As happy couples go, Caroline and Lindsay are certainly a perfect match. Here Caroline recounts her wedding day at Holdsworth House in 2016, where sourcing suppliers locally was an important part of the couple's decision making process.
"Our wedding day was fantastic, easily the best day of our lives. "
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| Caroline (right) and Lindsay at Holdsworth House |
Tell us about when/where you met?
"We met three years ago. I had pretty much given up on my love life and after going to yet another wedding of a friend with no 'plus one' I decided to give it one last try with online dating. Two weeks later I had my first date and we arranged to meet at St Georges Square in Huddersfield. I looked up to find the potential love of my life, just in time to see a pair of legs swooping past me; my date had stepped over one of the fountains and slipped right off her feet. From that second I knew Lindsay was the one!"
What about the venue, why Holdsworth House?
"We looked at a few wedding venues and they weren’t quite right. A friend had been to an evening do at Holdsworth House in Halifax before and said it was fantastic, so we booked to go to an open day.
When we walked into the hotel we knew it was the place, it mixed tradition with a warm, friendly vibe. There was something magical about all the corridors and rooms, I can’t put my finger on it. It could be the exposed wood beams or traditional furniture but when it married up with the amazing staff, we booked it there and then. People smiled and made us feel welcome on every visit - from the open day to occasional lunches to meetings with the planner. The venue never let us down.
When it came to selecting suppliers we only used people that we liked. We wanted humans who smiled, not faceless businesses who saw our wedding as a great way to make money.
We had 60 guests during the day and around 80 at night and selected Holdsworth House’s Pain Free Wedding Package, which allowed us to select what we wanted in terms of food and drink but also gave us the reassurance that many other things were taken care of (trust me there are more things than you can ever imagine to organise for a wedding!)"
Describe your wedding invitations...
"We made the invites ourselves. I designed the invite and separate cards for additional information (totally not in work time) and Lindsay made a folding envelope, which she wrapped with lace and brown string and sealed with a button. All the invites were expertly printed by Perry Print in Huddersfield."
Tell us about your food...
"The menu tasting, about 6 weeks out, was amazing. When we arrived we were taken to our pre-prepared table with a personalised taster booklet at our places. We were presented with wine to taste in a carafe with cute little handmade labels. Then the food arrived ... it was immense. Fine filo tart of confit tomato, red onion, watercress pesto shaved pecorino - which Lindsay claimed - leaving me to taste the vegetarian option.
Despite being envious of the tart, the leek and potato soup arrived to my delight and was very tasty. This was only the beginning of a lovely meal of lemon sorbet and then ale braised beef and mustard seed mash, which was to die for. When we thought we couldn’t eat any more the pudding arrived, Bramley apple and blackberry crumble with vanilla custard. We rolled home in food coma bliss!
The wedding cake was a big deal for me. Dottie Bee’s Bakery in Leeds is run by a lovely lady named Karen. I knew her beforehand - she provides cakes for my office and I swear everyone goes crazy for them. We opted for 80 cup cakes in a variety of flavours; salted caramel with caramel centre, vanilla with raspberry conserve, lemon curd with lemon buttercream, and carrot with cream cheese. My dad made a cake stand using wood discs with 6” salted caramel sponge on top, finished with buttercream for a rustic style."
Describe your wedding dresses...
"Lindsay and I went dress shopping separately as we didn’t want to see each other’s choice until we were at the end of the aisle. Even though we both shopped independently, we both picked Elenor Rose in Huddersfield . I think Lynette at the boutique won us over with her friendly nature and warm personality. Unbeknown to us both our dresses matched and complemented each other perfectly. Lindsay’s dress was Philipa Grace Louella, with a custom made top section and belt. Mine was a LQ London with customised sparkles."
Who did your flowers?
"Lindsay is a flower enthusiast so alongside her friends created all the centre pieces, which were jars of spring flowers on individual woodland themed log discs. She also created flower displays in items that I borrowed from my uncle's farm; a milk churn, coal bucket, wellies, a metal teapot, a mini milk churn and various vases and containers we found. The night before the wedding Holdsworth House allowed us to use a room so we could create the displays. When it came to the bouquets and button holes we contracted the talented Pink Ginger who did a wonderful job.
For the tables we bought lots off items off Ebay, including place names that were little chalk boards on wine bottle corks, “words of wisdom” cards for guests to write their marriage advice for us, and wooden hearts which say “Mrs & Mrs Owen” to scatter on the tables."
Hair & Make-up
"Cat Eccle and the team at Mods and Rockers in Huddersfield did hair and our make-up at the hotel. Obviously as we are two girls it doubles the pressure, plus mothers of the brides and bridesmaids! But all the team were relaxed, calm and did brilliant jobs."
What was the best bit about the day?
"It’s impossible to pick one thing out of the day, the joy and happiness you feel is indescribable. When you wear a wedding dress everyone you meet smiles; friends, family, Holdsworth employees and even strangers. One special moment was when we walked out from the ceremony as a married couple and all the hotel staff congratulated us. Lindsay and I say we have our own bubble: when we are alone together we describe that time as "our bubble time", for that one day we let everyone in our bubble and shared our love."Want to know more about weddings at Holdsworth House? Contact the team on 01422 240024 or follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter
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