Stowford Manor Farm wedding // The fable of the huge prince and the fierce princess

This is the story of Rea and Matt, AKA the fable of the huge prince and the fierce princess….

“Once upon a time a huge prince and a fierce princess came together to marry. The princess wore a dress of gold that all at court declared to be rad and awesome. And they were united in a ceremony of much wonder and merriment conducted by an unanointed pagan abbot. The deal was sealed with a humungous ring. And lo! The common folk got lampfaced on cider and danced a merry jig to a brass band. The prince and princess celebrated by skanking out to an old skool rave class played by an Irish C list celebrity. If this tale sounds too fantastical to be true, come along with me and I’ll show ye what happened!”

Rea and Matt’s Stowford Manor Farm wedding was a straight up corker – so much love, so much joy and so many memorable little moments. Just how I like it! They chose Stowford Manor Farm for the quaint, rustic setting and the blank canvas it offered for their wedding celebrations – they could decorate the barn as they saw fit, provide their own food and their own drinks. Just the opportunity for a unique and personalised step away from standard wedding traditions that they were looking for.

Rea looked amazing! Her 1920s flapper style gold dress by Eliza Jane Howell and matching headpiece really was a showstopper. I think Matt was pretty knocked out to see her for the first time as she came down the aisle. With the official formalities having already been dealt with, the ceremony was conducted by Matt’s brother Jake. The inclement weather meant that we had to relocate from the original plan of outdoors to inside the barn itself but this ended up affording us a brilliant atmosphere for Jake’s heart-warming and frankly hilarious sermon. The highlight was arguably Rea whipping out a silver napkin holder in place of a ring for her huge prince!

The festivities then kicked off in earnest: two rounds of Indian and Spanish street food, enough ale to sink a ship and both day cider and dangerously potent night cider! And with the crew well oiled, the party was a belter. The Riot Jazz Brass Band absolutely took the roof off – any chance you get to see those guys you should take it! And then the entertainment transferred to the turntable skills of Radio Leeds DJ, purveyor of sparkly jackets and some-time Ant & Dec collaborator, gentleman Paul Dunphy. The Dunph was responsible for one of the best first dances I’ve ever witnessed, made possible by the fact that Rea and Matt kind of forgot to choose a first dance tune themselves. He got the guests to vote, via the medium of applause, for their preferred song from a choice of two. First up, Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ – standard, lovely, always popular…. and then ‘On a Ragga Tip’ by SL2! No guesses which tune won out. The skanking was real!

If ever anyone tells me they’re worried about the possibility of wet weather putting a dampener on their wedding I’m just going to laugh in their face and point them towards this blog post. This is how you do it people!