In fact, a wedding of 30 guests allowed Hannah & George to secure their dream wedding venue, Birdsall House in North Yorkshire. With roaring fires, grounds to explore and a stunning setting for guests to dine, we think you’ll love this autumn celebration.
Hannah says…
When my now husband popped the question we immediately started searching for our ideal venue. Of course, at the time we were planning for a wedding of 150 guests, and when we spotted Birdsall House, unfortunately it was out of our budget.
After a year of planning our big day, our original venue went bust which really left us feeling unhopeful and completely deflated. As the pandemic escalated, we soon realised we were planning for a small and intimate wedding and we reconsidered Birdsall House!
When we visited Birdsall House we were refilled with hope and joy about our wedding – as it should be! We felt thrilled with their organisation, humbled by their kindness and mind blown by the Estate’s beauty.
I was lucky enough to have the help of my dear Granny to get the dress of my dreams – Stella York 6817. I always was set on having lace sleeves and it felt like a dainty yet sleek dress which I loved.
With the second lockdown announced, we chose to squeeze our wedding in before, and planned it in 48 hours! Thankfully, my amazing seamstress finished my dress on the day before the wedding – phew! I wore some beautiful satin Rainbow Club heels, I had to make sure they weren’t high heels because I couldn’t imagine having sore feet all day!
Something else that was lucky – my hairdresser was thankfully free for our new wedding date, and Becky from Hairbox in Malton did a beautiful job of a messy, curly and loose up do. Sadly, my make up artist couldn’t do the new date, so I had to get creative and try and make my face glow myself!
My husband George did amazingly well to keep a cool head in the mad rush to plan for our new date, I’m not sure what I would have done without him. As soon as I saw him at the alter, I knew I could breathe, relax and enjoy the day together. George wore the gorgeous ‘Southwold Blue’ suit from The Vintage Suit Hire, the company were great and got all the suits sorted in no time for our new date!
My dear bridal party went from nine to three which was so sad not having everyone there, but they joined on Zoom which made my day! My brother was my bridesman, and I had best friends Katie and Jess by my side too which meant the world to me, the three of them kept me zen on the morning and before walking down that aisle!
The theme for our day was botanical and white. It was a shame that we didn’t get the time to make the final touches such as a table plan and place names, but that didn’t even matter once I was sat next to my new husband and family and friends, celebrating. We were lucky enough to have handmade wooden table names crafted by George’s Grandad scattered on the big table which had names of special places to George and I, which was a personal touch.
All of our wedding stationery was beautifully handmade by my golden oldie bestie Ella who was going to be a bridesmaid. Ella is so talented in calligraphy, it looked professional and we were so grateful for her doing this for us.
We chose Gemma at the Topiary Tree Florist in Malton to do our flowers. To carry on with the green and white theme, we had a selection of foliage with gypsophila and white roses – divine! I’ve actually dried my bouquet out to keep forever!
We were honoured to be catered by Dan Graham – MasterChef: The Professionals runner-up (‘At the Dinner Party’). Oh boy the food was DELICIOUS! Actually, when our original venue went bust, Dan offered us support and advice which was lovely, and when we found out he actually designed the menu we originally chose (he used to be Head Chef there) we thought it was meant to be! Dan served us the most beautiful antipasti sharing starters on wooden boards, followed by a traditional warming roast beef dinner or salmon en croute for the pescatarians, finished with a good old apple crumble with homemade custard and ice cream! All of this scrumptious food was paired with Champagnes, wines and trendy cocktails from the Yorkshire Bartender.
We were lucky enough to have our wedding cake made by George’s cousin Beth who has her own business called ‘Bake’ in Bedfordshire. We were especially grateful as Beth did this at such short notice for us, Beth was supposed to be another bridesmaid along with her sister Jemima, we were glad they could join on Zoom!
Fiona Bielby, of Anoif Photography, is such a fun and easy-going photographer which made the perfect person to capture the day. We knew we wanted to book Fiona when we did an engagement shoot in Dalby Forest, we won a competition! Fiona’s pictures are so natural and she made us feel so at ease that we couldn’t imagine anyone else shooting our moments of the wedding day. Fiona went above and beyond to make sure she was available for our new wedding date, we were so grateful that we were able to have such beautiful pictures to keep the most special day of our lives, alive! Fiona even went to the effort of sending us the sweetest box full of memories, pictures and a slideshow of the day!
Best part of the day
When George and I had our first dance. The piece of music that means so much to us ‘Of Crows and Crowns’ by Dustin Kensrue, I literally felt all of the anxiety and worry, that had been building up with all the uncertainty of the pandemic beforehand, release- and finally we had tied the knot! Wooo!
From one couple to another…
With the uncertainty of weddings during the pandemic, with the worries about guest numbers, it was incredibly hard to feel excited for the whole run up. But what it did teach my husband and I, is that the main thing for us was to get married to each other and start our married life. The intimate wedding that we were lucky enough to have made us realise how lucky we are to have each other and our family and friends. If you’re disheartened by the potential of not having a big white wedding that you’ve always dreamt of – don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. You might just find that you fall in love with having a small and intimate wedding!
Venue Birdsall House
Photography Anoif photography
Bridal Boutique Blue Bow Bridal
Shoes Rainbow Club
Hair Hairbox
Groom’s Attire The Vintage Suit Hire
Flowers Topiary Tree
Catering Dan Graham, At The Dinner Party
Cake Bake
Based on a weekend wedding in March. Includes accommodation.