Victoria & Peter’s Askham Hall Wedding

You may have already fallen in love with this venue after our little tour a few weeks back, but if you’re yet to discover the magical Askham Hall in Cumbria then you’re in for a treat!

Victoria & Peter married at this relaxed, informal setting and just a few subtle seasonal nods created this perfect summer scene, all captured by Tiree Dawson Photography.

Oh and spot the Gypsy Caravan where they signed the register! I’m a smitten kitten.

Victoria:

We’re regular visitors to the Lake District and ideally wanted a wedding venue there, which was relaxed and not a ‘wedding factory’, and most importantly which allowed dogs! We discovered Askham Hall during the summer of 2013 and attended the inaugural wedding fayre later in October. We visited other venues after this, but no other venue lived up to it.

We tested the Hall out with an overnight stay and a meal in the restaurant. The food was absolutely divine and the staff were excellent and unobtrusive. Askham Hall is certainly an extremely relaxing, beautiful and peaceful place to stay. This stay sealed it as our wedding venue, and our decision was reaffirmed by their assistance with the wedding preparations and over the weekend of the actual wedding. The staff were outstanding!

The whole weekend was relaxed and an absolute pleasure, and whilst we were planned and organized to the nth degree, the calm and organized approach of all of the staff helped everything go off to plan, and calmed any last minute nerves over the organization of the day. Our guests also fell in love with the venue, they were impressed with the staff and most definitely the food.

I chose to have my wedding dress made by House of Mooshki. I had read excellent reviews about them and their dresses, and a friend had also had a wedding dress made by them. They have some fabulous designs, and provide great advice on what will suit your body shape.

I had a customized design of the ‘Flora’ dress made. The service provided by them was second to none, and it meant I got a dress which fitted me perfectly. Nana Mooshki was fabulous in carrying out the final alterations to ensure the dress fitted me as it should.

Lisa Jones Hair and Make-Up provides her services for all of the House of Mooshki photo shoots and I really liked her work, so it made choosing a hair and make-up artist very easy. She provided an excellent service, and was fantastic in styling and ‘making up’ my Mam who was on the road to recovery after an extremely traumatic year with breast cancer. She looked and felt like a million dollars and had huge confidence on the day and I can’t thank Lisa enough for doing that for her.

We chose Vine and Roses to provide the flowers as they were a local florist and on Askham Hall’s list of recommended suppliers, and as we lived 2 hours drive away we needed some assistance with local suppliers. Jane at Vine and Roses was great, she met with us several times to work through different ideas and suggestions and produced fabulous results. The flowers were exactly what we wanted, and the service she provided was superb, nothing was ever too much trouble.

For the wedding theme we wanted to ensure that it was relaxed and that the flowers matched the season. We didn’t want anything too formal. SVL Hire Ltd were recommended by Askham Hall to provide the light and sound requirements – The lighting in the barn provided a very relaxed feel.

We did most of the styling ourselves, researching on various websites, and spending days – or what felt like it – on notonthehighstreet.com and wedding blogs trying to pick out what we wanted. We picked a map of the lake district for the table plan, and it seemed natural to have the tables named after each Wainwright book, and have the books on each table. Our parents assisted with wedding favours, and the wooden table centre pieces.

We originally had another photographer booked, but sadly they had a snowboarding accident just before the wedding! Askham Hall provided a list of their favourite photographers, and luckily for us Tiree Dawson was on that list and was available on our date. She was a lifesaver. We viewed Tiree’s portfolio online and looked at a photo shoot she had done at Askham Hall, her photos were fabulous and exactly what we were after. Tiree was great and that contributed to the day being very relaxed, all of her photos are lovely and the after care service has been brilliant!

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

The whole wedding was lovely, but it made a huge difference having the venue for two nights, we were able to relax and enjoy and make full use of it on the Friday night as well!

Venue & Catering Askham Hall | Photography Tiree Dawson Photography | Bride’s Dress House of Mooshki | Brides Accessories Susan’s Bridal {veil} & Wittens & Sons {jewellery} | Hair & Makeup Lisa Jones Hair and Makeup | Groom’s Attire Marks and Spencer & Alexander McQueen {tie} |Bridesmaid Fashion BHS | Venue Lighting SVL Hire Ltd | Florist Vine and Roses | Cake Thérèse Quincey | Dog Wedding Cake home made! | Stationery notonthehighstreet.com

So lovely right…?

The light, the grounds, the delicious details.

Thank you to Victoria & Peter for sharing their big day and of course Tiree Dawson Photography – always a pleasure.

Lots of love…