Tilly and Ben’s Chic & Fabulously Fun Middleton Lodge Party Wedding

Tilly and Ben’s wedding at Middleton Lodge Estate on 13th June 2024 was the perfect blend of chic elegance and fabulously fun vibes. As the former Senior Event Coordinator at this beautiful North Yorkshire venue, Tilly knew exactly how to create a day that reflected their love for timeless style, while keeping things full of personality and joy.

Their black-tie party wedding was brought to life with gorgeous pink details that added warmth and energy to the day. Ben, a Navy Officer, wore his uniform and Tilly honoured her love of backless dresses in a dress by Love Story London – while Middleton Lodge’s effortlessly romantic setting provided the most elegant backdrop.

From their heartfelt outdoor ceremony to a dance floor that stayed packed all night, this was a celebration filled with love, laughter, and unforgettable memories. The entire day was captured in beautiful detail by Rebecca Kerr – enjoy’!

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Our venue was Middleton Lodge Estate (both the Main House and the Fig House) in Richmond, North Yorkshire. There was really nowhere else that we would have hosted our wedding. I worked at Middleton Lodge for 5 years as an event coordinator – the team at the Lodge are like a second family to me.

We did look around quite a few other venues in the UK but nowhere felt quite like Middleton Lodge. I knew that I would need to put a lot of trust in the venue as I would be very particular about what we wanted and how we wanted it to run and the whole team at Middleton are amazing. I knew they would ensure everything went to plan. 

I’m aware that I am biased but standard of care and effort that the Middleton Lodge team put into their weddings is second to none. We didn’t even hire an event planner, not just because weddings were my passion for such a long time but also because I knew that the coordinators at the Lodge would ensure everything ran smoothly.

On the day, we had Rhiannon and Evie as our coordinators and I also enlisted the help of Megan and Ellie, former event coordinators, to help set up the bits of decor that we provided. Rhiannon and Evie were an absolute dream – they made sure that everything ran to time and took all the responsibility to deliver our perfect wedding. One of my favourite pictures of us was taken after the first dance (their last ‘official’ job), they brought tequila shots to the dance floor and then turned into guests and that’s when I felt that the party properly started.

I have been hugely influenced by the weddings that I was privileged to be a part of over the last five years. We chose to have a pre-wedding garden party with almost all guests being able to attend, this was important to us as most people were traveling and hadn’t met before. On the day we wanted to respect the significance of our marriage whilst also making it feel as relaxed as possible. 

I had the absolute dream team of Amy George for my makeup, and Emily Hawkes for my hair and makeup. I always knew that I would have Amy and Emily there to help me get ready, they are such a fabulous unofficial duo. It goes without saying that they are both exceptionally good at what they do but for me their  energy is second to none. 

When I went for my trial I had the best experience. I had never had my makeup done before and had no idea what to expect or what I wanted. Amy was super patient and we sat for a few hours (which felt like no time at all) testing different things until we found the final look. I then went over to see Emily and have my hair trial. Again, Emily and I had an idea of what we thought I wanted and we tweaked and refined the style until we settled on the up do that I wore on the day. 

Emily and Amy were just such a pleasure to have getting ready with us and everyone looked so gorgeous. One of my favourite moments of the whole day was getting changed during the comfort break. Amy and Emily stayed all day to touch up my makeup and re-do my hair for the evening.

We came back from the Fig House and I got out of my wedding dress into a nice snuggly dressing gown and back into the chair for Amy and Emily to work their magic. It was so energising, having a bit of time to regroup, and reset whilst debriefing on the day so far. I always refer to them as the dream team and that is just so accurate, I could not have done it without them.

We had the super talented Rebecca Kerr as our photographer with Faye Wilde as her second shooter. I knew from the moment I met Rebecca that she would be the most perfect fit for us. 

I will say that I was in a really privileged position where I had worked with lots of amazing suppliers all who would have done a great job but I think the deciding factor was that I just gelled with Rebecca straight away.

Having worked with her I knew that she perfectly balances being super organised and aware of timings (which is a huge thing for me) whilst being super relaxed and not applying any pressure. Rebecca gets the most breathtaking shots but without interfering or directing couples too much which I knew would be vital for Ben and our bridal party not losing their patience on the day.

This was exactly our experience, Ben and I both felt so relaxed around her, it was just like having another friend at the wedding who was the biggest hype girl. Before the first look, once I got into my dress, I won’t lie the nerves really set in. Next thing I know, Rebecca had brought a speaker into the room and started playing some old school bangers which completely snapped me out of my anxiety and brought me back to the moment.

Also, it’s really worth noting that although the weather was not too kind to us on the day, you probably wouldn’t know that if you weren’t there.

We did go out in the rain for most of our group shots but Rebecca and Faye were so organised and quick that nobody complained and we got all the photos that we wanted. 

All of our friends and family cannot compliment Rebecca enough, she is the dream supplier. Our guests not only complimented her presence on the day and how unobtrusive she was but also how you can really feel the emotions of the day in our gallery. I would, and have, recommend Rebecca to other couples again and again. It was such a pleasure to work with her.

I drew a lot of inspiration from the weddings that I had worked on at Middleton Lodge over the years – everything was inspired by something I had done before but tweaked slightly to make it a perfect fit for us. Our wedding was almost a highlight reel of all of my favourite weddings.

I will be forever grateful that I got to be a part of so many weddings. I also left a lot to our suppliers, especially the flowers and decorations. We gave an initial brief but then let the suppliers do what they wanted as they knew best. 

Our flowers were by floral designers Kirsty at The Wilde Floral. I designed all of the stationery myself on Canva and printed it using printed.com. Ellie and Megan then hand tied all of the ribbon bows onto our menus which just coincidentally were the perfect pink to match the flowers.

During the canapés we had the magical Paul Lytton entertain our guests which was a godsend because at this point it was chucking it down so it was a great distraction. I have watched Paul’s tricks so many times and he still bamboozles me every time.

The Main House decor was the best kept secret of the whole wedding. We really wanted the Main House evening do to be a massive house party and I knew we needed to get Chloe from Imaginarium Balloons to help us make it happen. 

Chloe instantly understood what we were looking to achieve and the set up was breathtaking. When we came back to the Main House after the wedding breakfast it felt like we were walking into a dream, we were the first ones there and it was a vision in pink. We wanted to have the dance floor in the Main Hall but its such a big space and we wanted to feel more intimate. The tassels and the disco balls brought the ceiling closer which is exactly what we were trying to achieve. We wanted the guests to walk in and go, now its time to party. 

I am still obsessed with all of the pictures of the Main Hall, Chloe is a genius. 

Aside from our professional decorations, I am a huge advocate for bringing silly props to help make the dance floor more fun. We had bits like the sunglasses for the dance floor upstairs but when we got down to the cellar we went to town with props and decorations to set the tone.

The cellar after party was wild, I’m glad that the professionals had disappeared by that point but the footage we’ve got is hilarious. Huge shout out to Chris our DJ for keeping the dance floor full right until the very end.

On the evening we had Valentina Photo Booth set up in the main house. I don’t think they stopped once people started getting photos with them. Lesley and the team were so lovely and accommodating. B

We had ‘Can’t take my eyes off you’ as our first dance. It wasn’t a particularly sentimental song for us but it is a song that almost everyone knows and can sing along with. I don’t know if anyone really enjoys the thought of the first dance but we just had fun with it. The confetti cannons were ideal too as they instantly took the attention off us and we got everyone to join us on the dance-floor. 

DJ Chris Smith kept our dance floor going from 9pm to 2am. From our first call with Chris, Ben and I were so excited to have him be a part of our day. He totally got what we were trying to achieve and smashed it. He had two set ups, one in the Main Hall of the Main House and another in the Cellar Bar. I would highly recommend Chris and I know some of our guests have already poached him for their weddings next year.

My evening dress was from Michael Lo Sordo. I previously rented one of their dresses for an event and was keeping an eye on their designs for quite a while. I knew that I wanted a change of dress for the evening that was a bit shorter and much easier to dance in.

Its really hard to pinpoint a favourite part of the day but I’m so glad that we formatted the wedding the way we did. 

Having a garden party the night before with welcome speeches and outdoor games really set the tone and helped everyone to meet each other. On the morning of the wedding it was so relaxed, my godmother did a yoga session, the guests were able to explore the grounds at Middleton Lodge because the ceremony wasn’t until 2.30pm. I’m pleased that we had the more formal wedding celebrations (Ceremony, canapés, speeches and wedding breakfast) at the Fig House and then moved to the Main House during the comfort break to then have the party. 

I feel like each section of the day had such a definite feel and it worked perfectly.

I would also really recommend booking the spa for the day after. Ben and i said goodbye to all of our guests and then went and wallowed in our hangover at the Forest Spa and I was so grateful that we had booked that in for just the two of us as our social batteries were dead.

Just have fun and don’t let anything get to you. You as the couple set the vibe, if you let things stress you out the guests can sense it and also feel tense. Things will go wrong or not quite to plan but its the way you react to it that dictates whether it becomes a bigger issue or not. 

On the wedding morning my gorgeous godmother organised a yoga session for me and the bridesmaids, a few of our guests joined us and it was just the perfect way to start the day.

The rain could have been a huge damper if we had let it but we just laughed about it and carried on and our guests didn’t care. I genuinely think this was because we just didn’t let it affect our mood. 

Both of my dresses were absolutely ruined by the end of the day. My Wedding dress had been dragged through the wet gardens so was black and one of the guests spilt their drink on my evening dress within the first hour. Again, something that could have really ruined my mood but we just laughed about it. You just have to choose not to let anything affect you and have fun. 

Also, if you want to have a full dance floor, stay on the dancefloor. Guests look to the couple and follow their lead.