Real Weddings

Anna Campbell for a relaxed city wedding at Left Bank Leeds – Kristen & Martin

Sarah Symonds

You’re going to love reading about the wedding of our happy couple, Kirsten and Martin. They’ve kept things simple and yet still managed to cater for everyone, no matter their age.

With treats for adults and kids alike, it’s all the personal touches that come together to make this occasion so personal and so very perfect.

Styling their fabulous yet convenient Leeds city venue with heaps of pretty pink florals, drapes, festoon lighting and gorgeous lanterns really sets the tone for a romantic celebration, and having the whole day in one space keeps things lovely and intimate.

If you too are a parent, or just wondering how you can cater for younger guests at your wedding and avoid any boredom-induced wobbles, be sure to read on! You could take a leaf out of Kristen and Martin’s book and build them their own little corner of the wedding! With toys galore this will keep the kids happy all day long, leaving the grown ups free to really let their hair down and enjoy!

With images by Lloyd Clarke Photography

Proposal

Kristen says

: Martin proposed in June 2018 at the Malmasion in Leeds. We had booked a night away as my parents had our daughters for the weekend. Martin decided it was the perfect opportunity to propose and got down on one knee as soon as we got to the hotel.

Setting

We got married on the 8th of June, 2019, at Left Bank Leeds. We chose this venue because of the stunning interior and space available. Left Bank Leeds was also chosen for its capacity to hold our numbers and space to create section/play area for children guests, which was really important to us. We were able to have humanist ceremony there too.

They offer a really flexible wedding package. You could buy into as much or little of the package as you wanted to, and had total freedom to choose your own caterers etc. We also liked that it was just one space for everyone to be in, whether they were at the bar, or dancing, chatting etc.

Theme

We didn’t have a specific theme but our colour scheme was grey, platinum and pink. This was chosen because of the flowers we wanted for bouquets and decorations.

Dress

I chose a vintage-inspired, bohemian style dress by Anna Campbell with ivory, pearl and silver hand-beading and a full, flowing skirt. I knew I wanted a classic style dress that was simple yet stood out. It was essential that this would be a dress that I could enjoy spending the entire day in, including having to pick up and deal with the various demands of parenting my two young children!

Groomsmen

Martin wore a bespoke Richard Smith three piece suit, from Richard Smith in Manchester. Martin’s best man just wore a suit he already had. The best man and the fathers of both the bride and groom had pink ties and pocket squares from Richard Smith to match the groom and tie their outfits in together. Our young little ushers had suits from Marks & Spencer.

Bridesmaids

My adult bridesmaid wore a Sorella Vita platinum sequin dress from Abigail’s Bridal Boutique in Leeds. My littler bridesmaids had platinum Emma Bridals dresses, and our daughters also wore an Emna Bridals dress but in ivory, from Lanchester Bridal, County Durham.

Transport

For transport on the day we hired a white London taxi from White Taxi Weddings.

Photographer

Our photographer was Bethany Clarke of Lloyd Clarke Photography and she absolutely understood our needs perfectly. Bethany captured the spirit of the venue and the overall atmosphere of the day perfectly. We didn’t spend a long time away from the ‘party’ but we still have all of the lovely couple and group shots that we wanted, as they were taken throughout the day, not all at once. It’s meant that have lots of natural photos of wedding party and guests, which was exactly what we wanted!

Styling

We had peonies, pink roses, and hydrangeas in my bouquet and in some beautiful arrangements around the venue, all taken care of by Elizabeth Simpson from In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. The bridesmaids had bouquets of gypsophila and the men had pink buttonhole arrangements.

As part of the Left Bank Leeds wedding package we paid for drapes, paper lanterns and festoon lighting, which was just all taken care of by the venue for us. These really added to the atmosphere.

Cake

We didn’t actually have a cake. We did have lots of mini desserts for our guests though!

Favours

As favours we had small painted portraits of guests with their names underneath made for us by Hello Henry, which we made into fridge magnets for our guests to take home.

Dining

Our food was provided by Bears Pantry. For starters we had two amazing full grazing tables which offereed a selection of braised pork belly bao buns, fried mac and cheese breadcrumb patties, bears salt beef sliders, sticky spiced oxtail rolls, runny scotch egg, hand raised meat pies, smoked mackerel and couscous, and spinach, pea and ricotta tart.

The main course included chicken with lemon, garlic and seasonal herbs, served with crispy roast new potatoes, chickpeas, feta, chorizo and green beans. Then dessert was a selection of mini ‘Zingy Lemon Drizzle Squares’, plum crumble and ‘Proper NY Cheesecake’. This was all served with Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc. We chose Bears Pantry because we were astounded by the quality of the food and service they could offer.

Entertainment

During the reception drinks and grazing tables we had the wonderful singer, Linzi Brian, and for the evening we had a band; Sarah Collins and Keep The Faith band. We’d seen videos online and thought they’d be perfect for our venue and guests. We then also had Jonathan Wright from Hi-Life Entertainment DJing. We chose him because of his great reputation in the Leeds area.

Special touches

We had a few different special touches for our big day! We hired a photobooth from Viva La Booth, we created a kids’ area with loads of toys and treats for the children so they wouldn’t get bored. We had a sweets and snacks table and set up a hen and stag do photo wall!

We also provided flip flops for our guests for all the dancing, as we wanted everyone to be comfortable enough to have a great time! We put disposable cameras out for the children and some on the bar for all guests to use and we made up toiletry baskets to pop outside the toilets. We also used Wow Bouncy Castles and had Christine Berrisford who provides humanist ceremonies around the Leeds area to conduct our ceremony.

Thanks to

We would absolutely recommend our venue to anyone thinking of getting married in the Leeds area. It’s such a unique venue with an incredibly dedicated and hardworking team. It’s also really close to Leeds city centre which means it was easy for people to get to and there’s plenty of great accommodation nearby for guests who had travelled long distances and needed somewhere to stay.

Best bit

The ceremony was our favourite part! It was led so beautifully by Christine and it was exactly how we wanted our wedding to be – relaxed, inclusive and very meaningful and touching for both of us.

Honeymoon

We had a minimoon in Leeds city centre and stayed at Quebecs Hotel.

Advice

My top tip for other Brides Up North is simple – do exactly what you want to do for your big day as a couple!

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