Anna & Kevin’s Intimate Summer Wedding in Yorkshire

But brollies aside, this gorgeous pair celebrated their love with an intimate weekend wedding at Grassfield Hall in North Yorkshire. This country house provided the perfect home-from-home for their bespoke celebration surrounded by their closest friends and family.

Anna says…

I always knew I wanted to get married back in Yorkshire and bring Kevin’s family and all our friends to celebrate here in this little slice of heaven. I’d actually driven past Grassfield Hall years ago and remembered it and, as soon as we walked through the door, I knew it would be the perfect place for our special day. It was the only venue we looked at!

We wanted the day to be more like a luxurious weekend away with our nearest and dearest than a traditional wedding. Grassfield worked so well for this because our guests were free to explore the house and its grounds and could relax and enjoy it as much as we did. It’s surrounded by the most beautiful countryside and the building has been meticulously restored over the years with stunning entertaining spaces and gorgeous bedrooms, including a luxurious bridal suite. In the midst of the pandemic, it was the perfect size for an intimate wedding but with flexibility for more guests in the evening if the restrictions changed (which thankfully they did!). We had the option of an indoor or outdoor ceremony, plenty of space for our guests to mingle after dinner and all our family and close friends could stay with us. On the first night, Graze + Gorge catered for us and arranged the most delicious spread of food. Everyone got to know each other and eagerly anticipated the following day – it was a great way to start the wedding.

I had complete faith in Lisa and her team to help us create our dream wedding. Due to Covid, apart from our initial visit, we never saw the venue again until the day before the wedding but we chatted to Lisa frequently to arrange everything. She was full of ideas and advice to ensure everything ran smoothly on the day and was so helpful and reassuring throughout the whole process. This was invaluable when navigating ever-changing restrictions and date changes. Her team was amazing from start to finish and they truly went above and beyond to make the day perfect. For the few days of our wedding, Grassfield Hall felt like home – I didn’t want to leave!

I wore a bespoke Suzanne Neville dress from The Harrogate Wedding Lounge and I loved every minute of wearing it. I was actually torn between two dresses and had a mad panic after ordering my initial dress but after a few tweaks and changes I created my dream dress. It was quite daunting ordering something I’d never seen but the ladies at bridal boutique were amazing (and very patient!) and it was a joy to visit each time to see it come to life. If there’s any advice I can give when it comes to choosing a dress, it’s trust your instinct! You know what you feel comfortable in and what suits you best. Don’t stop until you find it.

I chose a pair of blush Jimmy Choos with the hope of being able to wear them again but unfortunately they have remained in their box, too muddy and grass-stained to be worn again! Kevin gave me a beautiful pair of diamond and pearl earrings to wear and I pinned my lucky sixpence into my dress for extra luck.

My hair and make up were done by Rachel McNulty – our Mums went to antenatal group together so we’ve known each other since we were born. Rachel created such a calm atmosphere on the morning of the wedding and made the flowergirls feel like princesses. I only had one bridesmaid and two flower girls. Their dresses were from Ghost and toned in beautifully with the colour scheme we had chosen. Kevin and his best man wore bespoke suits from Edit Suits and accessories from OTAA.

We both had a clear vision for our wedding – timeless, neutral blush tones, elegant and lots of flowers – and all our suppliers worked incredibly hard to bring everything together. I was blown away by the dining room set up on the day, all the small details, from the napkins to flowers and glassware to stationery, came together so beautifully.

Another thing I was really clear about was an outdoor ceremony. I had a picture in my head of how I wanted it to look – on the front lawn with the Yorkshire hills as a backdrop. I would definitely warn any bride against doing this! The British weather is not reliable and it caused a great deal of stress on the morning of the wedding. We were incredibly lucky that the minute my foot stepped outside to walk down the aisle, the rain stopped. Aside from a brief shower in the middle of our vows (which provided some great pictures), the weather was glorious and we spent so much of the day outside.

We chose Lou at 4 Seasons Flowers – another family connection. I spent a lot of time researching what I wanted and Lou was excellent at interpreting my ideas and making them a reality. I loved the flowergirls’ flower crowns and they had baskets filled with fresh petals to scatter down the aisle. Standing at the front door of Grassfield as husband and wife surrounded by Lou’s flower display was definitely one of my favourite moments of the day.

Our cake was made by Bec at Three Little Birds Bakery, a local cake designer. I never actually met her in person until the day of the wedding when she came to set up the cake. My parents had very kindly done all the cake tastings for us and they helped us choose a super chocolately cake covered in blush coloured buttercream and topped with a macaroon tower.

After a lot of research, we found Freya Raby and fell in love with her style. I am so glad we chose her to document the day and now we have so many gorgeous pictures to look back on. They really tell the story of the day and are not just posed or staged photos. We had already met Freya and our second photographer, Chris Spencer-Payne, at our engagement shoot so we felt relaxed in front of them on the day and they put all our guests at ease. It felt like we had two extra friends at the wedding.

Best part of the day

The whole day was filled with so many memorable and special moments but we absolutely loved our ceremony. We knew we wanted this to be the focus of the day and we were so pleased to find Rachael Meyer – our celebrant. We were free to create a personalised ceremony that reflected us as a couple. She shared our love story, we wrote our own vows and had three meaningful readings. It felt filled with so much love and happiness.

I also loved our wedding breakfast with everyone and just taking a minute to sit back and watch everyone enjoying themselves in such a beautiful setting. It felt magical to be in a room with all our family and closest friends celebrating such a special day. I wish we could do the whole thing all over again!

From one couple to another…

Everyone says this, but it is so true, take time with each other to enjoy the day and take it all in. There were a couple of times in the day when the two of us would take a minute to ourselves for a quiet moment to enjoy the day with each other. You’re both so busy throughout the day and it goes by so quickly, you don’t actually get to spend much time with each other.

We were also mindful of the number of young children at the wedding so we hired a nanny for the day and filled a hamper of toys for them to play with and keep them entertained which worked so well.