Intimate Cold & Wild Wedding in Lancashire

A very warm welcome to Rebekah and Ben and their wild Lancashire wedding held on the 27th March 2021. Despite the date changes due to COVID-19 as well as the tight restrictions, Rebekah and Ben decided to plough on. They said I do at Christ Church Colne followed by countryside portraits in the cold weather in Trawden.

Their day was so intimate and filled with joy, as you will see from these divine images by Kirstie Garlick Photography. I adore their cosy yet chic outfits, the simple, beautiful bouquet and of course, the scenic location. I really urge you to read their inspirational story below and I for one, cannot wait to see their 2022 wedding extravaganza!

Wild Lancashire Wedding

The Proposal

On a holiday to the Isle of Arran over the August bank holiday weekend (2018) we decided to go for a hike up Arran’s highest mountain, Goat Fell. Our youngest was only 8 months old by then and we were yet to have our second.

Ben carried Louie up the mountain, it was a stunning day, very cold towards the top but we could see for miles. We had a mini break and picnic just passed the trig point then carried on a more scrambley route which opened up to the most stunning view through a valley of ridges towards the sea.

Ben wanted to set up a “timed photo” in the spot so myself, Louie and our dogs Dexter and Bear waited patiently for him to “stop faffing”. Ben came over and continued to faff, bending down at one point…. I thought to rearrange his laces or trousers….

In actual fact he was down on one knee, ring in hand asking me to marry him!!! I had NO IDEA this was coming and was completely taken aback, stunned… probably quieter for much longer than I should have been.

Obviously, I said yes and we had the most amazing and surreal moment that Ben had actually caught on film (he wasn’t taking a timed photo at all!). That night we celebrated on the floor of our caravan we hired for the weekend, by the fire with a whisky in hand and talked about what was to come.

The Vision

I have never been the kind of girl who had her wedding all planned out from being a child. I knew I wanted to marry the love of my life one day but I had no idea how that would play out… it turned out our little wedding was just perfect.

Ben had more fancy ideas of hundreds of guests and castles but once we spoke about it, they were awesome weddings to go to, but, they weren’t really “us”. We looked at venues in the Lakes and more local around Lancashire, but, they all just seemed like “wedding venues”, beautiful, but over priced for what we wanted and not really ticking all the few boxes we had.

After much discussion we decided to wind it back to basics and to get married in a place that we loved… the place we call home. We had been attending the local church for some time and felt a connection to the people, and the building. It was a place we felt warm and welcomed and a place we felt would be truly so special to become husband and wife.

We booked our local community centre in the village where we live and that was it, the date was set and the countdown was on… but not for too long.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we began to rethink our original date that was the end of September 2020. We made this decision in May and felt that we needed more time to see where the country was going and to get our heads around possibly a very different wedding to what we had originally planned. We moved the date to the anniversary of buying our first house together, the 27th March 2021.

We made this decision with the promise to each other that no matter what state the world is in, IF we can legally get married on that date within further possible Covid restrictions then we would. And that is just what happened. We were thrilled when it came to it, only weeks before our date, to find out that YES, our wedding could legally go ahead, Albeit a very small intimate one, to us, it didn’t matter. We just were so thrilled to not have to change our date again and that we could become husband and wife.

We made the decision to have our two young toddlers there and just our Mums and Dads as that was within the 6 people limit under the lockdown restrictions at the time. Our service was so beautiful, and meaningful and personal. We were thrilled to be able to marry in the church and to have our Reverend marry us, and to be able to have our most immediate family there. It meant the world to us.

Although there were many faces truly missed, we had at this point already arranged to have a second part to our wedding the following year on our anniversary. We plan to have a blessing at the church for all our absent guests to share with us and then a fantastic party at our local community centre where we can dance into the night. Our hearts were far from heavy. We were full of joy from the day and excitement for celebrations to come.

To make the day special and personal to us, we took our wonderful photographer Kirstie for a bit of a wild VERY WINDY adventure in the countryside of Trawden. She captured the most stunning backdrops with memories we will never forget. My face ached from laughing so much (and the cold).

Our photoshoot after our wedding just rounded off our mini day perfectly. It summed up our laid back approach, love for the outdoors and each other and our strength together as husband and wife.

Budget

We didn’t want to spend too much on the day as just couldn’t justify it having our home and family. We just wanted something that was unique and personal to us that wouldn’t bring tears to our eyes when the bills added up.

The Venue

Christ Church Colne and the incredible duo… Reverend John Knott and Judy Knott.

Trawden countryside.

Your Outfits

Rebekah

Coat – Approx. 10year old faux fur jacket from Topshop (it was even missing a button I’ve had it for so long haha)

Dress – Phase Eight

Veil – The Wedding Veil Shop (online) – Arianna Purity Birdcage

Shoes – Paradox London

Wellies – Muck Boots

Earrings – Vintage “borrowed” pair from Stepmum

Bouquet – The Flower Cart

Ben

Suit – Marc Darcy

Shoes – Marc Darcy

Tie and pocket square – Next

The Ceremony & Music

We chose two readings one each to be read by our Dads…

I WILL BE HERE – STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN

And….

1 CORINTHIANS 13 – NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

For our music we chose…

Walking down the aisle to:

STEREOPHONICS – I wanna get lost with you (Acoustic 2015 version)

During the signing of the register:

HALEY REINHART – Can’t help falling in love

ANGUS & JULIA STONE – You’re the one that I want

Leaving the church to:

FOO FIGHTERS – Times like these (Acoustic version)

The Honeymoon

The Scotland North Coastal Road next year after our anniversary in our camper.

Memorable Moments

How I felt entering the Church and then seeing Ben waiting.
For Ben, seeing me walking down the aisle.
The wind… making the day wild, fun and cold.
How special the music felt to us.
How lucky we felt to be able to get married and have a day that was as laid back as could be.
Leaving the church to see our close friends dotted around outside.
How good it felt to put on a pair of warm socks and my wellies!