COTE HOW | WEDDING story of Katherine & Shaun

How did you both meet?

We met 11 years ago on a night out, my friend was just about to try and do some matchmaking as she knew Shaun, but we’d already got talking and  later swapped numbers.  Shaun likes to remind me how I shattered my mystique by telling him my tan was just out of a bottle when he asked if I had been on holiday..

Tell us about the proposal?

Shaun proposed on a night away in Ambleside, we’d had a walk around Rydal that day, and had been for a meal. Over a cocktail Shaun just said that he’d been thinking about us getting married, and that he’d noticed a jewellers up the road, and we could go and have a look in the morning if I wanted too.. I had to double check that it was actually a proposal! ha ha.

Why a lake district wedding? and what made you choose your venue?

We love being out and about in the lakes, and we actually spotted the venue on our walk the day we got engaged. I had jokingly picked up a leaflet from outside Cote How and given it to Shaun, not knowing he already had a wedding in mind! a couple of days later I searched for the venue on Facebook, they were having an open day a week later so it all fell into place!  We fell in love with the place as soon as we saw it.

What was your colour scheme or wedding theme?

Because we wanted to get married in the barn at Cote How, I liked the idea of everything being quite rustic, we had a lot of hessian and lace detailing, and log slices with jars of beautiful wildflowers. Because the wedding was late September, Katie at Made In Flowers created a lovely mix of wildflowers and berries with some Autumnal colours mixed in.
We chose the bridesmaid dresses quite late, they were a pale sage green and looked lovely with the flowers, they really suited all the bridesmaids, the younger girls had contrasting dusky pink dresses.

Tell us about your dress?

I found my dress at Mia Bridal in Carlisle, Sarah the owner was wonderful!  I described what I had in mind and straight away she came out with this dress that I fell in love with.  I tried a different style just to make sure, but I think I knew from first sight that it was the one for me.
It was a Rosa Clara dress, that had a silk underlay and beaded tulle overlay. Sarah shortened the train for me, as not being the most graceful.. and having a wedding that was going to be spent outside much of the day, I thought it would be more practical. I still absolutely adore it and have gone from saying I’d probably sell it, to wanting to keep it forever!

Did you have ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?’

I didn’t consciously have something old, new, borrowed, blue but thinking about it I did. My old was a bracelet, new my dress and a pair of earrings my Mum bought me, borrowed could have been the perfume that Caroline from Cote How came to the rescue with! (I’d forgotten to pack any) and blue was the bows on my underwear that I hadn’t even noticed until the wedding morning.

What was your favourite photograph and why did you like it?

So many lovely photographs to choose from, one of my favourites has to be us with our boys overlooking the water with the fells behind.  I love that we walked there the day we got engaged, and now have a photograph of us and the boys there on our wedding day.

What was your most useful source of wedding ideas and information?

We sourced a great deal from the open day at Cote How, Alex Birtwell was there performing and we thought he was fantastic, we booked him as soon as we had set a date. We booked Made In Flowers shortly after seeing Katie there, and I also got the idea for the favours then too, we had Grasmere Gingerbread.

Tell us about a supplier who provided a first-class service.

I have to say Caroline at Cote How was amazing! and in a nutshell, made the day everything we’d wished for our wedding day, nothing was too much trouble. Caroline and her team were professional (keeping us all organised and on time with things) but made our stay and wedding day feel so personal and totally unforgettable 🙂

Do you have any advice for future brides?

My advice to other brides would be not to stress too much about the little things. On the day everything comes together, and when you look around at happy faces and people enjoying themselves, and you’re married!  those little things really don’t matter as much as you think they might
(I was running around two days before the wedding looking for a perfect match in kids navy trousers to shaun’s suit! half a shade out and didn’t notice on the day)
And also to take a minute and a step back to look at the flowers, table settings, all the details you have put the time and thought into.

What was the best part of your wedding day?

The best part of our wedding day had to be our our vows and turning round to see our little boys there. We had a small quite intimate wedding so also knowing our families and close friends were the only ones there made it extra special.

Was Steve of Derwent Photography the right photographer for you?

100% Steve was the photographer for us, from our first meeting he got what we wanted. A perfect mix of natural, our guests enjoying themselves, but also getting some lovely ones of family and us. I love the ones down by the water 🙂

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