Lucie and Will’s Dreamy Summer Wedding

Let’s transport you back to Lucie and Will’s gorgeous late July wedding last year. While it is still a little grey outside, we thought it would be the perfect time to reminisce on some sunnier summer days.

But let’s start from the beginning; with a sunset proposal in Greece! Lucie tells the story below,

Will had been planning to propose for a number of months. He’d spoken to my sister and they went to a jeweller to choose a ring. He knew he wanted to propose whilst we were on a holiday and had originally planned to do this when we went to Northumberland at the start of the summer holidays. Unfortunately, the ring wasn’t ready, so he had to put his plans on hold! We went to Zante in August 2022, which is where we got engaged. Will had to hide the ring box in a pair of socks in his hand luggage. There was a near miss when I went looking in his bag for my Kindle and the ring was in there – thankfully I didn’t see and had no idea it was there! We went on a sunset walk close to where we were staying and found a lovely spot that overlooked the sea. This is where Will got down on one knee and popped the question!

Deciding on a theme for your wedding décor can be tough but it is a good thing to nail down in the initial stages to try and keep the rest of your planning on track. Lucie and Will found this helpful for them and chose to have a “natural/rustic/boho vibe to the wedding and then chose décor to fit in with this theme.”

Lucie and Will chose to DIY a lot of the elements for their wedding, and found that this not only saved them some money, it made their day feel much more personal.

Knowing they both wanted to get married in Yorkshire, Lucie and Will started viewing venues, and after viewing a few that hadn’t ticked all their boxes, it was Will that found Thirsk Lodge Barns…

Will happened to stumble on the Thirsk Lodge Barns website and we instantly loved it from the pictures. There was only one date left available for Summer 2023, so we were keen to view the venue ASAP. We ended up travelling up after work on a Thursday evening for Bar at the Barns, where the bar manager kindly showed us around.

We loved every part of the venue; from the separate rooms for the ceremony and wedding breakfast to the stunning building itself. Having on-site accommodation for us and my bridal party was an added bonus! We booked the date that night and had emailed the registrar before we even left Thirsk!

Lucie and Will booked their wedding date for 11 months after their engagement, and found the planning process to be very smooth.

We prioritised ticking off certain things within 1-2 months. This included booking the venue, photographer, caterer and registrar. I think planning came naturally due to the nature of my teaching job. I made sure I did lots of research to know what we wanted and then did little and often to get things done.

Our caterer, Purple Chilli, was one of the recommended suppliers provided by Thirsk Lodge Barns. We’re so glad we booked them as our guests said it was the best wedding food they’d ever had and we agree! They went above and beyond to make sure the food was exactly what we wanted.

Many aspects of our wedding were DIY jobs or bookings made due to already knowing the suppliers. Helen, our photographer, is local to where we live and she’s done lots of photography work for friends. My auntie redesigned my wedding dress to make it bespoke to me and she also did all of our wedding flowers along with a family friend. My cousin did our bridal hair and all the décor was put together by our families. We used a make-up artist who my sister had used for her own wedding the previous year.

When asked what their favourite moment of the day was, Lucie and Will said ‘This is such a tricky one, as there were so many amazing moments throughout the day! I think the one that stands out is when we went into the VIP room after walking back down the aisle as newlyweds. We both just looked at other and burst out laughing! It seemed crazy that we’d actually tied the knot after all those years together and months of planning!.’

Lucie also had some valuable advice for anyone heading on honeymoon straight after their wedding…

Check you know where your passport is! We discovered on the Friday that my passport was missing, the wedding was on the coming Tuesday and we were leaving for Dubai on the Thursday. Safe to say that the lead up to the wedding was very stressful as we had no idea if my new passport would arrive on time. Funnily enough, it was posted on our wedding day!

I’m sure you will all agree that Lucie and Will’s wedding was stunning! A day filled with love and laughter. They left us with the following lovely words;

‘We just want to say how fantastic and attentive all of the staff at Thirsk Lodge Barns are. Everyone was quick to help out when we needed it and no task was too great. Abi and Kate had thought of all the answers to our questions before we even asked them. The entrance to our wedding ceremony was seamless, as they had all the timings locked down and everything worked perfectly. Thirsk Lodge Barns will always hold a special place in our hearts!’

A special thank you to Helen for sharing all of these stunning images with us. Visit her website here: https://helenrosephotography.com/

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