Lucy and James Peckforton Castle Wedding | Peckforton Castle Wedding Photographer | Peckforton Castle weddings
Lucy and James Peckforton Castle Wedding | Peckforton Castle Wedding Photographer | Peckforton Castle weddings
The Proposal:
James proposed in Menagerie in Manchester. He had arranged with the staff to play a special song to us (amazed by Lonestar) and when they played it he proposed in front of the restaurant)
The Theme and Colour Scheme of the Wedding day:
“We didn’t have theme as such however I went for a vintage, 1950’s type look look with a tea length dress with very similar style for the bridesmaids. Red was the main colour as this was the colour of the bridal shoes and bridesmaids shoes and then incorporated into the flowers and make up”.
Why did you chose Peckforton Castle as your wedding venue?
We chose Peckforton Castle as it is such a beautiful building in a beautiful location. We liked that we could use different rooms for different aspects of the wedding which meant we could sample as much of this magnificent building as we could. For example the wedding ceremony was in the Great Hall and then the Wedding Breakfast in the Hexagonal Room. Also, as it is a hotel it had enough rooms to accommodate our guests, some of which had travelled a long way. We were able to hire the venue exclusively also so we could have a private and intimate wedding.
Saying yes to the wedding dress:
I went to around 6 shops and tried on around 20 dresses before I found ‘the one’ at Sarah’s Boutique in Northwich. As soon as I tried the LouLou tea length dress on I fell in love with the length and vintage look. I was looking for a dress which was a bit different and it just instantly felt right so I bought it there and then and cancelled future appointments I’d booked with other bridal shops.
I went looking with an open mind. I tried on virtually every style going to eliminate what I liked and didn’t like. I tried a tea length dress on and liked the way it showed off my shoes so then researched places that stocked these type of dresses and found Sarah’s boutique in Northwich.
The two bridesmaids were rather special:
Our two daughters were our bridesmaids- Ellie who is 6 who is my daughter and Jessica aged 4 who is James’s daughter. They wore very similar dresses to mine, tea length and ivory and I purchased these from Monsoon. To accompany their dresses they wore red converse trainers to compliment my red Valentino shoes and then in the evening I also changed into converse so we all matched.
Flowers and Floral Arrangements:
Ian Lloyd events supplied all our flowers and decorated the Great Hall for the ceremony and Hexagonal Room for the wedding breakfast
Personal touches galore, a very bespoke wedding day and a very considerate bride and groom:
We wanted our wedding to move away from tradition. James didn’t have a best man and I only had our two young daughters as bridesmaids. We had an adults only wedding with only our daughters and niece and nephew present. Most of our guests are parents and they loved being able to come and let their hair down without running after their children. As we had no best man James and I decided to do speeches, I went first followed by James.
My dress and style for the day was based around the 50’s with the tea length dress and red lip stick. As guests could see my shoes I wanted something that would stand out so went for red Valentinos, a shoe that I can wear again and again after the wedding. I wanted the bridesmaids to have red shoes too so opted for red converse. At night I changed into these so we were all matching and in comfy shoes which we can wear again.
To entertain the guests during the photographs we hired a magician who was amazing. Feedback from guests was it was mind blowing. Guests were provided with Mr and Mrs drinks. Sloe Gin and tonic for the men and Kir Royale for the women. We had a bespoke menu designed by ourselves and the head chef at Peckforton.
Instead of name places we had guest names printed on Swizzells Love Heart Sweets and gave guests scratch cards as wedding favours. We did a DIY sweetie table as we found it was cheaper to do this ourselves than pay for a sweet cart. We had about 12 different sweets! In the evening as well as the DJ and Band we had two casino tables of Roulette and BlackJack. These were a hit with the guests with the two winners receiving a bottle of bubbles.
In the female toilets we provided a basket full of flip flops and a toiletries basket with items such as hairspray, grips, deodorant etc so guests could freshen up. At midnight when the DJ had finished we had a surprise for the guests. In the wine cellar we put on a silent disco which was a first for Peckforton.
All the guests and staff were given a pair of headphones and we spend the next 3 hours flicking between music channels. We had cheese, Rnb and just general pop. This was one of our favourite things about the wedding. Everybody loved the disco, some of the guests didn’t want to go to bed at 3am when it ended! It was such a highlight of the wedding for us. We provided a midnight snack of pizza and sandwiches to keep everyone going.
Whilst everyone was dancing away we had hangover bags placed in all the guest bedrooms. These consisted of water, paracetamol, mints, chewing gum, chocolate and sweets.
The wedding ceremony:
“I felt really nervous before entering the Great Hall. I had to have a moment before I could walk down the aisle to compose myself. I saw James welling up and it started me off too and it didn’t help my dad was in tears next to me. It was very emotional but when I arrived at James’s side my nerves disappeared and I couldn’t stop smiling.
Our daughter Ellie who is only 6 stood and read a poem and as James had no best man his daughter Jessica who is 4 had the rings.
During the ceremony our wedding rings wouldn’t fit (it was a hot day and both our hands had swollen) so laughed our way through it and we had to physically force them on each other. This had us and our guests laughing and gave the ceremony a more relaxed atmosphere and set the tone for the rest of the day.”
The first dance and evening reception:
“We chose, Stand By Me by Ben E King. This was sung by the band ‘The Rush’. We had seen them perform this previously in our favourite bar and they do their own unique version which we loved. Also, it is a relatively short song which appealed as we didn’t want to be on the dance floor on our own for too long. As well as the band we had a DJ, casino tables and a silent Disco after midnight.”
The wedding cake:
“This was designed by Jo Couture Cakes and was a 3 tier semi naked cake with a gold drip. The layers consisted of an 6 inch layer homemade lemon curd and lemon butter cream, an 8 inch layer of vanilla with raspberry Eton Mess butter cream and a 10 inch bakewell with almond butter cream and berry conserve. Fresh flowers on the cake were supplied by Ian Lloyd”
Honeymoon – well 2 Honeymoons!
“We decided to go to South Africa for our honeymoon however have delayed this until January when it is their summer. On the Monday after the wedding we went to Venice for 4 days as this was a destination neither of us had been.”
Any advice for other bride and grooms?:
“Don’t rush into making decisions. Make sure you do lots of research on suppliers. There can be such a variation in costs for the same service and preferred suppliers may not necessarily be the best option for you. Once you have chosen a venue go and visit their wedding fairs and wedding evenings as it is really useful to get ideas and see it dressed for a wedding. Also, its your big day, so book where you want, choose who you want to invite, pick the suppliers that fit your needs…don’t let family and friends pressurise you into something that suits them.”
Wedding Gallery – A selection of wedding photographs from Lucy and Jame’s Peckforton Castle wedding.
[foogallery id=”14574″]
Lucy and James’ chosen Wedding Suppliers.
Photography – Well me of course! Chris Chambers
Wedding Flowers – Ian Lloyd Everts
Lighting DJ Casino – Hipswing
Wedding Cake – Jo Couture Cakes
Videographer – Marry Me Films
Magician – Nick Rushton
Musicians – Balfour String Quartet and band The Rush
Hair and make Up – Bridal Hair and Make Up Cheshire
The stunning Peckforton Castle taken just after sunset on the day of Lucy and Jame’s wedding.
Tags: Peckforton Castle Wedding Photographer. Peckforton Castle Weddings: Cheshire Castle : Chris Chambers Photography : Wedding Photography : Cheshire
