After a beautiful proposal at an outdoor cinema in the South of France in July 2017, Fiona and Daniel's wedding planning started immediately from the sun lounger. "We started looking at venues, but were pretty shocked at how far in advance places were booked. We love Bolton Abbey and thought that the church would be an incredible ceremony venue, so we looked within this region for a reception venue but could not find one of the right style, size or availability. We then discovered the planned project at The Tithe Barn, Bolton Abbey. We made an appointment at the barn, but at that point it still had trailers and spiders and not much else apart from a lot of potential! We looked at their impressive plans and visited another of the ‘Cripps’ Barns. We put our faith in them and booked our wedding on what would be their opening weekend, before the build had even started, however, they did not let us down!"

"With lots of family and friends spread out over the country, we decided to make the wedding into a weekend event. Friday evening - a fish and chip dinner on board a private charter of the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, Saturday the ceremony and reception and a brunch at Billy Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour on the Sunday."

"As a primary school teacher and lover of all things crafty, I had a great time making all of the decorations and doing all the styling for the wedding. We decided to use a vintage school theme in some areas with an old school desk, locker and blackboard. Anyone who teaches will know what a close bond you build with the children in your class and so I invited the children in my class to come to the wedding to sing I can’t Help Falling in Love With You; some people thought this was a either a very crazy or brave idea but I knew that they would be wonderful. We had arranged to have a gospel choir at the wedding and then had the idea of combining them with the children in my class to sing the final song Lovely Day. The choir came to school to work with the children ahead of the big day; I also got the children to draw pictures and give me some marriage advice, which we made into one of our readings and proved to be very funny!"

"The weekend finally arrived, the train on the Friday night was great fun and I created ticket inspector outfits for all of our nieces, nephews and God children who were our page boys and flower girls. They went up and down the train clipping everyone’s tickets and served treats from a trolley. We had a jazz band and drinks on the platform as everyone arrived."

"Saturday was a very emotional and overwhelming day! Dan did an amazing job with his groomsmen and the team at the barn in setting up whilst the girls were pampered at a cottage by our amazing hair and make up team. My dress was a Pronovias dress and I loved it. The sun was shining and the Yorkshire landscape looked incredible. My Dad drove me down to the church where the gospel choir had been performing as our guests arrived. My nephews started the bridal procession, even my one and a half year old nephew walked down the aisle with a smile on his face! The flowers in the church were beautiful and smelt gorgeous. I made sure that the children were entertained with goody bags and an eye spy game in church with a pair of binoculars each! When my class sang there wasn’t a dry eye in the church, they did such an incredible job and my heart was absolutely bursting with pride for all of them. At the end of the service they all carried the train of my dress as we walked out of the church."

"We then walked up to the barn where the staff were awaiting us with drinks and canapés. Having not seen the barn set up with all the decorations I was amazed at how beautiful the place looked. I also created a kids area complete with Lego table, games, fancy dress and story books. Dinner was delicious and I heard many people describe the chocolate fondant as the best dessert that they have ever had in their lives!! The speeches were really touching and Dan’s groomsmen team entertained everyone with 'The roast of Dan!' We then played bingo instead of having favours; Dan donned a sparkly jacket and we themed the numbers to related to our relationship. My nephew helped me to call the numbers and it all became very competitive for the cash prize! The live music and the party went on all evening and the fire pits, marshmallows and sparklers also provided great entertainment."

"All of our suppliers were exceptional and our photographer also needs a special mention for capturing the day perfectly naturally, as we wanted it."

"The end of the evening sadly came and Dan and I stayed in a very cute, romantic shepherd’s hut in Embsay. The view and peace and quiet in the morning was idyllic and the B&B owner delivered a breakfast hamper for us to enjoy. Later that morning we met our guests at Billy Bob’s Ice Cream Parlour for brunch. It was another warm sunny day and after a good feed, all of the children (and adults) played in the barn before some people traveled home. After that we went straight on our honeymoon to beautiful Bermuda."

"We just wish we could press rewind and do it all again! I have also now been inspired (and after much nagging from friends, for whom I have crafted for many events) to offer a bespoke crafting service to help people to achieve Pinterest-inspired decoration pieces for their own events. This will be coming soon at Eye For Detail Bespoke Event Crafting, Design & Hire."

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