We absolutely LOVE hosting your weddings here at The Gamekeeper's Inn and creating a day that's perfect for you is a wonderful feeling. So we've asked some of our brides to relive their special day with us by filling out a little questionnaire so we could share a little bit of the magic with you too!

Please tell us yours and your husbands names Michelle & Chris

The date of your wedding with us? 31st August 2019

Tell us how you met? We met at school! We'd been friends since around age 12 but didn't actually get together until several years later when we were both 21 - I had moved to China and we found ourselves chatting over Skype one evening and it just went from there really!

How did he or she propose? We'd gone on a special trip to Iceland to celebrate our 5th anniversary, and we had been on a Northern Lights trip but they hadn't been very bright that evening. When we got back to our hotel, someone came running into reception shouting "The lights, the lights!" and they had become clearer, so he got down on one knee and asked me there and then!

What was the theme for your day, and did you have a colour scheme? Our overall theme for the day was a travel theme. We love travelling and Chris works in the travel industry and is obsessed with planes, so we decided to make our wedding theme a celebration of all the places we'd travelled to together. The colour scheme was fairly neutral, although the bridesmaid dresses and some of the flowers were powder blue.

Where did you hold your ceremony? Our ceremony was at All Saints Church in Bingley, overseen by the lovely Reverend Ruth.

Why did you choose The Gamekeeper’s Inn as your reception venue? It was just the perfect place for us. It had the 'out in the countryside' vibe that we wanted, but it also had superb accommodation on site.
In addition, the food we'd tried in the restaurant was fantastic and that helped convince us! The Netherside suite was the perfect size for what we wanted to do with our wedding, and we saw it dressed for a showcase event and it looked absolutely beautiful. Finally, meeting and speaking to Angela, the wedding coordinator, sold it for us as we had a lot of confidence she could deliver what we were aiming for.

When did you know you had found THE dress? I went to Ava Rose Hamilton with my Mum and we tried on every style of dress you could imagine; my consultant Kay was amazing and she took a little piece from every dress I liked before finding 'the one' that had a little bit of everything I loved. I just knew right then because I did not want to take it off!

Who were your bridesmaids and what did they wear? My Maid of Honour was Livv, and then I had 3 bridesmaids - Jenny C, Jenny M and Heather. They wore powder blue Grecian cold-shoulder dresses. We also had 2 gorgeous flower girls - Eva and Isla - who definitely stole the show and deserve a mention!

Tell us about your floral arrangements Our florist was The Hedgerow, who are based a very short drive from The Gamekeepers, Wendy was a great help!
We chose lots of greenery and gypsophila as our table decorations, with one huge display that matched my bouquet on the top table. They were a beautiful mixture of powder blue, white and blush flowers to compliment the bridesmaid’s dresses, I loved my bouquet it was an American waterfall style!

Tell us about the personal touches you added to the day Chris's Mum made light up bottles for each table as part of the centrepieces, and written on each was either a song lyric or phrase that is special to us! She also made us a memory bottle for all our absent friends and family, we placed a feather inside for each person.

How did you feel as you walked down the aisle? Loved! I was surrounded by all our friends and family walking down the aisle to Chris with my dad by my side... how could I feel anything other than loved and excited. It was a very special moment for me that I will never forget.

What was the most memorable moment of your day? It's honestly impossible to pick just one! Thanks to Angela and the team the day unfolded perfectly around us, The speeches definitely come to mind (for better or worse!) as well as our first dance that led to the best night of our lives!

Which song did you choose for your first dance and why? Bruce Springsteen – ‘If I Should Fall Behind’. We chose this because the lyrics sum up everything we wanted our marriage to be. It's essentially about travelling through life together, and sticking together despite any difficulties either of you may face. If you've never heard it, it's worth a listen, it's a beautiful song.

Which food and drinks did you choose to provide for your guests on the day? We had the usual array of wine on the table and fizz for the toasts. We had an incredibly difficult time picking out our menu from the options as they were all so good, but our main courses were a choice of a lamb dish that fell apart in your mouth, a lovely vegetarian option of nut crusted goats cheese, and also a delicious pork belly dish that got a big thumbs up from all our guests - the Chef's at The Gamekeeper's cooked it all superbly. Oh, and a cheeky chocolate brownie to finish and soak up the drinks!

Tell us about your wedding cake Our cake was pretty much travel themed, with 4 different flavoured layers and each tier having a different element of travel to it – the lower layer was a log with our initials inscribed, on top of that was a suitcase, the third layer a world map and the top layer just a pretty design but with Chris and me perched on top - sat in an icing aeroplane!

What music and entertainment did you have on the day? We love live music and decided pretty early on in the planning that we wanted that to form a key element of our day. We hired an incredible musician called Steven Heath who played us down the aisle, our wedding breakfast, our first dance and some songs into the evening. Once he went for his well-deserved rest, we'd also hired an amazing band called the Live Wires who kept the party atmosphere going until we were all truly ready for bed!
We also had a magician, Mark Waddington, who performed at our drinks reception and he was a particular highlight for our guests as his overall performance is both impressive and hilarious.

Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to the gorgeous Greek island of Santorini. We were lucky enough to have a private hot tub that looked out over the caldera with a perfect view of the famous sunsets - it was just lush!

What was the most challenging aspect of planning your wedding? Keeping to the budget!!!!

Was there anything you wish you had known before? What the Best Man was going to say in his speech!!

Do you have any advice for couples planning their wedding? To be honest the thing we've told people most is to make sure they have wedding insurance. Hopefully you will never need to use it - however, one of our transport suppliers unfortunately ceased trading a few months before the wedding, but our insurance paid out within a couple of weeks and we were able to get the whole thing sorted pretty swiftly - I can't imagine how much stress it would have added without it!

A short review... "We were incredibly happy that we chose The Gamekeeper's as our venue. The whole team are so professional and accommodating, the location and facilities are fantastic, the food is beyond superb and the Netherside suite is the perfect place to host a celebration. If we had to do it all over, we'd definitely choose The Gamekeeper's again!"

WEDDING SUPPLIERS

Wedding Dress: Ava Rose Hamilton

Bridesmaids Dresses: Wed2Be

Suits: Jenson Samuel (Skipton)

Photographer: Chris Milner Photography

Wedding Stationary: (Made by me!)

Entertainment: Steven Heath Music, The Live Wires, Mark Waddington (Magician), Limelight Photo Booth.

Make-up: Charlotte Laskey

Hair Stylist: Lauren Kershaw

Flowers: The Hedgerow

Cake: Jayne's Cakes & Catering (Bingley)

From your first visit, through all your planning, right up to your wedding celebrations, our wedding planner Angela will be by your side. Angela has been organising weddings at The Gamekeeper's Inn since The Netherside Suite opened and has overseen many happy couples tie the knot. She will answer any questions you might have and help you set out your perfect wedding.

So why not choose The Gamekeeper’s Inn as your perfect wedding venue? We have everything you need to plan your wedding and we’ll help you through every step. Please check out our 'Weddings' page for more information, or get in touch with Angela directly to start discussing your special day today.