Featured Gamekeeper's Wedding - Jayne & David

Name: Gamekeeper's Inn
Price range: $

We love making your dream weddings a reality at The Gamekeeper's Inn. It's always an honour to be part of such a special day. Recently, we had the pleasure of reconnecting with some of our happy couples and reminiscing about their unforgettable experiences with them, and now we're excited to share their stories with you.

Could you please tell us your and your husband's names? Jayne and David.

How did you both meet? We matched on Tinder in 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic was upon us and the first lockdown was looming in Melbourne, we fast-tracked meeting in person before it was too late.

We then spent the pandemic and lockdowns doing the most simple things together and truly getting to know each other – without the need to keep up appearances. We always say we’re so grateful for the pandemic because it made our dating period so easy, simple and romantic. We fell madly in love.

How did David propose?

We planned a road trip in our little Mazda from Melbourne to Sydney over the Christmas and New Year period – 2023/2024.

David anxiously carried the ring with him every day from 22nd Decmber to 1st January, desperately trying to find the “perfect moment” to pop the question… But either Jayne got distracted and ruined “the moment”, or as you’d expect, there were hundreds of tourists due to the time of year, which made the moment impersonal and a million miles away from what David had envisioned.

David hid his secret for the entire time and eventually popped the question on 01/01/2024. We were alone together in our holiday apartment, and it was intimate, emotional and special.

During the 10-hour drive back from Sydney to Melbourne, there were a few occasions when Jayne got distracted looking at her ring whilst driving, almost taking us off the road. As you can imagine, David drove most of the way back!!

We always “joked” that the wedding was planned during the 10-hour journey, but the truth is, it practically was.

Jayne David Goodwill Forever Films Andrew Todd 45

What did you do for your stag & hen celebrations?

Jayne’s hen party weekend was planned by her bridesmaid (Lucy) and Mother of the Bride (Ronnie). Jayne had no idea about what was happening for the hen party but was told that she needed a white outfit for one night and a white swimsuit… But in her true bride style, Jayne had everything white.

The hen party was held at an incredible house near Huddersfield. Lucy, Ronnie and Aunty Maz had put so much time and effort into the decorations and little touches that made the weekend absolutely unreal! The rest of the guests brought the most beautiful cakes, cheeseboards, best vibes, and most of all, all the love!

At the house, there was a huge hot tub, a selfie room, an old English style bar, a pool table, karaoke space, enormous kitchen area and enough beautiful bedrooms for the people that attended.

Friday night was supposed to be a chilled night waiting for the guests to arrive, but we ended up drinking too much prosecco, hogging the karaoke machine, playing pool and a few games, and dancing until the early hours. The biggest pull for the house was the amount of space there and guests wouldn’t be on top of each other… Until the Friday night, when we all squished into the corner of the sofa!

On the Saturday, we went for a beautiful frosty walk through the hills, soaked in the hot tub, and ate loads of food and cake. The night was another night of dancing in the lounge area, and as the snow set in, running out into the snow. On Sunday morning, we woke up to being completely snowed in. All we had was a yard brush at the house...to dig out four cars! With a stroke of luck, a very kind local man with a 4x4 came to our rescue and towed us out of the snow. What a way to truly make the weekend one to remember.

David spent the morning through to lunchtime exploring Liverpool, going to some well-renowned pubs, enjoying a relaxing drink with a game of pool with his now father and brother-in-law. The afternoon was spent at the Wyld Sauna in Liverpool, soaking up the views in an open view sauna overlooking the river Mersey, jumping into cold plunge pools and into the Mersey. David described this as “temperatures that would make your limbs fall off”. David spent the night with a few other family members and friends at Mowgli (Indian street food) restaurant, before finishing the night off at one last pub to watch the Liverpool game.

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What was the date of your wedding? Thursday 16th January 2025.

Why did you choose The Gamekeeper's Inn?

Firstly, the communication from Angela and the rest of the team was faultless. We had so many questions and they were all answered, by both WhatsApp video call (as we were in Australia) and in writing.

Whilst living over 10,000 miles away in Australia, we planned for Jayne’s parents to see the venue in the lead up to the wedding (February 2024 was their first visit – to the Wedding Showcase). Their feedback was outstanding, and they were excited. We decided after this that The Gamekeeper's Inn was the one for us! Luckily Jayne’s parents had the pleasure of going back to do the food tasting, and then it was confirmed that not only did the food look amazing, they said that it was “spot on”.

The Gamekeeper’s Inn offered everything that we wanted for our wedding. It allowed us to have an intimate ceremony, great food, to dance the night away, and to have our guests stay with us on site. The picturesque surroundings gave our photographer the opportunity to capture some amazing photos, without even needing to leave the venue.

Tell us all about the morning of your wedding!

JAYNE: The morning of the wedding was really relaxing. In Fountains Fell, a family room at The Gamekeeper's Inn, there was my mum, Lucy and I getting ready, with the mother of the groom (Joan) and Joan’s sisters occasionally popping in and out. Of course the hair stylist (Bec Beauty MUA) and make up artist (Katie from The Glam Studio) were there too. We had music playing, food arrived for us and we just spent the morning chatting, hydrating and having a glass of bubbles. It didn’t feel stressful at all.

My favourite memory is saying all along that I don’t know if I will cry… Then getting two personalised bottles of champagne from Dave and bursting out crying. I remember my mum and Lucy just looking at me and laughing.

I really felt so relaxed all morning, aside from one little moment when I was getting my makeup done and I felt a little bit nervous. That soon passed and I was ready to get into my dress!

For David, the morning was spent with his two best men (older brother Danny and Cousin TJ), his father-in-law, his two nephews and brother-in-law. They had music on, whilst slowly getting ready and making their way through various drinks to calm the nerves (mostly David’s nerves). The most memorable moment for David was seeing all the groomsmen in their suits, having an intimate moment of solidarity, an emotional “cheers”, and them giving David words of wisdom before heading to the ceremony.

What was the theme for your wedding?

We don’t really think we had a theme for the wedding. Our colour scheme was a dark purple, in memory of David’s twin brother that sadly passed in March 2015 – it was his favourite colour. We just wanted a day that felt simple yet elegant, intimate and relaxing, with wholesome hearty food and a good old boogie on the night… We definitely got that!

Who were your bridesmaids and groomsmen?

David chose his brother Daniel and his cousin TJ to be his best men. They all wore suits from The Wedding Room in Scarborough.

Jayne chose Philip, her brother, and Lucy, her cousin (but more like a sister!) for her bridal party.

Jayne, you looked beautiful - tell us about your wedding look!

I wore a Madi Lane dress, along with a LUV Bridal veil, HARLO Australia shoes, and jewellery from Swarovski in Liverpool. As we live in Australia, the dress, veil and shoes were bought there.

How did you know you had found "the" dress?

I didn’t think finding “the dress” was a thing. I went dress shopping on my own in Australia, and my beautiful mum made the point of getting up super early, or staying up super late, so that I could FaceTime her for the appointments. In addition to the video call, we took pictures of the dresses and mum and I would talk through them afterwards.

We narrowed down to “picture two” and “picture four” and kept saying its between two and four. Later that day, after mum had been to sleep, we FaceTimed again to discuss the dresses. The two of us had been flicking between picture two and picture four – I had to go out of the house and leave my phone behind due to the pure obsession in looking at the dresses, and mum had been constantly looking at them too.

When I was in the shop, I felt like I was leaning towards dress four, but then when I was talking to mum, I remember saying, I cant stop looking at dress two, and mum shouted “me too”. That was when WE picked my dress – we may have been in separate locations, but our intuition was together!

Who did your hair and makeup? How did you choose them, and what style did you go for?

My hair was done by Bek Beauty MUA and may makeup was by Katie at The Glam Studio. I chose these ladies after I posted on a Skipton Community Facebook page for recommendations (which I got a lot of). After that, I had a look at their work and liked them both. Communication with both Bek and Katie was so easy and that was a huge help (especially as we were planning from Australia). I had trials with both ladies and both actively sought feedback.

I had a high up-do as I didn’t want to be worrying about my hair in the unpredictable UK winter weather, and I didn’t want to lose the style as the day went on or as I was dancing. It was the best decision I made.

For my make up, I went for a glowy base and natural tones. I loved it. I am a sucker for a bold lip usually (we are talking bright red) so I toned that down a bit for the wedding day – again, another solid decision!

How did you feel walking down the aisle?

When I was outside, I felt calm. As soon as I heard the song for my bridal party to walk in, I got so emotional. I quickly settled… Until the song I was walking in to came on. When I stepped into the room, I felt very overwhelmed. I remember looking down the aisle to Dave… Who burst out crying, which of course set me off. Then I remembered what the MC told me – just breathe. I think overall, I was excited to be marrying the man I love after all of the planning.

Something that is funny is that the pictures show our guests clapping as I walked down the aisle - I have no memory of this. I do remember hearing the song though!

What songs did you walk down the aisle to, and our of your ceremony as Mr & Mrs to?

The mother of the bride, bridesman and bridesmaid entered to 'I Love You Always Forever' by Donna Lewis.

Jayne walked in to 'Take My Heart' by The Teskey Brothers.

As we singed the marriage certificate, we played 'You Are The Best Thing' by Ray LaMontagne, 'Everywhere' by Fleetwood Mac, and 'Better Together' by Jack Johnson.

Finally, the announcement and exit song was 'Kiss Me' by Sixpence None the Richer.

We loved your flower arrangements. How did you choose your florist and your theme?

As we didn’t have the opportunity to see any flowers or find inspiration in the UK, we had to rely on the powers of the internet to find some inspiration. We sourced colours, arrangements and types of flowers from places such as Pinterest, Instagram and Google searches.

Our only inspiration was to have flowers that were subtle, not overpowering in contrast, and looked timeless. Once we agreed on all of this, we sent our inspirations to The Hedgerow to put all of this together. They were amazing at bringing all of this to life and we were astounded at how beautiful it all looked on the day.

Who designed your table settings and room decor?

We used Create A Look Decor for the items, and our tables were beautifully set up by the staff at The Gamekeeper's Inn.

What did you have as favours?

Our favours were little bars of chocolate - which Jayne thought she had forgotten, and was genuinely shocked to see them on the tables!

Jayne David Goodwill Forever Films Andrew Todd 12

Jayne David Goodwill Forever Films Andrew Todd 13

Who made your wedding cake?

Our cake was made by David's sister, Natalie. We also used Every Cloud Cakes & Bakes for our cupcakes - which were absolutely delicious, might we add!

Is there a special meaning for your wedding cake choice? Did you know what you wanted right away?

Nope - we probably couldn't have been less bothered about the cake if we tried (sorry Natalie, we know you would have loved some inspiration and input from us. Thank you for making such a beautiful cake!)

What song did you choose for the first dance, and what does this song mean to you?

Our first dance song was 'Grow Old With Me' by Tom Odell. The song was a choice that we both made when trying to find something that was a real representation of our connection and love to one another. The song speaks to us both equally, and as soon as we listened to the words, we knew this was the song we wanted.

Did you choreograph your dance, or just wing it?

No choreography, although we did practice dancing in the living room a few times!

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Who was your DJ?

James Barrett - recommended by Skipton Community Facebook page. Do not underestimate the power of the community! James communicatedd with ease and his glowing reviews on social media speak for themselves. He pulled out all the stops to make sure we were all on the dance floor. He kindly captured some footage from behind the decks of us dancing and was kind enough to share these after the wedding.

Who was your photographer?

Andrew Todd at Forever Films - Andrew is an old friend of David's and Jayne met Andrew at TJ's wedding in August 2023.

We chose not to have a videographer. We live in a world where we all use our phones for photos and videos... And trust us, our guests did just that! Lucy (bridesmaid) set up a WhatsApp QR code for the guests to join a group and share all of their personal photos and videos - it was a genius idea!

Which is your favourite photo of the day and why?

This photo was taken down at the lake at The Gamekeeper's Inn.

The sun was setting, it was intimate, and we felt connected right in that moment.

We had an emotional few words together, where we talked about how perfect the morning had been.

If you could re-live your wedding day all over again, is there anything you would do differently?

NOT AT ALL! It was perfect for us - we had the best day ever.

What are your honeymoon plans?

We spent 4 beautiful days in Portugal - sightseeing and exploring the history of the architecture, eating delicious locally-made pastel de nata, and relaxing into our first week of marriage. We always describe this as our "mini-moon", compliments of Jayne's brother (thank you Philip!).

We're yet to plan our honeymoon some time later this year. We have talked of sitting somewhere on a beach in South-East Asia, although final decisions are still pending!

Have you been back to The Gamekeeper's Inn since your wedding?

Well, we spent a few nights at The Gamekeeper's Inn after the wedding. We are currently back in Australia, and looking forward to returning to The Gamekeeper's Inn when we are next in the UK We have said it will be somewhere we come and stay every time we visit the UK. It holds such special memories for us now, and the location, the food, the staff and the amenities all make it worthwhile!

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Inspired by Jayne & David's Special Day?

Let us help you plan your dream Yorkshire Dales wedding

At The Gamekeeper’s Inn, every couple is our priority. We take pride in bringing your vision to life, going above and beyond to create the perfect wedding day just for you.

To learn more and arrange a personal tour of our stunning venue, get in touch with our wedding team at events@gamekeeperinn.co.uk.

You can also download our wedding brochure here for more details.

We can't wait to welcome you and start planning your special day!