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Inspiration

In this section, you will find images and case studies of real weddings held at the farm and you can find out what our actual customers really think of the service we provided.

Case Studies – Real Life Weddings at The Wellbeing Farm

Lucy & Karl Benson - Married on 5th July 2018

      

 

I will never forget the phone call I took on Saturday 23rd June – it was a call from Karl Benson and the conversation went along the lines of – “I’m Karl Benson I am going to pass away soon and I would like to get married as soon as possible and I’d like to say goodbye to my friends and family”.

 

We actually had Friday 5th July 2018 free, but could a wedding be arranged so quickly?

 

I remember thinking, well a ceremony is about to start in the Barn, but the bride hasn’t arrived yet. Have I got time to speak to the Registrar while Karl is on the line….? I literally ran across the farmyard, into the Wedding Barn and down the back corridor. Popping my head around and catching the attention of the Registrar, I said: “can you please take this call”?

 

Little did I know that the Registrar on call that day was the Registrar on duty for the whole area. After he delivered the wedding, he made calls to his team, coming back to tell me that getting married so quickly outside a hospice or hospital was something they’d never done before…  Our response was: well a dying man’s wish is to get married here and to say goodbye – we have GOT to make it happen…

 

If anything the timing was perfect – we actually had a Wedding Open Day on Sunday 24th June – the next day. We arranged for the bride Lucy to come and visit immediately with her parents and close friends and we sat outside in the sunshine and planned their whole day.

 

The main stress at this stage was trying to sort out the Registrar – Lucy had to obviously go to the Registry Office where they lived, the sort that out and liaises with the Registry Office at Blackburn with Darwen – something which usually takes weeks to sort out had to be organised within days. The licence was finally sorted – a couple of days before their actual wedding.

 

When I asked Lucy, how long have you been planning your wedding, Lucy told me that Karl and she had decided to get married while they were on the phone with me. What would normally take months to organise was planned and delivered in just 12 days.

 

It is a tribute to Lucy and Karl and that for a wedding that had been put together in just 12 days, there were so many thoughtful personal touches. For once we’re not talking Pinterest worthy details that can cause hours of stress but pulling together friends and family far and wide to make this wedding happen. Almost everybody involved had a personal connection with either Groom Karl or Bride Lucy and it made for such a special day – one member of the band Funky Doctors was a guest on the day, cake maker Faye was a close family friend and even photographer Gemma was an old school pal of Karl’s. It was clear from the queues of friends and family wanting to speak to Karl, was how much he had touched the lives of everyone present.

 

The ceremony was so heartfelt and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – including staff members & suppliers! But armed with tissues, everybody made it through and the rest of the day was a credit to both Bride and Groom.

 

I think the day can be summed up by the message Lucy posted to Facebook on Monday 11th July – four days after they were married…

 

“On Monday 9th July, my hero, my husband fell asleep peacefully in my arms surrounded by our families.

 

Karl ‘Benny’ Benson had his final wish come true on Friday 6th as we tied the knot and become Mr and Mrs Benson. Our dream wedding was so special to us both and allowed Karl to not only to bring back happiness to us all during such a hard few weeks but also see everyone he loved one last time.

 

I’ve never met anyone who enjoyed and loved life more than Karl. He has shown me why life is so precious and not a day went by that we weren’t happy despite the circumstances. I made a promise to carry on his passion for life, so I hope you will all join me carry on his fight for a good, happy and healthy life.

 

Karl, my soulmate, my husband, my forever one will be forever in my heart.

 

I am so proud, honoured and lucky to be able to call Karl my husband. He was such a caring happy and amazing man who touched everyone’s hearts. Karl was the type of guy who made such an impact on everyone’s lives, making a positive difference wherever he went which will be treasured forever”.

 

The testimonial we were given by Lucy’s parents read:

 

“We cannot thank you enough for all the hard work you put into making Karl and Lucy’s wedding perfect. Nothing was too much trouble from you all, it made the organising so much easier.

 

Daniella was an absolute superstar, her caring nature and empathy flowed from her. Our family and friends were in awe of The Wellbeing Farm and the service they provided.

 

A truly wonderful and memorable day.

 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts”.

 

In summary, this wedding was special and we feel proud and humbled to deliver one of the happiest yet saddest days in people’s lives. At end of the day, a dying man’s last wish was to be married at the farm to the love of his life and to say ‘goodbye’ to all his friends and that’s what we delivered – his wish. We worked with the Council to deliver the first wedding ever held outside a hospital and a hospice in the circumstances and as always, we delivered it with professionalism, bravery and friendliness and made sure that the Bride Lucy had the best day of her life. We proved we can plan and deliver a wedding in 12 days and above all helped make Karl’s dying wish come true – to marry Lucy the love of his life and the chance to see and say goodbye to all his relatives, family and friends.

 

We have all been so touched by Karl and Lucy’s story that we have decided that our focus charity for this year will be Checkemlads Testicular cancer Charity and we will be announcing details of a fundraising event soon.

 

Harry & Freya - Married on 30th June 2018

                       

Moonwalking into their Wedding Breakfast, the tasting of our home brewed personalised beer and a Lightsabre cake cutting were just a few of things that made Harry & Freya’s Wedding Day one to remember!

From start to finish it was clear that this wedding was going to be one like no other. As the Groom’s Sister, our Managing Director Celia got a taste of what it’s like to be a guest here at The Wellbeing Farm – and her verdict was spectacular! It was clear from the atmosphere throughout the whole day that the guests were having so much fun – PC Roadshow’s Darren had everybody dancing on their chairs and waving their napkins before the Wedding Breakfast had even finished!

With the Winter Hill fire burning in the background, we watched as newlyweds Harry & Freya sped up our driveway in their Porsche, ready to be welcomed by guests for their Drinks Reception. Our Llamas, Donkeys and Alpacas mingled and posed for photos while guests enjoyed plenty of welcome drinks – including the first batch of beer freshly brewed from Edgworth Brew Co. (our in-house micro-brewery) which as you can imagine, went down a treat! There was no expense spared when it came to entertainment for the day. The outdoor games were enjoyed by guests all while soaking up the glorious sunshine – from crazy golf to a tug of war we certainly weren’t short of laughter. One of the highlights was the Groom Harry doing The Floss during his speech!

The Barn had been well and truly transformed and was filled with greenery, sequin table runners and pastel hues which made for such a stunning sight! QUBE Events had hung the most stunning chandeliers from the centre of our parachutes creating amazing light formations. Personal touches were dotted all around the room and nothing had been overlooked.

The Bridal Parties entrance into the Wedding Barn was a spectacle in itself and saw Mother & Father of the Groom entering to Jay Z & Beyonce’s 03 Bonnie & Clyde and the Best Man entering carrying an actual box of Milk Tray as the infamous music was played. Followed by the new Mr & Mrs themselves strutting their stuff to Thriller. Nobody was expecting that and the look on all the guest’s faces must have been a picture!

The couple chose the Rustic Feast Menu with platters of Wheatsheaf Farm lamb, roast beef and of course, our famous Whiteheads Sausages washed down with bottles of wine and bottled beers served in buckets on the tables. In between courses the atmosphere was infectious with guests dancing on the chairs and tables, waving napkins, doing the Conga and playing Mr and Mrs!

At night our Popcorn Maker and Amo Shot Box made an appearance and were both welcome additions that were shortly followed by the unveiling of the CHEESE WEDDING CAKE and the serving of pizza – even on the dance floor – what more could be asked for?!

A great day was well and truly had by all.

Cheers to married life Mr & Mrs Gaze, lots of love from Team Wellbeing.

Special Event for Carrs Pasties

    
                                        

Case Study: Carrs Pasties

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to host an extremely special event; after holding his wedding a couple of years ago, we received a call from Joe Carr to hold the Summer Party for Carrs Pasties – which also coincided with the company’s 80th Anniversary!

With over 200 guests expected to arrive, we knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but of course, we leapt at the chance to hold such an event!

Finally, the big day arrived, and as the guests arrived by the coachload, they were greeted by glasses of prosecco and bottles of Peroni fresh from a beer barrow. After a quick drink and a speech from Joe Carr, the festivities were off! Our guest suppliers for the day were Sunshine Events, who provided some giant inflatables for our front field along with our crazy golf and usual outdoor games. Thankfully, the weather held out for us, and so as well as Sunshine Events being incredibly busy, we were able to serve 2 of our 4 food stations outside.

Speaking of food, there was a delicious choice to choose from out of our 4 food stations: pizzas served from our wood-fired pizza oven: our Build-A-Burger station that allowed guests to come up with their own BBQ creations from our variety of accompaniments: Tacos served with chilli con carne and finally Hog Roast baps with stuffing and apple sauce. Not to mention there was many a cake to choose from served from our cake cart – it was almost too hard to choose!!

As well as food, there was plenty of drinks to go around too, having both of our bars open. Our Jumbles Bitter from Edgworth Brew Co. was a firm favourite, brewed right here on the farm, along with bottled beer and gin – with the liquid gold flowing, it was a great party atmosphere.

After stuffing our guests with plenty of food the entertainment didn’t stop there, as we brought out our llamas, donkeys and alpacas as well as a very special guest: Penelope Pig herself made a surprise appearance to say hello to all the children at the party! And to top it all off, we had a drone fly over the farm to capture the action.

Though it may be short and had gone WAY too quickly, the Carrs Pasties 80th Anniversary was an incredibly fun experience and it was clear to see how much of a good time everyone had. Here’s hoping we see them again soon.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Wheaton!! who booked and planned their wedding from Dubai!

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Wheaton!! who booked and planned their wedding from Dubai!    

 

Since we started our Fun, Quirky and Magical Weddings here at The Wellbeing Farm, we have had couples coming from all over the place contacting us and booking a look-around; but imagine our surprise when we were contacted by the lovely Lee and Rory – from all the way from Dubai?! They were after somewhere different and we certainly gave them that! A virtual tour by Facetime and a couple of Skype calls later, and they booked without seeing the farm in real life they loved it that much!

 

All the planning was conducted via Facetime and Skype with family relatives popping in to sample the food and relay the choices. It was an exercise that planning from afar can be done!

 

When it came to the day, it became clear rather quickly that these two weren’t ones to follow tradition…!

 

The celebration began with an ‘alternative’ Page Boy Beach scattering confetti down the aisle before Stef from Alternative Weddings Manchester conducted the ceremony and gave us an insight into Lee and Rory’s story  – after learning they met in Ibiza, we KNEW we were going to be in for a treat! And in untraditional fashion, Lee and Rory wrote each other’s vows (adorable!), and ended the ceremony with a shot of Patron along with all their guests – now that is what we call a start to married life!

 

The theme of the day was summer fun, with sunflowers and chair ties from Love Rosie Venue Décor, the Barn was dressed with the brightest colours and it all looked lovely! But it seemed that they had a second theme: rum! Everyone had a hangover kit, including a scratch card and a mini bottle of Captain Morgan as their favours, and to prepare ourselves, we had to make a last minute dash to the shop for Sailor Jerry’s – one of the Groom’s favourites!

 

Photographed by Shot by Amy and videoed by Hannah Kennedy, the day was a blast right through. During the evening do, we not only had great music from the incredibly talented Brass Works Band, but also the ever reliable DJ Andy K, who took us right to Lee and Rory’s meeting in Ibiza with a club anthem themed playlist! To keep in the Ibiza spirit, we also had Indigo Moon face painters in for some bright face festival glitter.

 

After a whirlwind of a day, Lee and Rory ended the night at our Bridal Suite – but the surprises didn’t stop there, as their friends and family arranged for the suite to be decorated with balloons!

 

“None of this would have happened without you” – this was what Rory said to us just before the ceremony was about to begin. True, organising a wedding like this was not easy – but we pulled out all the stops to ensure Lee and Rory had the untraditional, fun, quirky and magical wedding they so wanted.

 

Lucas and Bekah - Festival Inspired Wedding

Recent Wedding & Event Reviews

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