Bethan & John
Together at Last: Bethan and John’s Beautiful Wedding Journey.
Leeds couple Bethan & John said their ‘I Do’s’ at the beautiful Hooton Pagnell Hall in November 2024.
The happy couple met at university on the same course; they got to know each other, started seeing each other and have been together for 10 years.
Bethan explained how there are woods you can walk through just five minutes from the couple’s house; the perfect location for their engagement story. ‘John had planned to go on a normal walk up to the woods, look out at some of the pretty viewpoints. He scouted out a spot overlooking a reservoir, got down on one knee and popped the question’, Bethan says. Bethan had no idea John would propose during the walk; when she said yes, the pair went
back home and celebrated in the garden with some fizz.
Soon after their engagement, Bethan and John began looking at venues. ‘We found Hooton Pagnell Hall online and it was exactly what we wanted. Our families are spread about down south and up north, so we wanted somewhere central for everyone to get to’, Bethan says.
From finding the venue to the big day, the happy couple had an 11 month planning timeline. ‘We booked Hooton in the January and got married in the November; we had no issues, prioritised the main things and tried not to get too hung up on smaller details’, Bethan says.
The Dress
Shopping for her wedding dress was challenging, Bethan explains.
After visiting a lot of shops, Bethan thought she’d end up with the best of the bunch rather than exactly what she wanted. She finally visited The Aisle in Skipton, ‘I sat them down and explained what I wanted and apologised if I seemed picky, they totally understood, found a dress and it was brilliant! I had such a great experience with them’, Bethan says.
The Suits
When shopping for the groomswear suits, John found the whole experience really easy.
‘It was a relaxed and calm experience out shopping with friends’, John says. ‘Vaughn at Skopes Menswear in Meadowhall Sheffield was really helpful. I knew I wanted a heavy winter suit to match the venue and expected weather on the day. Vaughn found it immediately in my chosen colour of olive green. At Skopes, myself and the groomsmen felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We were able to try on different styles to suit the guys, with Vaughn making suggestions for alterations to make them fit exactly how they wanted’.
For the colour scheme, Bethan didn’t know what the suits would look like and John wasn’t aware of what the bridesmaid dresses would be. ‘I said to John, do what you want for your suit because you can’t see my dress’. Bethan’s focus was ensuring her bridesmaids liked what they were wearing, thinking if it was a bit mix and matched, that was ok.
The wedding colour scheme resulted in a complimenting mix of neutrals and greens.
The Wedding Day
For Bethan, her wedding morning was relaxed; not so much for John from what he tells us; ‘I kept thinking WOW this is such a big thing’. A particularly lovely moment was a first look between the pair, ‘It was really nice and calmed any nerves before the ceremony’, Bethan remembers.
Both Bethan and John mentioned how it was so lovely to see everyone there for their big day, ‘Everyone in the room was really there and present in the moment’, John says. Bethan adds, ‘it was lovely to have everyone you know there mingling together and it was a really happy day’.
The ceremony took place in the summer house at Hooton Pagnell Hall, led by Bethan’s uncle, who gave a personalised ceremony. Bethan says, ‘we wanted it to feel relaxed and we wrote our own vows. Lots of guests commented how the ceremony was different to anything they’d been to’.
Following the ceremony, the happy couple had a drinks reception in the main hall, and despite the November date, it was mild weather which allowed for outside photos in the stunning grounds.
Bethan and John had their wedding breakfast in the Tithe Barn at Hooton Pagnell and sat on a sweetheart table so it was just the two of them in front of all their guests.
The happy couple decided against a first dance as it wasn’t important to them; instead they encouraged all their guests to get up on the dancefloor and enjoy the entertainment from the DJ and Saxophonist.
A particular detail is that Bethan’s dad actually made their wedding cake, despite having no experience as a cake maker. ‘We mentioned to him we weren’t sure about a traditional wedding cake’, Bethan says, ‘Dad said “you’ve got to have a cake”; he did lots of practice runs as he’s not a baker at all and made a three tier cake, which was actually amazing!’.
Now their wedding day has passed, Bethan and John would like to offer some tips to other couples.
‘Plan the day based on what’s actually important to you, think about what the best day looks like for you and plan it based on that. We tried to think about things like the first dance or the cake to a certain extent – is this something we’re doing because we wanted to do or because it’s the done thing for the wedding day?’, Bethan says.
John continues, ‘I was obsessing over what were the guests going to do at which point; it doesn’t matter all that much as the guests are getting together and mingling. Beth helped reign me in. You can spend a lot of time worrying about your guests and they’re actually fine.’
Bethan & John are looking at planning at honeymoon to Sri Lanka this year; we wish them a fabulous trip away!
List of Suppliers
Venue: Hooton Pagnell Hall
Photographer: Carla McClaren Wedding Photography
Wedding Dress: The Aisle Skipton
Alterations: The Bobbin Bridal
Suits: Skopes Menswear Meadowhall Sheffield
Music: Start To Finish Music
Flowers (venue styling): Terra Flora
Flowers (bouquets and button holes): Hidden Botanics
Make Up: Beth Robson
Hair: The Curl Clinic
Audio Guestbook: Odd Audio Guestbook
Rings: Austen Blake
Cake: Beth’s Dad (Rhys)