Alex, a Doctor, married Chris, a Teacher, on 29th October 2023, at Holmes Mill in Clitheroe.
This fun-loving couple knew from the off they wanted a brewery style setting to celebrate with their guests and it didn’t take them a hot second to book this fabulous Lancashire based wedding venue – only the second they visited.
Alex wore a bridal gown and veil by British bridal fashion designer, Jessica Bennett – regarded for her modern designs for fashion conscious brides.
Photography by the always wonderful Luis Calow. Enjoy!
Venue & Location
We loved the idea of a brewery and literally Googled ‘brewery wedding venues’ – Holmes Mill came up and we went to see it and fell in love with the place and the staff from the off. They made us feel really relaxed and were so flexible with the many changes in plans we made along the way. We loved the 1920’s feel of the bistro and the industrial vibes of the cotton room.
Holmes Mill provided an event planning service as part of the package which was brilliant and took away a lot of the stress of planning a wedding. It was only the second place that we looked and we both loved it. It was a bit different because of the brewery style and the staff were amazing from the start to finish.
The Dress
Jessica Bennett
My dress, veil, bag and bow were all by Jessica Bennett, who was really personal and very patient with my indecisiveness. It was so hard to pick one dress as they were all incredible.
I’d 100% recommend Jessica Bennet to other brides. The whole team there were lovely and it’s such a gorgeous environment.
I’d seen a few Jessica Bennett dresses and loved them all. I think my bow was one of my fave items – and the veil too.
I just loved how you could have a few different looks by adding in/out different components such as the sleeves/bow.
My shoes were by Russell & Bromley and my gold bangle borrowed off my sister and my earrings was from CompletedWorks.
My hair and makeup artist was Amy George. I just loved her work and how natural her make-up looks. My mum and I went for a makeup trial in and had such a lovely day. My mum adores Amy, as do I.
Honestly, I’d recommend Amy in a heartbeat to anyone. She’s also very calming which helped massively with the morning nerves.
The Ceremony
We got married in the most beautiful church up the road from Holmes Mill, called St Mary Magdalene which was a 5 minute walk to the venue, down gorgeous, cobbled streets. Luckily, the weather was blue sky and a crisp autumn day.
My dad walked me down the aisle to the sound of Songbird by Fleetwood Mac. I remember him saying to me, ‘make sure you take it all in and relax’. Great advice, as the day just goes in a flash.
I’m so lucky to have four amazing parents in my life; my mum and my step dad, who delivered my speech, and my dad and my step mum. It was a great way for the two dads in my life to have their roles. I now have another two amazing parents to add to the mix.
Our family friend and vicar Kip held the ceremony. He is honestly one of a kind, he made it so personal and special and fun. Everyone commented on how he made the service. He was honestly brilliant and put me and Chris at ease straight away. He even wore Doc Martins which was a bonus. We knew we wanted our ceremony to be personal and fun and that’s exactly what Kip did.
We stuck with traditional vows which felt special to us. Our readings were 1 Corinthians 13, John 2 1-11 – Wedding at Cana and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Reading by Louis de Bernieres.
My wedding ring is my Nana’s ring which was so so special. We bought Chris’s ring from the same place he got my engagement ring from. We went together to choose his and when he tried it on he just felt like it was his ring.
Photography
Our photographer was Luis Calow. I’d seen his work on Instagram and through friends of friend’s weddings and LOVED his images and how he captured weddings. Very relaxed and captured the love and fun perfectly! We knew we wanted documentary style images and that’s what we got.
We LOVE all our pics… the problem now is choosing the ones to put on the walls / in albums. Luis is absolutely fab and made us feel at ease from day one! It was great having him as part of the day and all the guests loved him too.
How They Met
Our first date was crazy golf! We both LOVE The Lake District and have spent many holidays there – it’s also where Chris also popped the question, in one of our fave spots by Lake Windermere, whilst having a gin and tonic picnic.
Chris’s suit and shirt were from Reiss and his bow tie, shoes were from Moss Bros. Chris LOVED his suit! We wanted him to be a bit different to the groomsmen by having a velvet jacket that made him stand out but also kept with the black tie suits the groomsmen wore. My step Dad has since borrowed the jacket!
Chris and his groomsmen had pocket squares and bow ties from John Lewis. They all wanted self-tie bow ties so they could look like James Bond in the evening and even did a poll for self-tie vs pre tied. The did all look fantastic. Chris’ Dad was busy tying the bow ties in the morning.
The Reception
We hired AllegroStrings for the reception and they were gorgeous! Modern songs in a classical style. They really complimented the reception.
We used brown card and calligraphy writing as it suited the venue style. The flowers and candles on the tables were set up by Mary Mary Floral Design and looked so beautiful.
We hired a post box for cards which was great because it meant we didn’t lose any/ could easily transport them around.
I made the seating plan which was recycled from my cousins wedding a few years ago. My sister designed the invites and my Dad printed them! I made the seating plan, name tags and table settings!
We had a cool pin the photo on the frame thing that Chris and Alex’s Dad made. People could take a polaroid of themselves and attach it to the frame! We ended up with a gorgeous album of secret little moments of all the guests! Would highly recommend doing this.
Holmes Mill – amazing food, everyone told us how much they loved the food! Starter- Brie bites/leak and potato soup, main- mushroom cobbler/ Pie to keep with the brewery vibes and sticky toffee pudding to finish it off.
They were so accommodating with all the dietary requirements we had. Everyone commented on how great the food was and that they were full – one of our main wishes.
My mum and sister made our cake. I gave them free reign to do whatever they liked.
Me, Chris, my sister and mum set up a sweets production line and made little bags of sweets with the wedding date on for all the guests.
Alex’s Stepdad Frank was an angel and went and bought all the sweets and did many different trips to accommodate the dietary requirements. We made sure there were vegan and veggie ones for all our vegan & veggie pals.
Evening & Dancing
We hired The Party Fettlers – what an incredible band! It was such a good party and everyone loved them. I didn’t leave the dance floor once they started.
Our first dance was to the acoustic version of Simply the Best, by Noah Reed. One of our best friends Ash performed it on guitar for us – it meant the world and it was so special.
We heard it first on Schitts Creek which was the show we both watched though lockdown! It is such a funny clever, warm TV show that was perfect for the scary times that was covid. We both heard it and both thought if we ever get married this is our first dance song! We ended the night with the Tina Turner version and Rocket man by Elton John as we’d seen him at Glastonbury and it just brought back amazing summer memories.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Don’t stress the day will be amazing and it will all come together in the end.
Don’t worry about supplier availability, there are so many incredible suppliers that if the one you want isn’t free another that’s meant to will be.
Keep a spreadsheet from day one – it really helps to keep on track.
Call for help! We couldn’t have done it without the support of all out friends and family.
A great band makes such a difference to the party.
Make sure you have a bit of down time just the two of you at some point in the day just to soak it all in together.
It will go so fast so try to soak up as much of it as you can.
HAVE FUN!
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Additional Credits
The below suppliers and venues are featured in this article, but are not part of the Love My Dress Wedding Directory.
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
