A romantic spark online led couple Laura and Neil to their countryside
escape wedding.
Laura and Neil met on Tinder in 2015. They live in Leeds with their dog Frankie.
Neil was the first one to contact Laura; ‘he said something like let’s grow old and have 8 dogs together’ as he’d seen from my profile that I love dogs’, Laura said, 2 weeks after their first meet up online, the pair met in real life and hit it off immediately.
The happy couple got engaged in February 2021 during lockdown. It was the morning of Laura’s birthday; Neil was obviously a bit nervous waiting for Laura to open her cards and presents until it was his turn. ‘It caught me off-guard as he said he’d always propose abroad somewhere, but I did know there was a ring in the house as it got delivered and the postman threw the box on the doorstep’. Admitting she’s a nosey person, Laura checked the return the address and knew the proposal was coming but not when.
Following their engagement, the couple booked their venue in April 2021. Skipbridge farm was the backdrop for their wedding day and it was the only venue they’d looked at. ‘It’s a festival style venue with tipis, a hobbit hole and whisky drinking hut all spread out nicely’, Laura said.
When asked about the most important part of the wedding planning, Neil said, ‘getting the guest list sorted as we had to extend the tipi to fit more guests in. Laura’s most important part was booking their live wedding band Backchat brass as she really wanted them to be there.
When planning their wedding cake, Laura and Neil went to The Farsley Cake Co in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.
‘The cake was banging, we had it served up as dessert for our guests and they loved it! It was three tiers and had carrot cake, Victoria sponge and chocolate orange which we’d tried at the shop tasting. They were such a hassle-free company to deal with’, Laura says.
The couple opted for earthy tones with greens and burnt orange in their colour scheme that extended to the flowers too. Laura’s mum made napkins for all the guests with names sewn on for each, a lovely touch. Neil’s suit was dark green with brown and burnt orange check, fitting in with the colour scheme well. The happy couple also let their bridesmaids choose their own gowns to make sure they’d be comfortable on the day.
Laura’s wedding gown was a plain A line dress with spaghetti straps; she wore a long veil featuring 3d flowers and a head band to complete her wedding day look.
On the day of the wedding it was extremely hot; ‘we saw the forecast a few days before and told everyone to bring a change of clothes’, Laura said. Neil was wearing a wool blend suit; not the best in scorching temperatures. There was an unfortunate mishap with one of the guests who collapsed in the heat. ‘I’m a nurse, so luckily there was lots of medical assistance at the wedding until an ambulance came’, Laura recalls. This set the timings of the day back slightly, so the order of service was swapped round a little.
Caterers brought the starters outside and special thanks go to Bronte, the wedding coordinator at Skipbridge Farm who sorted everything out.
For their reception entrance, the happy couple walked in to the famous song Vindaloo by Fat Les for a comedic touch. ‘Everyone knows it and were going mad for it, throwing napkins around’, Laura remembers.
The couple had their first dance to Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus and got guests up to join in. ‘We had Matt Stevens for our musician; he was amazing and was there all day. We told him what songs to play during the ceremony, he learnt them and went round the guests so they could request songs. He was brilliant and the guests loved him. In the evening he turned into an Eminem tribute act and was rapping on the microphone and the guests loved it’.
When asked what advice they’d give other couples getting married, Neil responded with, ‘Get the big stuff out of the way early on; we felt a bit guilty the week of the wedding as we had nothing to do’.
Laura commented how she was stressed on the Thursday before the wedding as Neil managed to drop her wedding dress on the floor in the garden. It was still in its cover thankfully!
Laura added that she took her dress to the drycleaners after the wedding; ‘they said it was one of the worst they’d ever seen!’. That’s a sign of a good party!
Featured Suppliers
Photographer – Freya Raby
Venue – Skipbridge Farm
Cake – The Farsley Cake Co
Dress – Dotty bridal
Wedding Rings – Berry’s
Suits – Slaters
Hair – Leah Gibson (@leahlucia on Instagram)
Makeup – Mui (lumi.mbridal on Instagram)
Entertainment – Back Chat Brass (brass band) and Matthew Stephens
Flowers – The Petal Studio
Stationery – Papier for seating plan / invites from Etsy
Dog Care – Bow Wow Vow (doggy plus one service)
Dress Alterations – Molly Holdsworth
Catering – Baba Ganoush
Ties – The Tie Garden