An Intimate Wedding at Elizabeth Gaskell House

I am absolutely blown away by how beautiful this intimate wedding day at Elizabeth Gaskell House was. What an incredibly special venue and day.

Laura and Liam amazingly managed to plan their whole wedding in only 4 months! And believe me when I say they aced it. The couple knew Elizabeth Gaskell House was the venue for them, as Laura had actually written a uni paper on the brilliant Elizabeth Gaskell herself. How could they not fall in love with this historic house?

Bride and groom walking through gardens at eleven Didsbury park

The Bridal Prep

I arrived early at Elizabeth Gaskell House, having not been here before, I wanted to fully scope the place and find all the best spots. The lovely staff were straight on hand to give me a tour.

Laura arrived shortly after with her mum, flower girl, and sister-in-law; it was all systems go with everyone getting ready. Sophie, the little flower girl, had the best time twirling about the place in her gorgeous pink dress.

Dressed in Rixo, with shoes from Air & Grace, and hair and makeup by Sarah Morten, Laura looked a vision. Everything was brought together with the perfect understated bouquet from Didsbury Flower Lounge.

Wedding details of pearl shoes, earrings and perfume in the bridal suite at Didsbury Park Hotel.

Bride putting in earrings in the bridal suite at Didsbury Park Hotel.

The wedding ceremony at Elizabeth Gaskell House

Laura had a lovely little first look with her dad in the study before we headed in for the ceremony. The brilliant Martin Taylor was on the piano, filling the room with the most beautiful music and creating the perfect atmosphere.

The ceremony itself was short and sweet, with two lovely readings from friends and family. You could really feel how excited and happy everyone was for the pair.

Following this, the couple had a quick glass of prosecco to themselves while I got everyone lined up outside for the confetti, which we actually did twice as Laura got confetti in her mouth for the first go and spent the whole of it pulling funny faces.

Couple holding hands and smiling during wedding ceremony at Didsbury House Hotel.

Close up of couple holding hands during wedding ceremony at Didsbury House Hotel.

The Reception

After the confetti, we headed straight into the family formals before continuing into the couple pictures. We were so lucky to have a gap in the rain to get it all done and stay dry! We even headed over to the local park to get the cherry blossom trees in, as the pair told me about an incredible holiday to Japan during cherry blossom season.

Once back, it was time to eat. They opted for a non-traditional wedding breakfast of afternoon tea with lots and lots of cake, and honestly, it was great. The afternoon tea was made by the lovely Vintage Afternoon Tea.

Then on to speeches, and it was an emotional rollercoaster of heartfelt stories and happy memories. In Laura’s words, ‘being in the city of the suffragettes, I cannot only let men speak at my wedding,’ so she also did a brilliant speech, and I’m so here for that.

They followed this by cutting the incredible vintage cake from Palms Bakery. It was then my time to go, but honestly, what a brilliant day. I have completely fallen in love with Elizabeth Gaskell House and these two.