth and Ben.
After the meal came the cake cutting and following on was the first dance. The song of choice was ‘A Good Night’ by John Legend. The live band started up and had everyone on their feet the whole time, along with Beths Dad. Beth recalls a funny moment with her dad too.
‘My dad’s party trick at any party, particularly when there’s a live band is to play an air instrument. I bought an inflatable saxophone and gave it to the band. I told them when they feel the time is right to make my dad come and join in. They played Tina Turner Simply the Best and grabbed my dad. Ben plays rugby so he and his rugby boys picked my dad up. He crowd surfed whilst he played air saxophone!’
It was a wedding to remember. The happy couple who raved about every single supplier who helped make their day amazing.
‘Our photographer was unreal; if anyone’s looking for one, book him immediately’ Beth says. ‘We wanted to spend lots of time with our guests. He took us for 5 minute pockets and it never felt like we were away from them for too long’.
Lastly for their honeymoon, Beth and Ben planned a trip to South Africa in November for 2 weeks. Full of beaches, vineyards and safari!
Featured Suppliers
Bridalwear – Pronovias from Maria Modes Bridal
Shoes – Badgley Mischka
Venue – Yorkshire Wedding Barn
Groomswear– The Kent Wedding Centre
Entertainment– Northern String Quartet & Agent Smith Band
Photography -Monkeymole Photography
Bridesmaid Dresses – Essence of Australia from Limelight Occasions
Hair – Room: 97 Creative Hairdressing
Makeup – Emily Josephs Bridal Makeup
Wedding Bands – The Ivy Tree (Rochester, Kent)
Order of Ceremony/Signage – Ashleigh Signs
Decor – Ambience Venue Styling Teeside
Cake – Kav Bakes Cakes
Florist – Diana Kaye Florist
Catering – Henny’s Kitchen & Napoli Pizza Van
MOTB Outfit – Sean Rayment, Manchester
MOTG Outfit – Nigel Rayment, London