Welcome to the Wordsworth Ceremony Room

We are so pleased with our brand new "Versailles" inspired ceremony room! It very comfortably suits 2 - 12 weddings and is in use all year round.
Decorated with Italian damask silk wallpaper, over-sized gilt mirrors and beautiful white linen and reclaimed pine Louis XIV styled chairs and settee. 

We have of course kept the piano and grandfather clock, and walnut sideboard. 

Time stands still for your wonderful intimate wedding ceremony as you say "I do" in the sunny picture window draped with cream and lace drapes with views of the beautiful gardens and hills of the Fairfield Horseshoe in the background.

If you are thinking that a simple elegant and small intimate wedding is what you want, then please get in touch with Caroline to discuss your ideas.
We offer simple ceremonies all year round in our Wordsworth ceremony room. This beautiful light and airy room is perfect for "Just the two of you" weddings upto a total of 12 - so 10 additional guests.
If you wish to then stay a while and celebrate your lovely weddings we also offer a variety of options from picnics for two, Afternoon teas to private fine dining celebrations afterwards.   Please check out our small wedding options and elopement wedding options here

We offer special winter discounts for wedding in November, January, February and March - Please ask for details.

10 Reasons to Elope

Engaged to be married? You probably started out with a very romantic vision of your perfect wedding day. Dreamy and stress free in an idyllic setting, where it is all about the two of you and the love you share for each other. Too many external pressures can quickly dash these dreams; not least well intended ‘help and advice’ from friends and family.
Because of this many couples choose elopement as a simpler, less stressful road to marriage.

Traditionally when we think of eloping, we imagine a bride scrambling from her bedroom window, escaping the family home, and eloping with her sweetheart in the dead of night.

Modern elopements tend to be less about running away in secret, and more about a slimmed down wedding focussed on just the two of you. Many do include a select number of close family or friends. The emphasis being on a more relaxed, informal, and private wedding perhaps in a more unusual destination wedding location.

If you are considering eloping here are 10 reasons to help you decide

1. Simplicity - It’s more about the TWO of YOU

   It’s so easy to get carried away on the ‘Wedding Train’ and lose focus of why you wanted to get married in the first place. Keeping it simple, it’s more about the love that you hold for each other, and how you want to make those life affirming commitments to each other.

   Elopements, by being smaller and shorter, are more focussed on the wedding ceremony itself, the sentiment behind the vows, the intimacy and privacy, rather than the party you feel you need to throw to keep your guests entertained. Designed just for yourselves… you can be selfish, indulgent, and exclusive, by not feeling obliged to anyone else.
   
   

2. You get to Choose When and Where

   You may start out with ideas of a destination wedding somewhere special to the two of you, but as the wedding train gets bigger the needs of your guests become a major consideration. Are they able and willing to make the journey, how will they get there, and where they will stay. Can they get baby sitters, or time off school? This is particularly important if a mid-week wedding is an attractive option for you, as many wedding venues offer generous savings on midweek weddings in addition to often having more dates available midweek than at weekends, which get booked up very quickly.

   Having fewer guests naturally increases your options when trying to find your perfect wedding venue, plus opting for a midweek wedding can save you waiting time and money.

   You may like the idea of your wedding being a part of a bigger adventure, so with less strain on the budget you could splash out a little more to combine your destination wedding with an epic honeymoon.
   
   

3. Short on Time

   Traditionally elopements were arranged in secret…  There’s a lot to be said for this of course!
   But if you don't want to keep it a secret, or you are not good at keeping a secret, why wait? 
   
   Short notice weddings are becoming very popular and let’s not over complicate this… The smaller and simpler the wedding then the easier it is to arrange. 
   
   You need a date, the two of you, two witnesses, and a registrar.
   Legal notices are required but even these can be done in 30 days or sooner if you have medical reasons to get married quickly.
   
   

4. Minimise the Stress

   Beware the experts. It’s great to receive advice, tips, do’s & don’ts - but don’t lose sight of your original vision, your own dreams, based around your own style and budget.

   You announce your engagement then suddenly everyone becomes an expert wedding planner.
   Eloping eliminates the obligation often felt in trying to keep everyone appeased. It’s so easy to get caught up in the Bridezilla frenzy – does it matter if your shoes are not quite the right shade of ivory? The more you allow others to influence your thinking the higher your stress levels will be.

    

5. Is the size of your wedding getting out of hand

   So many times I hear from couples who have happily decided on guest lists and found a venue perfect for their needs… then for reasons outside of their control, usually financial supporters, they are pressured into accommodating guests they have never even met. We call this the “Auntie Eileen Syndrome”, after hearing from distraught brides, “I never even knew we had an Auntie Eileen!”

   Pressure to invite and rules on invitation etiquette, same for his side as hers, even though his family is so much smaller? Distant cousins, work colleagues and plus ones, are often the topic of heated debate.

   A smaller guest list requires a smaller budget, less financial pressure, and possibly no need for additional funders, giving you the freedom and flexibility you need to remain in control. Do you even need a guest list at all? You can still have your cake and eat it too by eloping then organising a fun and informal party nearer home after the wedding!

6. Use your money wisely

   According to the Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent, the average cost of a UK wedding in 2017 was more than £27,000.

   Bridebook also highlighted a breakdown of costs in their Ultimate Wedding Budget Breakdown. This includes a whole host of elements from venue hire to favours and gifts for the guests. A large chunk of this, £7,000 in fact, being just for the catering. Imagine how much of this can be trimmed and the money put to better use with less guests and a smaller venue; a deposit for a new house perhaps?

   Think about what the important key elements to your wedding are. Maybe you could ditch the wedding favours, the wedding car, the wedding singer, the cake of many colours and flavours; the gluten free, the traditional fruit, and of course the dairy free layer, and maybe even the official wedding photographer. though there are some great photographers out there that specialise in elopement wedding photography. After all, the memories are priceless!

7. Catering complications

   When the menus go out to your enormous guest list with the statutory request for any special diets, you may need to brace yourselves for the ever-growing list of food allergies and dietary intolerances that you are now obliged to accommodate.

   Medical conditions are of course one thing and as such are extremely important, but you are now faced with a major operation in co-ordinating various fads, which on balance are not going to cause extreme upset, yet you feel obliged to accommodate. This often results in altering your preferred menu choices for other more suitable options, but not what you would really love to eat on your own wedding day.

8. Free yourself from stifling tradition

   The seating plan - the strategic placement of estranged guests is fast becoming an art form. Do you really need a top table? Do you really need to cut the cake?
   Do you have to embarrass yourself with a first dance performance to please the guests?
   Do you really have to stand up and make a speech?

   Elopements, by definition, are for the rule breakers and those that defy tradition, so have some fun and think creatively!

9. Who are you trying to impress?

   Firstly who do you upset when choosing, or rather, not choosing your bridesmaids and best man/men? How are you going to decide on outfits to suit everyone with so many different skin tones and body shapes? Not forgetting that you can’t upstage the bride.

   With elopement weddings there is no need to ‘Dress to Impress’ your guests - You just need to wow yourselves and each other!

   Back on the wedding train we see speeches evolving, with interactive quizzes, oversized white screens and embarrassing slideshows more focused on the competition between university friends than appropriateness for your wedding.

10. Friends and Family Elopements

    Modern elopements are not always secret runaway couples, though this is still desirable for some. You can extend your elopement wedding to include your nearest and dearest – It just means smaller, more intimate, and more focussed - so instead of thinking 100, think 10.
    So consider smaller more intimate weddings if elopements are not quite big enough.

Elopement Giveaway

We are giving away a Cote How Exclusive Elopement Wedding.
To enter “LIKE” our Facebook Page, LIKE and SHARE this post with a comment containing your names.
The lucky couple will be announced on the 1st November 2018 and will receive a two hour Simple Elopement for upto 6 (including the bridal couple) with a bottle of bubbly at Cote How.

Call Caroline today for an informal chat on 015394 32765 or visit our website for further details or book a face to face appointment here