Peter and Clare's Wedding in Manchester, Greater Manchester

We went to many venues. I had my heart set on a former Monastery that was now a wedding venue. I had seen it 10 years previously and had always pictured my day there. Unfortunately, the venue for our day was not going to be an option, the vision and the food wasn’t going to be realised with that venue.

We went to meet with the Lowry Hotel, thinking we would probably stay here at some point around the wedding but thought no harm in considering it as a venue. I wish we had considered them from the beginning. From the moment we sat down with them, we knew this was going to be our venue.

We decided to do the whole thing in one place. I was worried again about logistics and getting people between venues. We paid our deposit in November and by the end of December we had everything sorted.

Our venue was being decorated by a local florist. We also asked if she could do our flowers. I can’t thank Alison enough. Even on the morning of the wedding she came to check how I was and showed me how everything was coming along. The room was beautiful, and the personalised aisle runner just made it that little bit more special.

By having everything booked by December, I spent the next 7 months stressing that I had forgotten something or that things were not going to go to plan. I should have taken the time to enjoy those months as the day went off without any issues.

We checked into the Lowry on the Thursday before our big day. We wanted some time to ourselves as we knew we wouldn’t get a chance to have this once we got to Saturday. We were able to go for dinner and for a few drinks, which was nice. We met with the wedding team the week before the wedding and they knew we were on site for any questions. We had used the guest planner on here which the venue appreciated as they were easily able to see who was going where and what they were having

The weekend of the wedding was lovely. We had friends and family arriving every day and we wanted to spend time with everyone. We went out for dinner with friends from Germany and my brother, that resulted in us going to the scene of the crime. The bar in which I met my husband many years before.

Saturday was chaos last minute panicking, nails, spa treatments, and saying goodbye to my husband until the next day. He went out with his groom’s party and thankfully was home by a reasonable time. Neither of us slept we were both too excited about the day. I was clock watching at 3am as was he.

I was awake at 7am the day of the wedding, needing coffee and lempsip. I advise anyone getting married having a medical box with vitamins, minerals and anti-nausea tablets (they help with the butterflies). I was warned that you can get run down but didn’t believe it. About 8am my mum dragged me for breakfast. My butterflies were off the chart and breakfast was not an option, but it helped, especially the coffee and sugar.

At 830 my girls arrived, and my nerves started to settle, they were my pillar for the entire morning. We laughed and joked and had some fun. Once Laura our makeup artist arrived it started to feel like its rel it is happening. I was made to feel magical. I am not a girly girl but for one day I was. My mum who never wears makeup was in makeup and looked radiant. As we got closer to the time panic started to kick in, what if Peter was a no show. When the registrar arrived that was my first question, at the point I breathed a sigh of relief. My brother was giving me away as our father had passed the year before. We always knew he would give me away and he did our father proud with what he did that day.

We made our way down to the ceremony. We had chosen the song Fresh Eyes by Chlara. Peter used to play me the Andy Grammer version, but the lyrics resonated with us. Peter started to cry when he heard the first few bars. I was still outside at this point. Laura our wedding coordinator was advising me to breathe and talk about something other than the wedding, the weather is a good topic. Our ceremony went off without a hitch, well aside from me drawing a blank in the middle of our vows. It was over in a blink of an eye. Now the party could start.

We had organised singing waiters as our entertainment, and they didn’t disappoint. They had created a hostile atmosphere and were creating a problem. It was starting to boil over. One of our guests was complaining to reception to fire the guys, my mum was telling the maître d to get rid of him, the chef was losing his mind with plates coming in and going straight back out, my maid of honour was telling my now husband to take me out as it looked like I was crying when in reality I couldn’t contain my laughter. It all erupted over a dropped tray and they broke into song. Everyone was shocked but also impressed that they had falled for it. It had brought too family’s together and has become a talking point ever since. They started with a conga after the mains which is a great start to the evening,

Our speech’s brought tears to our eyes. My father was mentioned a lot and kind words were said in his absence, as was words for Peters father who had passed 10 years previous. Peters speech as well as my brothers were personal and will stay with me forever.

Our evening kicked off slightly behind schedule but was worth it and I had stopped panicking by this point. We laughed, we danced, and we had one of the best nights of our lives. We finished our reception at about 1 am and proceeded to take our wedding to a bar nearby. I thankfully had changed as the dress would have been destroyed, it was tempting to consider walking down the bar in my wedding dress.

In the end, it was 4 magical days that I would do all over again, that our photography team captured every moment of. Without them, I don’t think we would be able to share the memories of the day with our guests who travelled far and wide.

Our guests said it was some of the best food they have, the entertainment will never be forgotten, and that the day perfectly captured who we are as a couple. I couldn’t have asked for anything else