Swapping their vows in a gorgeous barn setting, not even the rain could put a dampener on Leanne and Daniel’s stunning wedding celebrations.
Providing some serious food for thought for those of you considering a rural backdrop for your big day, Leanne and Daniel chose Rivington Barn as their venue, with the couple opting for a rustic-meets-natural theme for the proceedings. Rivington’s gorgeous features projected the desired feels with romantic fairy lights, tall centrepieces and carefully chosen country-inspired decor details (that table plan!) helping to complete the look.
Read on to discover how the pair planned their day, and what advice they’d give to other couples following in their footsteps.
With images by Sarah Glynn Photography
Proposal
Leanne says
: We got engaged on 8th September 2018 in the Lake District. I had surprised Daniel with a weekend away in Grasmere so when he proposed at the top of a mountain, I was very surprised. We’d been together for 15-and-a-half years by that point so I wasn’t really expecting it!That day, we had decided to go for a walk and, despite the rain, we made our way up the mountain. It was at the top, over a cup of hot Vimto, where Daniel said he had bought me a present. I thought he meant sweets… fortunately, it was a little blue bag with my ring inside!
Setting
Our wedding took place on 27th April 2019, six months after we got engaged. We really didn’t want to wait very long and so were delighted when we found out our favourite venue had a cancellation!
We got married at Dalton Church, just ten minutes from my childhood home. We love this church – it’s picturesque and relaxed, and Reverend Paul was the highlight of the wedding. He was so funny and calming, putting everybody at ease and making it so enjoyable.
From there, we headed to Rivington Barn in Rivington, Bolton. We really loved the rustic feel of the venue, and how professional the team were. We knew from the outset that the team would do their utmost to cater for our needs and they certainly did. Rachel and Anna are just unbelievable – true professionals. On the day, the staff were amazing – many of the guests commented on how attentive the staff were, which made us all feel at ease and comfortable. They couldn’t have done any more for us.
Theme
We wanted our wedding to have a rustic, natural look. The venue was ideal for this, meaning we didn’t have to do much to it as it was already perfect. We chose wooden square tables to tie in with the rustic feel, and added lots of greenery to complement it.
We also wrapped fairy lights around the beams, and used different types of candles such as tapered and floating to create a warm and cosy atmosphere.
Dress
I bought my wedding dress from a fabulous little boutique bridal shop in Charnock Farm! Gemma and Sharon at Brides at Charnock Farm were brilliant. Gemma let me, my sisters and mum choose as many wedding dresses as we liked and gave us time and great advice. I ended up choosing something completely different to what I first thought!
My dress was designed by Zavana Bridal. It is an A-line dress with a V-neck cut and lots of detail, including beading and lace.
Beauty
The girls at Melanie Victoria Hair Salon were just superb; they even put on breakfast nibbles and Prosecco for the girls the morning of the wedding.
Anna-May Stock was our makeup artist for the day – wow! She created amazing natural makeup looks, which complemented each and every one of us and really suited the ‘vibe’ of the wedding. She was a true professional, dedicated to ensuring the make-up was absolutely perfect.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids wore the Regent dress from Maids to Measure. We found them in the most fabulous little boutique in Ormskirk, The Bridal Barn. Emma and her mum are just fantastic – so helpful!
We chose a neutral colour for the bridesmaid dresses so they would tie in with the natural theme and work well with the greenery. We also managed to get some touches of quicksand roses in the bouquet, which matched the dresses perfectly. The dresses also contrasted against the navy suits of the men, too.
Groomsmen
Daniel had a made-to-measure Italian Vitale Barberis Canonico wool suit from Moss Bros.
The groomsmen hired navy suits from Moss Bros, with a tie and pocket square to complement the bridesmaids’ dresses.
Photography
Sarah Glynn was our fabulous wedding photographer! She was recommended by my sister and her friends (who had used her for some family shoots) and when I met her, I knew her fun-yet-relaxed style would be perfect for us. I explained that neither myself nor Dan were keen on posed pictures and she reassured me straight away, explaining it would be laidback and we would feel totally comfortable.
She was so great on the wedding day and settled any nerves straight away. She managed to get to see Dan and the men, before coming to get some snaps at the hairdressers and then my mum’s house! Sarah didn’t stop all day: she took so many photographs of all of the guests, which was just brilliant. She knew exactly which shots we wanted; family, friends, couples and so on were all planned for and she made it a seamless process, despite having to work around the rain! She gave clear directions, so the bridesmaids were able to gather the people she needed, as she needed them.
Styling
We used Flowers by Jemma Holmes to provide the flowers for our wedding. We could not recommend them highly enough!
My bouquet was a hand-tied rustic style bouquet with white roses, touches of quicksand, spray rose, eucalyptus foliage poplus parvi and pistachio foliage. The bridesmaids had the same on a smaller scale, whilst the buttonholes were white roses with mixed foliage.
We had white hydrangea pew ends with a hessian bow in the church; at Rivington, we had mixed foliage placed along the front of the top table, with scattered roses and a mixture of tapered and floating candles.
Each table had a silver candelabra with mixed foliage arrangement made up of three types of eucalyptus, all green ivy, white roses and white hydrangeas. They also had tapered candles.
We used fresh cut flowers for the wedding cake and flower stems, foliage to dress the table plan and welcome area.
We enlisted a room dresser to style the space. Emma at Love and Lace was amazing with her attention to detail and creativity! She really listened to the type of décor I was looking for: for example, she designed a superb table plan out of crates, picture frames, vintage bottles, pearls and foliage. It was truly amazing.
Emma also set up a welcome area with crates, pillar candles and foliage, as well as a gift table, which featured an old typewriter and suitcase where guests could put their cards and gifts.
We also hired vintage tea cups and saucers from Emma which she set at everyone’s table place.
Favours
We gave little gin bottles as our wedding favours! We bought 50ml vintage bottles and corks off the internet and filled them with Manchester 3 Rivers Gin.
Cake
One of our best friends, Rachel Radlinski, made our wedding cake – it was absolutely amazing! We chose three deep tiers, vanilla, lemon and salted caramel, and she also made an extra tier of chocolate for us to cut up.
Dining
On arrival at the venue, guests had a choice of beer or Prosecco for their welcome drinks along with a selection of traditional canapés. We went for a three-course wedding breakfast: we chose soup (which was unreal), roast sirloin of Ribble Valley beef and then for dessert, we had an afternoon tea stand of mini desserts for guests to pick from. This tied in nicely with the vintage china tea cups and saucers, too.
In the evening, we decided to go for canapés again so the evening wouldn’t broken by a buffet: we had cheese-and-meat pasties, pork sliders and chips!
We have received compliments from pretty much every guest regarding the food – Rivington’s catering staff excel themselves.
Entertainment
We found an guitarist, Chris Fletcher, to play during the drinks reception – he was outstanding! We have had so many compliments and enquiries about where we found him; he really was fantastic.
In the evening, we had both a band and DJ, which worked really well! The band was called Friends of the Bride – ironic, as my brother-in-law is the drummer! They played a superb set and the music was suited the party so well. Everyone was up dancing the whole night!
In between sets and after the band, we used wedding host and DJ Damian Kelly – he was amazing. We met up with him before the wedding and talked for ages about our favourite music, family tastes and the style of the wedding. He definitely pulled it out of the bag on the wedding day – we didn’t stop dancing.
Best bit
My favourite part of the day was in the church, thanks to Paul; I also loved our first dance, as well as my dance with my dad. I’m a huge Elvis fan and so I danced to Jailhouse Rock with my dad! Daniel and I danced to The Verve, with a huge confetti pop in the middle!
We were so lucky to have many friends and family help us with the wedding – Josh drumming in the band, Rachel made the cake, our friend Antoni sourced the gin, our close family friend Sue treated the girls to a pampering party the night before and one of our best friends, Becky from Sweet Treats by Rebecca Hayes, supplied a fabulous sweet buffet for the evening. This is what made the wedding so personal to guests and family.
Advice
My top tip for other Brides Up North I s – enjoy the build-up and the day as much as possible! It goes so quickly that you can lose sight of how much fun you, your friends and family are having.
